I have two saxes of the 52 series: YAS-52 and YTS-52.
YAS-52 is from a newer crop, with 'Yamaha' engraved on the bell. Maybe it's from the end of 1990-s or so.
YTS-52 is an older 'purple label' crop(with the decal removed by someone in the past).
Both are original and in nice shape.
I played YAS-52 for some time around 10 years ago, then it's been in storage since I haven't played sax since then. I actually only played it for a month or so back then so I can't remember now what were my impressions of its past playabillity.
I never played YTS-52 since I got it around 8 years ago when I decided to renew my sax playing but that didn't happen at that time. So it's been only in storage since I got it.
Today I took them out for comparison of ergonomics whatever that might be when you comparing two saxes of a different size.
The result is: YTS-52 pleasantly surprised me while YAS-52 was more like a disappointment.
Here is the reason..
I've got my pinky on the short side and I find for myself that the older "inline G#-cluster" of vintage horns suites me better than a newer low spatula Bb design. However I can live with the low Bb "rocking" spatula but I need to reach for it and press it with my pinky on the upper left corner so I don't touch low B and C# accidentally.
When examining the two 52 saxes today I found that they have slightly different geometry (and design!) of the G#-cluster that makes for me a BIG difference in playability.
- I was surprised to find out that on YTS-52 the reach from the G-pearl key down to the Bb spatula corner is 5 mm shorter than on YAS-52!
- In addition YAS-52 has that... sorry for calling it that way but I find that design stupid. There is an interconnection between the sides of the C# and Bb spatulas. That C#-Bb link works just the opposite way for me than it's supposed to work.
I see they designed it in such a way that when the Bb spatula is pressed on the lower side it pushes the C# spatula forward and thus prevents the C# key cup from opening. However since I can't reach the low side of the Bb spatula while holding all the upper stack keys closed I happen to press flat on the side of the Bb spatula (it doesn't rock in that case) and that opens the C# pad some 1 to 2 mm which obviously creates an unacceptable leak.
So I don't know how and why they managed to screw up an acceptable design of YTS-52 G# table and turn it into that "smart" engineering decision on YAS-52.
Now, can I disconnect the Bb spatula on YAS-52 from the low C#? I can see that there is what I'd call a 'ball-head screw' that goes into the side of C# spatula and that ball slides along the side slot of the low Bb extention.
The link works in the following way: when the low C# is pressed the upper side of the low Bb spatula tilts inward and that doesn't affect the B and Bb action. When on the other hand the low side of the Bb spatual is pressed it pushed the C# spatula forward thus insuring it locks the corresponding key cup in place. I also described what happens when I press the low Bb spatula on the side and I find it driving me mad.
To be honest I expected just the opposite: I thought since a tenor sax is bigger in size it would require a longer reach for the hands. That was the case when I compared a bass clarinet against an alto one.
YAS-52 is from a newer crop, with 'Yamaha' engraved on the bell. Maybe it's from the end of 1990-s or so.
YTS-52 is an older 'purple label' crop(with the decal removed by someone in the past).
Both are original and in nice shape.
I played YAS-52 for some time around 10 years ago, then it's been in storage since I haven't played sax since then. I actually only played it for a month or so back then so I can't remember now what were my impressions of its past playabillity.
I never played YTS-52 since I got it around 8 years ago when I decided to renew my sax playing but that didn't happen at that time. So it's been only in storage since I got it.
Today I took them out for comparison of ergonomics whatever that might be when you comparing two saxes of a different size.
The result is: YTS-52 pleasantly surprised me while YAS-52 was more like a disappointment.
Here is the reason..
I've got my pinky on the short side and I find for myself that the older "inline G#-cluster" of vintage horns suites me better than a newer low spatula Bb design. However I can live with the low Bb "rocking" spatula but I need to reach for it and press it with my pinky on the upper left corner so I don't touch low B and C# accidentally.
When examining the two 52 saxes today I found that they have slightly different geometry (and design!) of the G#-cluster that makes for me a BIG difference in playability.
- I was surprised to find out that on YTS-52 the reach from the G-pearl key down to the Bb spatula corner is 5 mm shorter than on YAS-52!
- In addition YAS-52 has that... sorry for calling it that way but I find that design stupid. There is an interconnection between the sides of the C# and Bb spatulas. That C#-Bb link works just the opposite way for me than it's supposed to work.
I see they designed it in such a way that when the Bb spatula is pressed on the lower side it pushes the C# spatula forward and thus prevents the C# key cup from opening. However since I can't reach the low side of the Bb spatula while holding all the upper stack keys closed I happen to press flat on the side of the Bb spatula (it doesn't rock in that case) and that opens the C# pad some 1 to 2 mm which obviously creates an unacceptable leak.
So I don't know how and why they managed to screw up an acceptable design of YTS-52 G# table and turn it into that "smart" engineering decision on YAS-52.
Now, can I disconnect the Bb spatula on YAS-52 from the low C#? I can see that there is what I'd call a 'ball-head screw' that goes into the side of C# spatula and that ball slides along the side slot of the low Bb extention.
The link works in the following way: when the low C# is pressed the upper side of the low Bb spatula tilts inward and that doesn't affect the B and Bb action. When on the other hand the low side of the Bb spatual is pressed it pushed the C# spatula forward thus insuring it locks the corresponding key cup in place. I also described what happens when I press the low Bb spatula on the side and I find it driving me mad.
To be honest I expected just the opposite: I thought since a tenor sax is bigger in size it would require a longer reach for the hands. That was the case when I compared a bass clarinet against an alto one.