[saxmaam]

I think I'd like to buy a C Soprano saxophone. What do you guys recommend? Even intonation would be nice, and I'd like to buy the horn in playing condition.

And then what about a mouthpiece and reeds? Will a soprano piece work and still play in tune? With soprano reeds? I fear I'm venturing into "stupid question" territory, but there you have it.

Susan

 

[cvsimson]

Hi Susan,
There are a few threads in the C forum tht can answer your questions about intonation and mouthpieces.

 

[saxmaam]

Here's an obvious candidate that is in stock, according to the website.

https://aquilasax.3dcartstores.com/C-soprano-sax-Eclipse-Silver-n-Gold-Floral_p_23-380.html#

Comments? Advice?

 

[csax]

Susan - I play one of those C Sopranos (Aquilasax, but different finish), alongside modern Bb Sopranos, and the C feels just like a slightly more compact Bb. The sound, as with all C's, is just a little bit lighter than Bb Soprano - but also clearer (imho).

I use normal Bb Soprano mouthpiece(s) and reeds on all my C-Sops (I have vintage as well). I have found overall intonation to be better on the modern Aquilasax, as opposed to my 20's Conn. The Aquilasax has more presence than any 20's C Sopranos I've played, it has a slightly different sound and feel than the vintage 20's ones (for me...).

Happy to discuss more if you wish, and Steve at Aquilasax is very approachable - his email address is on the front page of the Aquilasax website

Kind Regards, Alan

 

[electricfigue]

Hi Susan, I play a King C soprano with a Bb soprano metal Selmer piece, with Bb reeds (Gonzales#2) as my main horn with the band I am playing at this moment, the intonation is almost perfect, and the tone is beautiful, if you can found one of this, don´t hesitate they are incredible horns.
The Buescher and Conn C sopranos seems not to be so good about intonation.
The extra advantage on King C sopranos is the position of the octave pip which is positioned lower than any other C sopranos allowing you to try any kind of Bb soprano pieces without problem (usually the Bb pieces can´t be pushed enough on C sopranos to play it properly in tune).
I haven´t played an Aquilasax yet, but I have heard very good reviews about them here as Alan explained, I would like to try one and compare it with my King.
Good luck on your search, the C sopranos are beautiful instruments.

 

[Little Sax]

I have both Conn and King Csops.

I recorded a couple little sound samples for Alan's website a few years ago on the Conn. They're still archived here.

That horn responds best to a "real" Csop mpc, but plays pretty well with Selmer Metal and Selmer Super Session mpcs as well.

The King has a better scale and I usually play that with a Super Session.

I'd love to try an Eppelsheim C or even an Aquila, but it's really hard to justify more than two Csops at this point in my life with three little ones... (At least that's what my wife believes.)

 

[bruce bailey]

I haven't played the Aquila but it sound nice. I have owned Conns, Bueschers, Holtons and Martins. My Martins are by far the best of the ones I have owned sound and intonation wise. The downside is that one in good shape will cost you well over $1,200. I have tried many mouthpieces and the Yamaha(Bb) 4C or 3C works the best.

 

[saxmaam]

So I sent an email to Steve at Aquilasax. Do you know if they are playtested in NZ? By Steve himself?

 

[saxmaam]

I haven't played the Aquila but it sound nice. I have owned Conns, Bueschers, Holtons and Martins. My Martins are by far the best of the ones I have owned sound and intonation wise. The downside is that one in good shape will cost you well over $1,200. I have tried many mouthpieces and the Yamaha(Bb) 4C or 3C works the best.

I suppose you would have mentioned if you had one for sale. I love my Martin tenors, even the Indiana. Unfortunately I've asked my sax tech to even out the scale for me a couple of times (each, probably), and it's never happened. I just started playing after a couple of years off. When I get my embouchure back, I'm going to try a new tech for that.

 

[Mal 2]

So I sent an email to Steve at Aquilasax. Do you know if they are playtested in NZ? By Steve himself?

No, and Sometimes. They are playtested in China where they are made, and generally SHIPPED from China as well. Steve does spend a good deal of time in China supervising and playtesting, but he is not the only playtester they have. In fact, it's possibly better if he ISN'T the playtester, as my own observations with the C Melody reveal. He personally tested the one I bought, and it still had major intonation problems that required a change of neck (Aquilasax paid to ship me a replacement, I paid to ship the defective one back) to fix.

 

[saxmaam]

Hey Mal2, thanks for weighing in. Your experience worries me a bit, because that kind of runaround is exactly what I want to avoid.

Aquilasax is out of stock on all the Eclipse C sopranos. So I guess I'm watching and waiting for a while.

 

[Mal 2]

Hey Mal2, thanks for weighing in. Your experience worries me a bit, because that kind of runaround is exactly what I want to avoid.

Aquilasax is out of stock on all the Eclipse C sopranos. So I guess I'm watching and waiting for a while.

It's no great secret that I wasn't very happy with the Aquilasax C melody. While it had a modern mechanical system, the body was modeled off a 1926 Conn. This meant it had the (bright and thin) sound of a Conn, and the (often questionable) intonation of that Conn (for example, the three main ways of playing Bb were all completely different pitches). It also had a design flaw where the screw on the low B pad's arm (used to close the low C# when it is open) was directly over the RH2 pearl. This meant insufficient clearance to even get a fingertip on the pearl, let alone accommodate the fact that I don't keep my fingers perfectly on the pearls at all times. I ended up grinding off that adjustment entirely, and put a drop of solder on the underside of the low B key arm instead where it didn't interfere, and covered the damage with silver plating. I later sold this horn at a loss to dvdberg, and after a few months he sold it again. The same things that drove me nuts (that I didn't fix) drove him nuts too.

 

[cvsimson]

I am not an experieced player, much less on sopranos, but I am really enjoying my King C-sop.
There was some good discussions on this thread: http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?165059-My-King-C-Soprano&highlight=king+cvsimson

 

[saxmaam]

So I've been looking around on the web and I can't find an image of a Martin C Soprano. Did Martin really make a C sop?

 

[Metalflake]

http://www.themartinstory.net/version7/gallery-Handcraft-1.php

 

[csax]

Thanks for the link, Metalflake - I've got a project C-Sop with soldered tone-holes, that I've always assumed to be a Martin stencil, engraved Lyon & Healy. Some other features however don't seem particularly Martin'ish, so I can do a better comparison with mine now.

I often visit the Martin Story website as I have other Martins , great place, however for some reason I missed that set of pics...

 

[dvdberg]

I have a Martin C-Sop, #38xxx vintage. If there are any views of it you would like I'll gladly take some pics of it for you.

 

[saxmaam]

Thanks, Metalflake!

 

[saxmaam]

Also thanks to Alan and Derrick. I looked at the Martin Story site before posting, also. Somehow the links didn't lead me there.

Anyway, Derrick, I don't really need photos. I just was looking for them as a proof of existence.

Do "we" know anybody who has checked out the Aquilasax Eclipse? Any online reviews?

 

[Rennie]

There is a King C Soprano on EBay from Italy offered for 1000 euro.
I can't send the link from my phone but you can do a search on EBay for this:

" SAX SOPRANO KING IN DO
SERIAL 60143"