[Pete Thomas]

I recently dragged my bass out for a bit of practice. Anyone who has one of these may be able to help, I want to know if these are problems inherent to the beast or a symptom of something wrong.

The C with normal fingering (left hand 2nd finger - top of lower octave) sounds quite hollow and wants to jump up an octave.

No apparent leaks on any of the 3 pads for that key, No problem when it is up the octave. No leaks with either octave key pads

No problem at all with the B or C played with B and side key (nice and fruity).

I hate having to drag this up to the repaoir shop, so can anyone tell me if this is normal (I somehow doubt it). Thanks.

 

[Bootman]

No this isn't normal. The C is usually very tubby sounding and the side C fingering will give you a much better note which is typically the work around when playing the bass sax. It gets easier with bass mpcs and a bit of time spent on the old beast for me.

Hope this helps a a little!

 

[TenTenTooter]

No apparent leaks on any of the 3 pads for that key, No problem when it is up the octave. No leaks with either octave key pads

Leaks don't have to be isolated to just the problem note to take affect. It could be any of the side keys or palm keys also. How well does the neck fit?

 

[Pete Thomas]

The neck seems to fit just fine. I agree about the leaks not needing to be isolated, but in this case the difference is quite radical, all other notes seem fine. I just wondered if was a trait of these instruments before trundling it over to the repair shop.

 

[Gandalfe]

Pete, what kind of mouthpiece are you using? I've found through experimentation that I get the best sound with a vintage Conn Eagle (aka pickle barrel) bass sax mouthpiece. I tried a lot of bass and bari sax pieces.

Also, this might be old hat, but I really like the phat sound I get with a Fibrecell reed. But I do kinda wonder if that isn't just a cheap trick for those of us who don't spend enough time on the instrument. And I've gotten used to the synthetic reeds because in a pit orchestra, you rarely have time to wet a reed properly as you switch from horn to horn.