Necks for Mark VI Tenor

Input: Don't chase necks.

Look instead to your horn - is it free of leaks?

Wait a while. You are young on the horn. You will probably find that as you develop your airstream, you will be able to better shape your sound and play sufficiently bright with what you have.

Just read the posts of the last few weeks and you'll find that, generally speaking, those of us that have tried various necks (Selmer brass/copper/silver, Gloger, Boesken, etc.) tend to come back to a GOOD stock neck.

Take advantage of the people you will be studying with and around.

Enjoy!

Personally, I went back to my original neck after trying many different ones. Something about the palm keys on all the other necks just isn't as full.

Swamp',

Just for the record, could you list the various necks you've tried?

Look into a Barone. Search on this site and you'll find lots of posts about them.

Gloger, Boesken, Selmer Series III (thinwall, brass with boosters, without, and rose-brass), Selmer Ref 54, and Ref 36.

The best thing that ever happened to my neck was when I found a guy who brought it back into the round. (It had been bent before I got the horn). Totally opened my sound and cost me a fraction of any of those necks. And, the sound was fatter.

Thanks. I knew of a few but that's a considerable commitment! :shock:

There's no place like home, there's no place like home... -Dorothy

I didn't buy all those. It helped to have Rayburn's as a Selmer pro shop that I could go to every weekend. Also, my brother had a couple of necks for his VI that I tried out before I sent his horn back when I got mine.

I agree with Dr. G and had the same experience as Swamp. I tried three versions of the Gloger (solid silver, copper and copper plated gold), Paraschos (which I'm sell on ebay at the moment), the Inderbeinen Donnerbogen, Selmer Ref 54, and Ref 36, an SBA and several VI necks. I play a VI and, in the end, the original neck worked best.

FWIW - I have a VI tenor and two Selmer VI necks. The horn had a very specific response problem at g-g#-a in the staff and a general stuffiness with both Selmer necks. I got a Ponzol neck which solved both problems. These problems were the only reason for the change. Ponzol has a return policy.

Cool. Thanks for all the input. If you ever have anymore, i'm trying to absorb every little amount of knowledge possible, haha.

Yeah, I am young on my horn by the way. I played a reference 54 tenor for a long time, and then moved to an authentic VI a little while ago. Something about the reference felt unresponsive. Also, the VI was much brighter for me. Just made me wonder what the top end of response/brightness was and if there was a neck to help with it. Thanks again.

I've got a Barone Mark VI neck alt so it will fit my BA sounds great adds something different to it!

I have an additional silver neck for my MK VI. Don´t know who built it but it adds more brightness to the sound. But I usually prefer the original neck. I´ll post some pictures of the neck and see if I can record some playing with both necks compared.

I have a series II tenor and I swapped the neck for a series III. The III necks were made to be brighter. I think it is. The different angle helps to get me blowing through it right too. At UNT, I'll bet you have access to lots of necks to experiment with...I'd try to put a III on your VI.
(Not that I'm advocating a neck swap)

My 2 cents:
Stock necks are not always better; this is especially true of MK VI's which were hand made and vary more form horn to horn, (and neck to neck), than new horns.
Unless you have a particular problem with your horn or just happen to run across a killer deal, don't bother with necks, IMO. Certainly, don't obsess over them.
Every neck is different, I don't care what the manufacturers say.
Now, having said all that, I stumbled across a Ponzol neck for my 62XXX MK VI tenor and love it! I needed more volume for particular applications and this thing works wonders. Bear in mind that I had tried several other Ponzols over the years and none of them had worked for me......daryl

Dr G said:

Input: Don't chase necks.

Look instead to your horn - is it free of leaks?

Wait a while. You are young on the horn. You will probably find that as you develop your airstream, you will be able to better shape your sound and play sufficiently bright with what you have.

Just read the posts of the last few weeks and you'll find that, generally speaking, those of us that have tried various necks (Selmer brass/copper/silver, Gloger, Boesken, etc.) tend to come back to a GOOD stock neck.

Take advantage of the people you will be studying with and around.

Enjoy!

Click to expand...

I just reread this thread and had to say that you're on the $ with this post, Dr. G, especially about checking for leaks. If you're not careful, the slow degrading of the pads, corks, etc., can sneak up on you and make playing the horn much harder. Check-ups with your tech or checking the horn with your own leak light can help you stay on top of it.............daryl