[Jeffery Lindholm]

My wife has an old student-model Conn alto from the '60s that she's been playing (relative beginner) but she recently bought a new-to-her Yamaha.

But she noticed that the neck on the Yamaha is about 1/2 inch shorter than the neck from the old Conn.

Is this normal, that necks from different brand altos would be slightly different sizes? Or did someone "shorten" the Yamaha neck for some reason?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Guto]

very likely normal. there is nothing standard about necks dimensions across brands, continents and eras.

 

[turf3]

Yep, they're all made a bit differently.

 

[Adriano Souza]

yes, all necks may have differences. Including the same manufacturers and made in different years. Old saxophones generally tend to tune better with large chamber mouthpieces

 

[JayeLID]

She will also notice that the necks do not fit into each other's neck receivers...

 

[LostConn]

Is this normal, that necks from different brand altos would be slightly different sizes? Or did someone "shorten" the Yamaha neck for some reason?

Sometimes necks from the same brand are different sizes. The Selmer Series III alto neck is longer than the Series II alto neck.

 

[whaler]

The other day I tried a friend’s Selmer Balanced Action neck from 1935 on my tenor from 1938. The tenon on his was bigger than mine and his neck wouldn’t fit on my tenor. They even changed from year to year back then.