[Bar-Ron]

Pretty cool deep sound on a Conn "Chu"!

I was playing around with a Rascher Tenor MP for calming the beast.
The Conn new wonder is one screaming sax but can it be tamed?

I like the depth it adds to the Conn.
Is any one else using a Rascher on a New Wonder II Tenor?
The Rascher does calm the throttle and adds a richness and depth that smokes.
I can't believe how many different sounds from dark to screaming bright and powerful one can get out of these old horns.......amazing!

 

[istan]

Bar ron, do you think that a Caravan would have a similar result? I heard that Rascher's and Caravan's have the same sound concept. Anyone tried both?

 

[Bar-Ron]

Bar ron, do you think that a Caravan would have a similar result? I heard that Rascher's and Caravan's have the same sound concept. Anyone tried both?

I tried both on the tenor.

The results are that the Rascher has a mellow smooth deep sound with some upper register brightness that the horn allows to come through.

The caravan having a little brightness to a rather dark sound "Rings" a bit and colors the sound with an annoying edge that spoils its classical sound on the Tenor, but not true on the Alto.

On the alto chu I like the Caravan as it has thicker side rails and stays smooth. On the Tenor chu the Caravan has almost the same thickness rails as a Rascher but the Rascher stays dark and mellow with a somewhat flexible voice. The Rascher maintains some resistance so one can work diaphragm pressure to build volume. A little more work than just blowing and getting sound but deffinately smoother of the two. The Rascher gives the Chu a deep low end and a dark voice, good for section work or quartet I think.

 

[J.Max]

Bar ron, do you think that a Caravan would have a similar result? I heard that Rascher's and Caravan's have the same sound concept. Anyone tried both?

They are both designed for the Rascher school of classical playing, which emphasizes a much darker sound than the French players. The Caravan pieces are designed to be Rascher-type pieces for modern instruments, whereas the Rascher piece is a duplicate of the one that he himself used. (Which was a Buescher mouthpiece. The Rascher piece is based on a Martin blank and has a very slight rollover, but other than that, they are identical on the inside to a Buescher.)

 

[paulwl]

Way I heard it, the soprano Rascher was redesigned off the Martin blank several years ago, but the others were (supposedly) Buescher based.

I never did see a Buescher alto piece so narrow between the rails as the Rascher, tho...most reeds hang off a bit.

 

[Bar-Ron]

I haven't both to compare accept for the Tenor piece.

The Rascher baffle is excavated completely from the tip back and the Caravan has a slight rollover at the tip which gives it a little more "Presence" or brightness. The chambers look real close; both excavated and I think the Rascher more than the Caravan. The baffle on the Rascher is slightly deeper and slightly more rounded and nicely hollowed out beyond the side rails making a wider baffle; at least that is how they look side by side.

When it comes to the Alto chu, I like the Caravan for its little extra presence, though I haven't a Rascher for the alto.....yet

On the tenor chu it is too much, the horn is already bright.

The Classic sax site only mentions the Soprano as being from a Martin blank.