[Dave Dolson]

Discreet: Before we go any further, let's agree about that which you are asking.

Let's define "saxello." The Saxello was made by H.N. White Co. under the brand-name "King" in the early 20th Century. It had a straight body, a bell tipped at 90-degrees and a curved neck.

At the end of the 20th Century, some companies began issuing straight sopranos with a bell tipped at 45-degrees and a curved neck (like the old Buescher TrueTone tipped-bell models) and the new ones were called "saxellos" by marketers, but they weren't even close to a real Saxello.

What you describe in your question sounds to me more like the common curved soprano, not a tipped-bell straight soprano.

With that understood, I have switched necks among my various sopranos with removable necks. The best arrangement on my curved Yanagisawa SC902 is using the stock curved neck that came with the horn. A straight Yanagisawa solid-silver neck seems to give the horn a bit more punch but the intonation suffers slightly AND the horn doesn't need more punch. I don't have a more radically curved neck than those that came with the horn, one that came with my Yanagisawa S992, and an after-market solid-silver Yanagisawa curved neck. DAVE

 

[Dave Dolson]

Discreet: So, what you have are two sopranos, one straight and one curved. They are not Saxellos (nor are they the tipped-bell models). Simple enough . . .

And it is not uncommon that switching necks makes a difference to the player - in tone, response, timbre, and comfort in holding the thing. I doubt if the audience hears it - or cares.

When I first put the straight neck on my curved soprano I immediately heard the additional power. I am a user of straight necks on all of my straight sopranos (as opposed to the supplied curved necks - I like the tone and timbre better with the straight necks). Others prefer curved necks but that is another discussion.

After playing the straight neck on my curved sop, I came to realize that the stock curved neck gave me better intonation, so I've abandoned the straight neck on my curvy.

Even though I don't use the curved necks on my straight sops, I keep them with the horns in case something goes wrong with the straight neck and then I'll have a back-up.

And finally, I have tried to switch around all of my soprano necks in all possible combinations - and settled on what came with the horns. DAVE

 

[Dave Dolson]

Swingin' Cat: I think Yanagisawa changed the neck angle on the newest curved sop (SC99X series), but I could be wrong. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that earlier models had unannounced changes in their neck-angles, too. Like most products, design changes may be instituted without fanfare and only when two people compared curved necks would they find out they were different.

I have played a couple of the newest curved Yanagisawa sopranos but honestly don't recall if they were THAT much different from the SC90X series, which I have. The obvious differences are the location of the bell pads and the angle of the bell in relation to the body. By the way, so far I haven't found a curved soprano that plays as good as my SC902, including vintage AND the new Yanagisawas - at least good enough to make me want one.

I know the angles are different among those curved necks shipped with straight sopranos and those shipped with curved sops (and Discreet's photos show those differences very well).

I'm not convinced that the curves make much of a difference. I once had a straight alto and it too made little difference from the audience's perspective. Straight or curved, my altos all sounded like me, just like my sopranos, curved or straight. I think the snake-charmer, oboeish sound that some soprano players achieve comes from their mouthpieces, their tonal concepts, and their embouchure, NOT the shape of their saxophones. DAVE