[jolind]

Hi Martinis,

I'm playing a 1955 The Martin tenor lacking it's original neck. Right now I play it with a vintage King neck (don't know which model). It's in tune and has a fine sound, but I'm not happy with the altissimo yet. I've checked it with all my mouthpieces over months playing each for a reasonable time, but the high register still lacks response.
I'm now thinking about replacing the neck by another one (silver) to enhance the response of altissimo.
Do you have any experiences on that with your Martin tenors? Or any ideas/recommendations?

thanks,
Jo

 

[bruce bailey]

If you were in the US, I would send you my 1954 original neck to try (not for sale). Maybe you should contact Phil Barone (here on SOTW) and see what he has.

 

[milandro]

if you want to try different options for your necks you have several near you:

Stephan Bösken in Nauheim

http://www.boesken.biz/_htm/en_necks.htm

or Karsten Gloger ( a German living in Holland)

http://www.gloger-handkraft.com/products.htm

Tino Schucht (despite the fact that they also sell implements to improve " vibrations " in a saxophone which scientific base is, in my opinion, ridiculous)

http://www.schuchtsaxtechnology.com/

Gerhard Julius Keilwerth

http://www.saxophonspezialist.de/exklusive-s-bogen.html

Musik Haag

http://www.musikhaag.ch/de/unser-angebot/zubehoer/exklusiv-bei-haag/item/haag-saxophon-s-bogen

They all produce necks, some also in solid silver (whatever that means , material, in my opinion, plays no role in a neck) they are all expensive and some claim they can do wonders for you and to you.

In my view you cannot buy a new neck on paper (which is what most of these will ask you to do because they hardly have one that you can just fit on your saxophone and try ) but see if any of these can provide you with something that you might be happy with.

Good luck!

 

[jolind]

Thanks for the research milandro! I know some of the guys you listed. I first wanted to get independent statements on this topic before contacting them, but it's definitely a good idea to just test, test and test...

 

[milandro]

Gloger and Bösken are very well established and you will find lots of comments on their work if you use the search finction
http://www.saxontheweb.net/Resource...s&sa=Site+Search&siteurl=www.saxontheweb.net/
http://www.saxontheweb.net/Resource...sa=Site+Search&siteurl=www.saxontheweb.net%2F
I doubt that you would find much on the particular situation that you want to research:

" improving" the altissimo on a Martin tenor 1955 by the use of a silver after market neck...............

Of course , there is always the possibility that the solution doesn't come in a box but comes with improved practice (says one amateur player, me, who would wish that he could improve his altissimo by buying a neck, a mouthpiece or whatever..... )

 

[Koen88]

and how about http://www.blazersatelier.nl/

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

The neck you are using currently is quite evidently not a suitable stand in for the Martin original, as these horns have some of the most effortless altissimo around, especially on tenor.

Also, have you tried it with a more open faced Link STM? A sublime combination with this horn.

 

[jolind]

Yes, I played it with an open faced STM for the last 4 month but it didn't add much to the altissimo. The current neck makes the instrument sound much broader than the usual Martins (which I like actually) and it took me almost one year to really find the typical dark core sound of a Martin by trying different mouthpiece/reed combinations. I suppose that a fitting neck could enhance that core and make the altissimo much easier.