[GAS_Wyo]

Who has one of these monsters? What are your impressions of the horn? How do they compare to other baris you've played? I've read Mountainman's impressions in the thread "Testing the PM's", but are there others?

I'm considering ditching my YBS-52 to get one. I like the 52, but I want a horn I can fall in love with and the Yamaha just isn't getting it for me anymore.

I WILL go try one out at Sax Alley before purchase, but I'd like to know who has one or who has tried one out. Just curious for the moment.

 

[tjontheroad]

I'm going to CO to visit family Labor Day weekend. I'm planning to check out Sax Alley and the PM bari's while there. Nice looking sax, but ya' can't judge a book by it's cover.

 

[BayviewSax]

Yeah man. If I ever go with new bari (read: My VI meets a horrible death) I'm going this route. They're too smokin' to ignore!

 

[jmarshall83]

I use a Jody Jazz esp. w/ spoiler 10*. best baritone mouthpiece ever. for me anyway...
custom p. mauriat baritone sax low Bb. let me know what you guys think.

http://web.mac.com/jasonmarshalljazz
http://www.myspace.com/overtnegritude7

 

[Chris S]

If y'all are planning on going to see Tim anytime in the near future, you'd best call first. Tim's still battling a parasite of some kind that he picked up on his last trip overseas. He's not getting any better (or least hasn't been for the last several weeks). Keep him in your thoughts.

 

[GAS_Wyo]

Well, I realize it's been a while since I saw this thread. Tim is better and gettin' more of those PMB-300DK's in as we speak. I think I have one reserved...I get rid of a car payment at the end of January. I'll take my Link Tone Edge, my Metallite and a Berg 115/3M. If one of those will play down to pp, I may just buy the horn on the spot!

I just listened to jmarshall83's sound clip on mysite...That's some kickin' bari!

I'm lovin' the sound, the groove, the name, etc. Keep it up!

 

[Selmer's_glu]

Very Heavy Horn!! GO to the gym before you buy!

I just tried the Mauriat bari at the IAJE this morning.....

Its a nice horn, really nice. Big sound. I was impressed. I still feel that the Tawainese horns are lacking a certain something, but for the price, its not a bad deal.

The only downside, for me, was, its REALLY HEAVY! I mean, alot heavier that a MK6 or others. AND I'm 6'4" and weigh about 250 (all muscle, of course ), and I thought it was heavy. Granted I'm almost 43, but I think it would be a tough hang, to be playing a horn that heavy, for 4 hours a night--but thats just me.

I also tried Steve Goodson's bari, and...surprise, I found it VERY good & dark & big sounding, actually i liked it BETTER than the P.Mauriat--more features, a little slicker action &, a lot lighter. I think Steve came up with a nice one

Hope this helps you.

 

[GAS_Wyo]

For comparison, I'm 6' 2", 225 lbs and 45 years old...If it's tough for you, it might be doubly tough for me. I wonder if a harness would help?

How would you describe the sound? Warm? Did you say 'lacking something'? Can you give me a hint as to what you believe it is lacking?

 

[Selmer's_glu]

I think, and its just me, that most of your Tawian horns, sound good if and when you don't put tons of air thru the horn. Possibly they are designed for that.

Ive always thought air is what separates a decent tone from a really good one. Air support is key, unfortunately, many teachers do not stress it enough, or at all. Alot of weekend & hobby players, who possibly never had enough private instruction or spent enough time with the horn to develop that, have poor air support.

This maybe who these horns are marketed for, Im not sure.

I feel that when you push a horn, really push it & put alot of air into it, something happens to the sound. In some horns, it breaks up or gets really nasty. In others, it really sings in a complex way.

The opposite is true also. When playing a ppp, very soft, the tone should be as complex and full of the "stuff" (harmonics/depth, call it what you want) thats in the tone, at normal volume. Its subtle stuff.

This is why Selmer is so popular. It has that. (IMHO)

Unfortunately, you need to support & put some work in, to get that.

The Tawain horns, and this seemed to be true with the Mauriat, sound best at mid-volume, but dont quite "make it" in the extremes.

Hope that helps.

 

[GAS_Wyo]

I think, and its just me, that most of your Tawian horns, sound good if and when you don't put tons of air thru the horn. Possibly they are designed for that.

Ive always thought air is what separates a decent tone from a really good one. Air support is key, unfortunately, many teachers do not stress it enough, or at all. Alot of weekend & hobby players, who possibly never had enough private instruction or spent enough time with the horn to develop that, have poor air support.

This maybe who these horns are marketed for, Im not sure.

I feel that when you push a horn, really push it & put alot of air into it, something happens to the sound. In some horns, it breaks up or gets really nasty. In others, it really sings in a complex way.

The opposite is true also. When playing a ppp, very soft, the tone should be as complex and full of the "stuff" (harmonics/depth, call it what you want) thats in the tone, at normal volume. Its subtle stuff.

This is why Selmer is so popular. It has that. (IMHO)

Unfortunately, you need to support & put some work in, to get that.

The Tawain horns, and this seemed to be true with the Mauriat, sound best at mid-volume, but dont quite "make it" in the extremes.

Hope that helps.

Answering a Selmer Player (above) with another Selmer Player on sound of the PM's...

The first impression you get when holding the new System 76 soprano is its solid, well-built look. The blue-abalone key touches are stunning and the key placement is very comfortable. The gold-lacquer finish complements its look as a modern-contemporary soprano.

After playing my first note, I was awestruck by the fullness of the tone, particularly at the low registers. Many players comment on the big-sounding low registers of the P Mauriat saxophones and this one is no exception. I am able to execute all the way down to low B-flat effortlessly. The sound is not boomingly huge but creamily full. I did not have to adjust my embouchure very much to glide my way around the low notes. I was very pleased with the flexibility down there.

As I get more and more comfortable with the modern key work (* I was using a vintage soprano for the last 5 years), I felt a sense of ‘connection’ between the key placement and the tone production. The ‘feel’ was very easy and effortless and the notes sort of ‘pop’ out with every movement of my fingers. As I went higher up the registers, there is a little healthy resistance which prevents me from over-blowing. Middle D was very warm and round. Octave E and above was very clear and powerful but not too overbearing. The sound doesn’t crack as I tried to push it. Instead it remained focused and clear throughout.

Intonation is a major concern with soprano players. And all I can say is that I’m very pleased with the overall intonation of the System 76 soprano. I did not have to constantly adjust my embouchure in order to keep in tune. This soprano definitely out-performs other sopranos in its price range in terms of intonation.

Last but not least, I would like to add a comment about the overall tone quality. Although it has a very clear and full modern soprano sound, it surprisingly retains the warmth missing in most of the modern sopranos in the market. I was a skeptic of such advertising lines such as “a vintage-like warmth but with modern key work”. But the System 76 soprano has just done justice to such a claim.

As a former Selmer player myself, I'll say I believe the Selmers have less character than the PM's.

 

[Selmer's_glu]

OK, but I'm going to respectfully DISagree w/you.

To me, it doesn't have it, at the extremes, like I said before. Maybe I like to "push" horns too much, but thats the way I play.

I'm primarly a tenor player, who, in recent years, here in New York, seems to have been getting more & more calls for Bari--I recently played Bari on a national TV commercial for Charles Schwab for a pretty well know jingle house & ad agency.

I'm not sure what kind of playing you need the Mauriat for, perhaps it will be what you need, I don't think it would fulfill all my purposes.

Good luck

 

[bari_sax_diva]

Okay, I'm back from the NAMM show and had a blow on one of these. In short, I was awfully impressed by the sound and response of this horn. Sunday in this part of the hall is pretty loud, but by using a glass case across the aisle as a sound reflector (I'm sure the exhibitor there just loved that), I found that this horn had a nice, complex sound with TONS of overtones. Getting plenty of volume wasn't a problem for me--when I poured on the air, the sax responded with a roar. Low A and Bb popped out at pp (not bad, considering it had been subjected to tire-kicking all weekend), and the top notes spoke nicely, though the front F didn't seem to respond as easily as I'm used to on my Yamaha. Ergos were awfully good, though I'd tweak the LH table a bit to lighten things up and also swap out the thumbhook for something more forgiving--the metal ones seem to shred my hands.

While I was there I also played Goodson's sax (a close runner-up), the black nickel Keilwerth, and several others I won't mention because they didn't stand out in any particular way (save one that was remarkably bad). I've been keeping an eye out for a backup horn in case my primary axe gets hit by a truck or something, and although I was thinking one of the Taiwanese horns would probably do the job well enough, I wasn't thinking particularly about the Mauriat. Now I'm thinking that if the horn holds up as well as it plays new, this could become my primary axe for R&B gigs. It just seems well-suited to that sort of thing.

YMMV of course, but I'm not easily impressed and I sure was today.

Cheers,
Leanne

P.S. I only played the horn for a few minutes, but for whatever it's worth, it *seemed* lighter than my Yami 62.

 

[GAS_Wyo]

Leanne,
Have you ever played/compared your YBS-62 to a Selmer Series II? I've been toying with the idea for the last few days. I haven't played the PM yet (still waiting for Tim Glesmann of Sax Alley to return an email), but the Selmers always intrigue me. Plus, glu above got me to thinking...

Thanks for the report back. Hope you enjoyed the show!

 

[bari_sax_diva]

Leanne,
Have you ever played/compared your YBS-62 to a Selmer Series II? I've been toying with the idea for the last few days. I haven't played the PM yet (still waiting for Tim Glesmann of Sax Alley to return an email), but the Selmers always intrigue me. Plus, glu above got me to thinking...

I play tested a Series II before I bought my Yamaha, and the key layout didn't work for me. I was playing a Mark VI bari at the time, and the Yamaha was a much easier switch. I don't remember there being a substantial difference in sound between the two, but it's been quite a while since I played a SA-80.

I think I've finally come to the conclusion that once you've narrowed a search down to a [small] group of top-end horns, you're dealing with such similarly excellent equipment that the rest comes down to issues of personal preference. So... all I can suggest is to give the Selmer a try and see if you dig it enough to want to spend hours practicing it. If you do... mission accomplished!

Best,
Leanne

 

[DaveR]

The Series 2 is very heavy. Much heavier than a Yamaha 62 or a Mk6. I played one for 6/7 years in a quartet and had to use a stand; I couldn't have hacked it on the sling. So, beware if weight is a problem - it has a great sound though.

 

[danarsenault]

Serie II bari weight

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.

 

[DaveR]

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.

:!: That's weird, the Yamaha 62 bari I played felt like a tenor in comparison to my Series 2 bari.

 

[bari_sax_diva]

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.

Back about a year or so ago, there was a thread that dealt with this same subject, but was focused more on tenors. Time to revive that question; so as not to derail this thread, I've posted a new one here.

 

[jojosax]

I also tried Steve Goodson's bari, and...surprise, I found it VERY good & dark & big sounding, actually i liked it BETTER than the P.Mauriat--more features, a little slicker action &, a lot lighter. I think Steve came up with a nice one

where can we get info from steve goosdson's bari?
is it a low A or LowBb.

thanks

 

[Funkdude]

Hi, I live in Denmark - but I'm probably going to Netherlands around easter. They have the 300DK Bari. For some reason dealers in Denmark doesn't have it.

I would like a lot more info on the horn though - I can't find many reviews I think I can trust. Mauriat and their endorsers have written a few - but where can I learn more from less biased sources?

Please help me out on this - I really could do with better bari than my banged up King Zephyr (I love the sound - hate about everything else ;-)

Thanks, Peter