[Saxland]

Vino, how is the intonation using the power neck on all your tenors? Any downside compared to the original necks?

 

[Vino]

Vino, how is the intonation using the power neck on all your tenors? Any downside compared to the original necks?

I ordered the larger tenon neck for the Buescher so it doesn't fit any of my other horns. And unfortunately I can't compare apples to apples on the Buescher since the original neck was crushed.

Regarding tuning, I haven't put a strobe on it but it sounded like it was in tune with itself for the few hours I tested. It's a backup horn for me so it doesn't get played often. I'll run through it on a tuner and post an update. For the cost of the neck I'm completely happy so far.

 

[1saxman]

I have a Sterling 'Power' neck for my Selmer USA alto.
Back story: many years ago, I cut off the reinforcing ring on the original neck which was a shortening of about 3/16". The horn played flat and I needed to be able to play without jamming the mouthpiece on until it was stopped by the baffle. Over the years I have tried several necks on it without really liking them. Then I got the new Eastern Music neck which did play well on it. Meanwhile, I started wondering if I could use the original neck again so I put a new cork on it and tried it out today. It played okay but intonation was wonky (in years past, I didn't have any kind of tuner except an A chime - now with a tuner on my phone, it's easy to zero in and really see what's going on with a horn). After a few minutes, I put the Eastern Music 'Power' neck on and I instantly realized that this neck is very much better for me on this horn. Checking on the tuner, intonation was much better. It does enable a more 'refined' sound if I want it and has a 'singing' quality that makes me want to play classical. BUT! When I want to rock, it's there.
I guess when I first started using the 'Power' neck in the last couple of years I was thinking that it didn't have the power/guts I need, which is why I was thinking about the original neck, but this actually turned out to be the synthetic reeds I was using. Since I returned to Plasticovers, the horn really came back to life.

ETA: I really would love to play only cane on everything but I need a reed on alto and bari that can sit and stay ready to play. I find that Plasticovers work best for me in that regard while still delivering the cane sound.

 

[swperry1]

There’s a tenor “Mark VI” power neck available in the marketplace for only about $30 above retail…looks like new and the tenon’s already been worked away from the stock 27.5. 🤦‍♂️

 

[sax.hobby]

Out of curiosity, I bought a couple of silver-plated tenor power necks a couple of years ago or so, one for my 16M and another one for my Balanced Action. They work well but I preferred the original necks; I've been keeping them as backups.

I recently tried the power neck for the 16M on my NWII/10M transitional, and I ended up liking it better than the original one with my mpc/reed setup on it.