[sparq]

Do techs tend not to know that the Yanagisawa dual-neck sopranos are made to operate with the neck receiving the octave mechanism on the side?

I brought an S-880 to a tech with a new (very used) curved neck, which the tech said was incapable of being corrected.

I also had an S-991 curved neck which the tech attempted to make playable with the the instrument by extending the octave mechanism, but it seems that the work resulted in neither neck playing properly when aligned in the proper location (because the Yani design is different than the Selmer or Yamaha).

Also, I do not know how the octave mechanism was extended, but would it typically be possible to bring it back to the proper positioning to work properly with just the OEM 880 straight neck?

 

[Dave Dolson]

sparq: I'm having difficulty understanding your post. I've owned a few Yanagisawa sopranos in my time - still have a curved SC902 that came with a curved detachable neck. I also have two after-market Yanagisawa soprano necks (bought separately off of eBay years ago) - one straight and one curved; both solid silver. Neither silver neck was associated with a particular model soprano when I bought them. I bought them as separate items - necks only.

All of my Yanagisawa soprano necks have an upper octave arm that opens on the top side of the neck and with a connecting piece for the upper octave arm at the tenon-end that is centered on the back side of the tube. At one time, I not only tried the two silver necks on my SC902, but also on an S-992 that I owned. I had no difficulty putting those necks in place on either soprano.

If per chance the S-880 has some sort of off-set upper octave actuator (that little rod that sticks up above the neck-tenon receiver on the main body) which connects to the lower part of the upper octave arm), it seems simple enough to twist the neck in the tenon socket so both parts come together.

I have an old King alto that has an off-set upper octave actuator, but that's the only saxophone I've seen with such a design.

Maybe some photos would help us with your issues. DAVE

 

[sparq]

Here are photos of the straight neck and curved neck as attached.

 

[Dave Dolson]

OK. Is there some reason why you can't twist the neck in the neck tenon to center the upper octave arm with that little black-covered rod that sticks up? OR, just leave it the way it as and make sure the upper octave vent opens and closes properly. That could be done by adding some material to the black slip-cover over the rod to take up more space (or less, however it works out). DAVE

 

[clarnibass]

A straight neck on any soprano doesn't need to be misaligned... or aligned for that matter... to any specific position. You can put it in a position that works and then rotate the mouthpiece for the comfortable orientation. Unless the neck tenon is "keyed" to the socket in a certain angle... which is the case for some models, but I don't think it is on that one...?

For an angled neck it matters, but for a soprano not as much as alto, tenor, etc. so maybe worth checking if it is not comfortable to play when it is more centered?
However, it should mostly work even if misaligned. In this example a problem might be that the change of the direction of the lever is significant in comparison with the key. This could cause the parts to slide against each other more and create a lot more friction. It could depend on spring tension, friction of the material used, etc.
Imagine that the key part was much longer around the circumference and rotated even a lot more. Eventually it would try to move it to the opposite direction of what it should be. The same is happening to a much smaller degree here. So everything causing friction should be be as optimal as possible. It is never friction-free when the keys don't rotate on the same axis but it is best to reduce it as much as possible.

Or maybe the problem is something small like what Dave mentioned.

Question is why do you have it at that angle in the first place? If it's the comfortable angle, and more centered would be too much of a compromise, why do you have the straight neck misaligned too?

 

[Dave Dolson]

I'd like to hear from other S-880 owners about this issue. Like I said before, I've owned a few dual-neck Yanagisawa sopranos (and a clone - Antigua 590) and I don't recall an issue like this one where the rod that sticks up to contact the upper octave arm is off-center.

I just looked at my SC902 (essentially the same design as the straight sops except for the curved bell) and that rod is centered on the back-side of the horn. The plate that connects all of those rods also seems to be shorter in the photos you provided (which may account for the rod being off-center).

I think this whole thread is in the wrong section, too. It should be in the YANAGISAWA or NECKS sections rather than where it is. Maybe it would get more views - and more replies. DAVE

 

[skeller047]

The neck on my SC-991 is like this, somewhat off-center. That is if I align the *neck* so that it's centered between the LH and RH stack. It's not a biggie. If I line it up by eye with the thumb rests, it sits straight, but it cocks my right wrist too much, so I have to twist it a bit for comfort.

 

[captain blowhard]

I think the solution to your "problem" is fairly straight forward. Just loosen off the neck receiver screw and rotate the neck so the octave arm is centered over the activator rod. At least that's what I do and it seems to work. They don't need to be exactly aligned, but for me it works best if the rod is slightly left of center (as seen by the player). Then you twist the mouthpiece to whatever orientation works best for you.

 

[sparq]

I found another tech who corrected the positioning and made the 991 neck work great so both the curved and straight necks work properly.