The Bassic Sax Blog

     Conn 24-M Mezzo-Soprano Serial # 213735   Source: SAXQUEST.COM on eBay.com

At the end of last month, a fellow by the name of Jay left a comment on this site asking about F mezzo-sopranos. Specifically, Jay was wondering if a company like Aquilasax were to start making the horns again, would there be a market for them? Or were they just a historical curiosity?

My reply to this was simple: Yes, they are just a historical curiosity. No, I don’t see a market for them.

Well, little did I know that Jay’s dropping of the name Aquilasax, was more than an abstract example. Yesterday morning I happened across a thread on SOTW, that a fellow named JayAyliff started 2 days ago.

JayAyliff posed the following question in a thread titled, Who wants an F Mezzo?

Does anyone actually want to own and play one of these? Aquilasax are considering having some made if enough people want one. They’re expensive because they’re not expecting to sell many, but go here to register an interest. Who knows, if lots of people want one maybe the price will come down. http://aquilasax.3dcartstores.com/F-Mezzo-saxophone_p_414.html

All the best,

Jay Ayliff

Since Jay posted his question, the responses have been—to my mind anyway—quite predictable. So far 6 people have responded. Of the 6 respondents, 5 didn’t own an F mezzo.

The 1 person who did already own one, paulwl, offered up the following:

They do have a unique tone – they are tonally to the alto what the C melody is to the tenor. But it’s nothing you couldn’t try to get on a conventional soprano with a dark setup.

They might be handy for playing English horn parts if an e-h isn’t available. But again, not worth the $5k-plus one will cost you.

They’re best as an investment rarity, to be appreciated first and foremost for themselves.

Mine is extra cool ’cause it’s got a factory-add-on high F# key!

None of the 5 players, who didn’t own an F mezzo yet, appeared to be poised to sign up on Aquilasax’s website. Their answers ranged from: “While I find the F-mezzo an interresting horn with a beautiful voice, I also find it is too similar to the Eb-alto to justify the investment.” To: “I have only played 2 or 3 Mezzos (Conn) and I feel it is the least marketable horn of the saxes.”

Another interesting point raised, was that “…unlike the old C-Mel, which is usually a real bargain, you would still have to transpose. Plus, for orchestra, I really like what french horns add to the mix. I don’t see a need to put a sax in that position.”

The most promising response was: “I don’t know that I want one (transposing from Bb and Eb horns in one tune taxes me me enough), but if Aquilasax can match that old Conn sound, I would be interested.”

The next day the same poster came back and wrote: “I was somewhat interested until I DID go to the linked website and saw the price. Best of luck with this project but I think I’ll pass on it. And I’m NOT trying to be negative, it is just at that price, I am not motivated to sign up for one.”

I think my friend Milandro summed it up quite well when he wrote:

The musical merits or demerits (range, need to transpose, use in the orchestral context ) are rather more the icing on the cake to add motivation to the possible buyers, most will buy an horn like this (if affordable and therefore made in China ……..the Jenssen sax is not only expensive because is hand-made but because is made in Denmark with a limited possible market!) for the novelty content. ( the SOTW audience and users pool is the perfect example of how some people collect saxophones (for not too many logical reasons) way above their ” needs”, or, for some (I am one), even capabilities….).

Which will give a surge of sales (so to speak……) in the beginning and then there will be very few sales after that.

All in all, the fact that this thread has been up for just under 60 hours now, and only 6 people have responded—and only the original poster was enthusiastic about the project—tells me that a new, F mezzo-soprano is unlikely. If Aquilasax does proceed with the project, early buyers are going to be paying a premium, since they will be covering the R&D, start-up costs, etc. etc.

     Conn 24-M Mezzo-Soprano Serial # 213735   Source: SAXQUEST.COM on eBay.com

Currently Aquilasax is projecting the price to be just south of $3,000. Quite honestly, if I wanted an F mezzo-soprano, I’d buy a Conn.

This is a thought echoed by Bill Baily who writes:

At a college where I taught, we had a Basset horn in F (like an alto clarinet) which was purchased to play french horn parts in woodwind ensembles due to the lack of the FHs. That would be a use for the mezzo but I still feel it is more of a collector horn and I would just spring for a Conn if I were interested.

In the last while there has been a bumper crop of Conn F mezzos for sale or auction. At the moment, there is only 1 on eBay, but it is quite the beauty that Quinn is selling.

Now, if you are indeed interested in signing up for a new F mezzo-soprano, I’m sure Aquilasax would like to hear from you. (Since it seems it won’t be winning many of us SOTW old timers over any time soon.)

© 2012, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.

Last weekend a very famous musician slipped a comment into this blog. His comment and presence seems to have gone unnoticed by some, although very much noticed by others.

Ray Pizzi is a renowned sax, flute, clarinet, and bassoon player, who has not only shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians alive, but has also done extensive studio work for the television and film industries. In addition to his performance work, he is also a composer and music educator, who has worked with students from elementary to university levels.

Something else this Berklee grad possesses—besides an abundance of musical talent—is a good sense of humour.

Ray has provided a couple of resources for the readers of my site. I was going to share the educational one first, but when I watched this, I had to post it today.

Seriously, I love saxual puns, but I had no idea that there were this many!  

Thanks Ray! Some of those were hilariously funny.

I do have an great exercise that Ray has provided. I’m going to try it later today, and write about it in a few—as soon as I catch up on the articles that I’ve got that are time sensitive.

© 2012, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.

Yesterday I spent most of the day sitting in a hospital waiting for my partner to have surgery and come out of recovery. Because it was one of those really primitive hospitals that didn’t have any comfortable lounges, I just spent much of the day sitting in the cafeteria.

I had taken my laptop and my e-reader along, so I was all set. I had a table by an electrical outlet all to myself, and had made friends with the cafeteria staff early on in the day. Whenever I needed to use the washroom, they were more than happy to watch my computer for me.

During the hours I was sitting there, I had an opportunity to write a big portion of the new Oscar Adler section of my site. I’ve been wanting to get that done for months now.

As a matter of fact, that’s a section I often go to refer people to, because I think I’ve already written it. Imagine my surprise when I find out that it doesn’t exist…. yet. 

     Oscar Adler, Gloria model tenor  Source: allinwrist

I’m going see if I can get the Adler section finished and edited later today. I believe I have enough decent images to illustrate at least some of it now.

Much like many of the vintage, German brands that I write about, the Oscar Adler page on my site will be a work in progress for a while to come. If you have an Oscar Adler saxophone that you would like to contribute to my website for illustration purposes, please let me know.

I never give out the full serial numbers of the horns that people send me photos of, and I always provide photo credits. If you’re the shy type, you can simply be credited with A Friend Of Bassic Sax.

© 2012, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.