gary said:
There's a difference between having a bare brass, well worn look and a black rubber mark running across the bell, wot?
What kinds of sax stands are people using? :? Mine exhibits no such behavior.
gary said:
Regarding UL vs lacquered, I can only say that I have had two YTS 82Zs and they both sounded differently than the lacquered ones I played and that the difference between the ULs themselves was not as noticeable as the difference between the ULs and lacquered ones. Of course this could be an inconsistency in manufacturing. I really don't care about the why only that my UL sounds good.
It might be interesting to note, though, that there are some very fine professionals who have chosen the UL ostensibly for its sound (Jeff Coffin, Phil Woods, Dino Govoni).
And those "very fine professionals" who don't play on UL horns chose their finishes due to...? "Professionals" play all different kinds of horns (make, model, finish, etc). Besides, gary, you don't consider yourself a "professional"? (You have a DMA in music.) You should think your opinion is just as valid.
As susceptible humans we tend to lean away from objectivity and attempt to attribute or explain our perceptions to what only
seems correct. Almost every horn I've bought has been sight unseen; after play-testing horns at say a sax convention I just call up my salesman and say this is what I want and it's sent to me. I recognize that there are differences in feel and sound between makes models but I've never ever perceived differences that were explicable only by the finish. What I know is that all
well-regulated horns within a particular model lineup have played similarly
regardless of finish. Absolutely no question about that.