High F# key: good or bad?

Tis a hindrance. Should be a poll.

It is. I didn't realize the thread would start before I got the poll questions ready.

The two choices in the poll questions aren't the only possible answers.

I'm sensitive when it comes to the High F#. What can I say.

I prefer my non-high F# 82Z tenor, to the one's I've tried against one's that have the high F#. I learned how to play on a horn without one and I never use the one on my 875EX alto. I believe they should offer more models of new saxes with the option of no high F#. There are some great players out there who are just smoking on horns that have that extra key, though. So I'd say it's just personal preference, and it should be offered by new horn makers as an option.

Al Stevens said:

The two choices in the poll questions aren't the only possible answers.

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I'd say a third would be for the players who don't care either way, whether it's there or not. Some use it all the time, some never use it, and others sometimes use it.

Al Stevens said:

The two choices in the poll questions aren't the only possible answers.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I rarely use it if the sax I'm using at the moment has one, but for certain palm key intervals at higher tempos it comes in handy. Does that make me a sax playing wimp 'cause I might not use an alt fingering? No way.

I never use the one on my series III. It's more awkward to use that because I'm so used to front F+side Bb on most of my horns. I'm not sure if the key affects the sound..but I would rather not have to deal with the leakage an extra pad can cause.

I think the poll would be better if it were:
Is the High F# key necessary?

Then I would say NO.

To this poll I said it IS helpful and I use it on Soprano and Alto since it's there.
My Tenor doesn't have one so I do it the old fashioned way.

They are nice, but if you are already used to playing without it, it's just one more possible pad to leak, and it is the upper stack that causes the most adjustment problems.

I've only used mine when a student asks "What does that do?"

In fact the other night I had my alto out for the first time in a year and was looking at the condition of the pads and it took me a minute to figure out why that pad up there wasn't opening.

Don't need it, wouldn't pay extra for one, but wont pay to have it removed either.

I don´t need it for my F#. But it gives me some great intune altissimo notes. I don´t want to miss it.

True, maybe an extra option poll would've been nice. But, for those of you who say that you don't use it AND it's just another pad to leak, I would think it would be on the slight side of hindrance. Those who don't need it but find it useful in rare situations (other than to just show someone what it does) I'd say you find it beneficial.

Just sayin...

Al Stevens said:

The two choices in the poll questions aren't the only possible answers.

Click to expand...

They are in this poll! :twisted:

I started to ask "Is the high F# necessary", but the answer to that is obvious.

My own predilictions came out in the wording of the questions. Biasing poll results by the use of slanted questions is an old Liberal news media trick. Just check out any poll in USA Today.

That ought to get Marty's attention...

cjk_712 said:

I learned how to play on a horn without one and I never use the one on my 875EX alto.

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Interesting... I learned to use the F# a lot on both my old alto and tenor, and when I went to a Mark VIs, it was a little disconcerting to not have that anymore. The tradeoff, IMO, is worth it though.

Swingin' Cat said:

They are in this poll! :twisted:

I started to ask "Is the high F# necessary", but the answer to that is obvious.

My own predilictions came out in the wording of the questions. Biasing poll results by the use of slanted questions is an old Liberal news media trick. Just check out any poll in USA Today.

That ought to get Marty's attention...

Click to expand...

I never look at USA today. I just go to fox news and Al-Jazeera, and average the two.

My sop and bari are both yamahas. They have the high f# (although my sop doesn't have a front F, oddly enough).
My selmers don't. I rarely play high f# at all on sop, and never on bari. Go figure

Can it really make a horn sound worse than one without though? I would like to know...

Bueschers don't have them. That means that they must be bad...

It's always nice to have another option, even if you don't use it much.