Cannonball necks

[tonyg]

Has anyone tried all of the different necks(finishes) on thier cannonball saxophone, any real difference in sound? I understand each Big bell saxophone comes with 2 necks, but is it possible to find others or buy them.

[KJ]

from the cball website:
" they discovered that the saxophone neck could be hand customized to balance the neck for proper and unrestrained air flow, which created ease of altissimo, enhanced overtones, resonant low end, even timbre, full bodied and balanced sound, crisp attacks, velvet releases, and make the saxophone so enjoyable to play that it is difficult to put down"

It is my opinion that the custom work done on each neck (and the slight variations caused by doing the work by hand) is the main reason the two necks may have different characteristics, more so than the different finishes.

[Stacey]

...and in my case, I really couldn't tell any notable difference in sound between my black nickel neck and my gold lacquer neck. I didn't go to the trouble of recording myself and then listening to it, so my judgment came solely from the point of view of a player (as opposed to a listener).

As mentioned above, the hand-finishing work done inside the neck likely makes them all quite unique, thus rendering my opinion worth exactly as much as you paid for it.

Stacey

[Phred168]

Dunno if it's from the finish or the hand adjustments, but the black laquered neck and the silver plated neck have very different sounds. The silver is much brighter.

[gothsaxchica]

I have been plying sax for about 3 years now and i just got a new sax, a cannonball. the two necks sound really different. The silver colored, lacquered neck sounds brighter and i use it in songs that are meant to be "happier" like marches and things like that. for jazz songs i usually use my gold colored un-lacqured neck because i play really deep "sad" songs when it comes to jazz most times.


:twisted:

[Gargoyle]

My also also has two necks; one that definetly gives a darker, sweeter sound than the other (which is more open and jazzy).

Sometimes I wonder how necessary two necks are; mouthpieces are more important, aren't they? I mean, how much does one reallygain using a different neck?