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Cleveland bari - flat low E and F#

764 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  milandro
Hi folks. At the beginning of the year I picked up a late 1930s (SN C331XX) Cleveland bari that I'm really enjoying, but am having one issue - low E and F# are really flat. It could definitely be me as I'm coming back to the sax after a pretty long hiatus, but with practice the rest of the horn has fallen in line except for these two notes. I can hold the Eb key open to fix the low E, but nothing seems to get F# up in tune. If I lip it up, my embouchure is so tight that the note is weak and stuffy. Maybe a key height issue? Is it a known quirk with these old King/Clevelands? I'm using a Link HR 7 with it.

Other than that, I really dig this bari. I haven't found a ton of info on these old Cleveland baris in particular, but I'm guessing it's somewhat comparable to a Voll-True II or an early Zephyr. Seems pretty much identical to an early Zeph, but with a pinky table similar to an old Martin. Intonation issues notwithstanding, it has a huge sound and a great tone from top to bottom.
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E and F# ?

But F is OK ?

How flat, btw ?????

I am gonna also guess that, since the flatness appears in both octaves, some keyheight adjusting would help it out....but yeah, play with it a bit more for a week or two and see if as you get your embouchure in shape, things improve....
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