[Dr G]

Jman1977 commented in the Marketplace that he is trying some various horns. I thought it might be useful to add his experiences here for the sake of discussion, since the Marketplace does not support such exchanges anymore.

Ref: https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?355242-WTB-Yanagisawa-S992-soprano-sax/page2

I was able to play all 3 horns (SC9930, SCWO20 and SWO2) a little bit last night. To be honest, I didn't find too much of a difference between the two curved sopranos. Maybe the WO20 was a bit more in tune and the 9930 had a fuller, louder sound. In terms of ease of blowing, they felt just about the same to me. The SWO2 was the easiest to play (e.g., most free blowing) of the three and actually sounded the best to me.

I am surprised there is a tangible difference in intonation. My experience with modern Yanagisawa sops is that intonation is among the best of available sops.

One of the differences between curved and straight is the angle of the mouthpiece to your face - that may be why you are hearing a difference in tone between the two shapes.

Resistance may be coming from the curvature of the neck. If they are compatible, it would be interesting to swap necks between curved and straight horns.

FWIW, I used to love the SC-992, but ultimately found them too loud because of the proximity of the bell - made my ears ring. I did, however, prefer the angle of the mouthpiece entering my mouth. My solution was a bent-neck straight sop (Borgani Jubilee). This was previously a very popular configuration in the Yamaha 62R soprano.

Enjoy the quest,

George

 

[jman1977]

Jman1977 commented in the Marketplace that he is trying some various horns. I thought it might be useful to add his experiences here for the sake of discussion, since the Marketplace does not support such exchanges anymore.

Ref: https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?355242-WTB-Yanagisawa-S992-soprano-sax/page2



I am surprised there is a tangible difference in intonation. My experience with modern Yanagisawa sops is that intonation is among the best of available sops.

One of the differences between curved and straight is the angle of the mouthpiece to your face - that may be why you are hearing a difference in tone between the two shapes.

Resistance may be coming from the curvature of the neck. If they are compatible, it would be interesting to swap necks between curved and straight horns.

FWIW, I used to love the SC-992, but ultimately found them too loud because of the proximity of the bell - made my ears ring. I did, however, prefer the angle of the mouthpiece entering my mouth. My solution was a bent-neck straight sop (Borgani Jubilee). This was previously a very popular configuration in the Yamaha 62R soprano.

Enjoy the quest,

George

Thanks, George. I had a tuner in front of me as played up and down the registers of each horn. I found that there was a bit more fluctuation in the intonation of the 9930 compared to the two WO's. In my mind, there are two possible reasons (could also be a combination of both): 1) one of the "improvements" supposedly made by Yanagisawa to the WO series was to the tone holes, supposedly for better intonation; and/or 2) horns sold by Matthew's (in this case, both WO's) are usually set up before they are shipped out... I'm not sure if Matt (Quinn the Eskimo) similarly sets up horns he sells. Additionally, the 9930 was new old stock.

I'll try swapping the necks. The SWO2 was definitely much less resistant compared to the other two. Even in the higher registers I didn't have to adjust as much as I did with the two curvies. It felt like my effort was more even up and down the registers with the straight.