Saxophone necks to personalize your sound!

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Saxophone necks to personalize your sound!

Cory Barnfield
- 76 posts
June 18, 2011 5:01:11 PM EDT

Playing necks on your saxophone with different plating or finishes will affect the quality of your sound. When I played on a lacquered selmer I used a gold plated neck, which made the overall sound richer, fuller and more free blowing. I also used a lacquer neck that had ribs in the tenion of the neck causing the sound to be very focused and free blowing with less air in the sound. I believe most saxophone companies offer different necks to personalize your overall sound. I would like to hear some of your feedback about different necks you may use on your saxophone. It really does make a difference. These necks also affect intonation on your horn. I tried out 4 necks of the same plating and all had slightly different intonation. Just the slightest variance in the neck will affect intonation somewhere on the horn. I have also heard that Mr. Oleg has fantastic necks for just about any brand of saxophone. He does all of his custom work. Below is a list of necks I have tried and their tonal affect from using them. Three years ago I went on a neck phase and tried about every finish possible.

Gold plated Neck-Free blowing, rich centered tone, altissimo full sounding and responsive

Sterling Silver-Sonic quality notes very responsive and brighter in the high register.

Pink Gold-very even warm round sound, not quite as rich as the Gold Plated, but even scale and responsive

Lacquered neck with Ribbed tenion-Warm mellow sound, full centered tone, pure sound with no air in sound.

Black Lacquer-Darker sound with more resistence.

Silver plated-Bright and very responsive

Remember if you like a certian neck try out a few because tuning will vary from neck to neck.
Mike Giacalone
- 8 posts
June 19, 2011 8:46:12 AM EDT

Very interesting, I'm huge Michael Brecker fan and know he used a silver plated Mark VI neck. any comments about how this would effect my Mark VI. I'm using a Guardala MB II mpc. Very close to his sound but I'm also experimenting too get closer to michael sound.
Cory Barnfield
- 76 posts
June 19, 2011 10:40:24 AM EDT

Hi Mike,
The silver plated Mark VI neck will brighten up your sound a bit and will make your horn even more free blowing than it is now. I copied my heroes equipment exactly and even though the tonal characteristic of the horn was very similar I always sounded like me.
Mike Giacalone
- 8 posts
June 19, 2011 7:04:54 PM EDT

So do you mean "your sound" came through even after having similar equipment to your heros.
Mikey Rivera
- 50 posts
June 21, 2011 2:03:34 AM EDT

Yeah, some necks really give you a differebt feel on the horn. I have a custom silver oleg neck on my keilwerth and it really opens up the sound throughout the horn. Pitch, sound and intonation will also vary between different necks. A few brands are: Oleg Stephen Bosken Saxgourmet Gloger Handkraft Yamaha, selmer, keilwerth and other manufacturers. Good luck guys, best wishes.

This post was edited by Mikey Rivera at June 21, 2011 2:08:13 AM EDT
Mike Giacalone
- 8 posts
June 21, 2011 7:12:32 AM EDT

Where can I try different necks out with my horn setup.
Cory Barnfield
- 76 posts
June 21, 2011 7:46:25 AM EDT

Mike we can't be exact copies of someone else so yes there will be still you in the sound, but the exact setup will help give you the same tonal results. They don't make selmer Mark VI necks any more, but i'm sure there are some stores close to you that have Mark VI necks. You could probably google search for a local store that carries them.
Cory Barnfield
- 76 posts
June 22, 2011 11:30:10 PM EDT

Mike you might also try a silver plated reference 54 tenor neck since it is suppose to be a copy of the VI neck or you can try a silver series 3 neck. The neck angle of this is suppose to be the same as the VI, i'm not sure about the bore size though.
Cory Barnfield
- 76 posts
June 30, 2011 2:55:43 PM EDT

Hey Mike,
I just wanted to do a follow-up and see if you have tried any necks out for your mark vi tenor?
Mike Giacalone
- 8 posts
June 30, 2011 9:25:42 PM EDT

I haven't tried any necks and don't know where I can try them. WWB will plate my Mark VI neck for about $100.00 with new cork. I have two mark VI's so my second horn I will probably plate the neck and use that on my first horn.
Mike
Mark Hollinsworth
- 1 posts
March 29, 2013 2:19:44 PM EDT

Who is WWB?
I have a spare Ref-36 neck for my Ref-36 (I originally bought a ref-54 neck, but it was really stuffy).
I'm using a Guardala custom, 'Tradtional' gold plate. I stopped by his shop many years ago and tried several, I liked th e sound of this one the best. The 'Studi' played really easily and had killer altissimo- but too bright for me. I tend to play a bit bright already- but I'm looking for a sound sort of a mix between Yusef Lateef, Dexter Gordon and David Murray.
I'm thinking a gold plate on the spare neck may be a nice setup.

Here is a sample

www.talbotco.com/music/Black_Orpheus_12-21-2003.wav

Home.wavecable.com/~lotus54/Mark/Music.html
Cory Barnfield
- 76 posts
March 29, 2013 10:31:21 PM EDT

Hi Mark,

WWB stands for woodwind and brasswind. I would try out several necks. Every neck seems to have a slightly different character, tone and response. The gold plate is a great neck, but if you have the chance play several and pick the one that fits you. If one neck seems stuffy it might just be that particular neck.

Cory
Ron Hutchison
- 2 posts
April 10, 2013 1:29:03 PM EDT

I didn't play my Yanagisawa T 901 much, even though I liked the ergonomics. Then I read a comment about trying their bronze neck for a more rowdy sound. I got one and, man, it's like having a whole new horn. I was thinking about buying a Yanagisawa bronze sax, but now I can put that off for a few years...