Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 16:06:27 -0800
From: Dave F.
Subject: Re: [CB] [CB Digest]
I just acquired a Frank Holton bass
saxophone, and the beast is missing its neck.
Can something be modified to fit this?
I have a loose, silver plated alto saxophone neck, without a
horn to plug onto. Some of them older bari's & basses used a
modified alto neck. You will need to figure out the length required to
make it play in tune "WITH ITSELF" Jerry rig something onto it then
play a one finger "C" then go to the all finger "D" you'll see in a big
hurry how close or far you are from the right length. remember that's
one full step.
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From: Steve Weinert
Subject: Re: [CB] [CB Digest] Bass Saxophone Parts
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 18:07:14 -0600
On Mar 7, 2005, at 5:56 PM, List Server wrote:
> I just acquired a Frank Holton bass saxophone, and the
beast is missing its neck.
> Can something be modified to fit this?
> Does anyone have any leads for me to follow in my neck
quest?
> Any suggestions in regards to solving this problem (be
nice, now)?
> I really will appreciate almost any constructive comments
you have to offer.
> Best Regards,
> Steven
Great find Steven!!
In general Holton Bass Saxes are "Stencils" (that is they were
made at other manufacturer's plants and labeled "Holton").
In discussions there is some indication that Holton may have
bench built some, but apparently few Bass Saxes, with the rest being
Buescher or other stencils (Martin comes to mind).
The Bass Saxophone Cooperative (a Yahoo Groups mailing list I
set up) might be a good start. Several makers can make a new neck
for your sax.
Cheers!
Steve Weinert
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From: "Matthew Stoecker"
Subject: Re: [CB] [CB Digest] Bass Saxophone Parts
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 16:23:42 -0800
Not entirely true...there is at least 1 Holton bass sax that was
definitely made by Holton-it's the prototype horn. I don't know if this
model was ever put into production, but it gave us fits trying to
figure out what it was when we got it, because all it had engraved on
the bell was 'Model Approved' and then the date. But it was clearly and
distinguishably none of the manufacturers you usually think of (Conn,
Buescher, Martin), and when we compared it to an old Holton C melody
the brace and keyguard styles were identical. And since it came from
the Leblanc archives, we deduced it was Holton.
I've seen pics of a Holton bass sax on saxpics.com that is
attributed to Conn. The pics aren't very good, but it looks different
enough from mine that I'm willing to believe that they were stencils at
some point, but possibly not all of them are.
Matthew Stoecker
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Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 16:38:39 -0800
From: "Grant Green"
Subject: [CB] Heckelphone!
The heckelphone is here! Spent a great weekend
in Seattle with Peter, Jay, and Arthur. Two heckelphones and a
contraforte were played, along with a number of other interesting
instruments (Bb tubax, straight bari sax [aka alphorn ad anche],
sax-fingered oboe, 2 F-mezzo saxes, etc.). The heckelphone plays
wonderfully, thanks to several reeds that Peter and Arthur graciously
provided.
Pictures were taken, and recordings were made. I'll have to see
if anything is usable (haven't checked any of the files yet).
Jay, did you get any good pictures?
Enjoy!
Grant
--
================================
Grant Green Contrabass.com
Sarrusophones & contrabass winds
================================
--
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From: "Arthur Grossman"
Subject: Re: [CB] Heckelphone!
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 16:53:34 -0800
Grant: I would be very reluctant to have the contraforte
recording be disseminated. Was great to see you again. Hope it
happens again soon.
Arthur
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From: "Jay and Adrienne Easton"
Subject: Re: [CB] Holton bass sax neck
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 17:08:43 -0800
> I just acquired a Frank Holton bass saxophone, and the
beast is missing its neck.
if you need measurements, perhaps someone else on this list has
a Holton bass sax?
Of you can always try the Yahoo Groups Bass Sax Co-op.
Hope this is helpful,
Jay
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Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 20:08:38 -0500
From: Jim and Joyce
Subject: [CB] No-neck Dave
A really good tech should be able to either modify a neck from a
different model, or make a replacement. With any luck an existing
neck will fit. First call might be to LA Sax.
There used to be a web site on making your own tuba.
Basically, the process is to make a section of a cone by bending and
soldering/welding(?) the brass, filling the tube with lead,
bending (the lead keeps the metal from kinking), melting out the lead,
scouring with some chemical that gets the rest of the lead out, and
then resoldering. I wasn't to sure about having a tuba when I
finished, but I definately could see making a superfund site by
accident. On second thought, don't rule out plastic or plexiglass.
Jim
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Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 18:06:46 -0800
From: "Chuck Guzis"
Subject: Re: [CB] No-neck Dave
On 3/7/2005, Jim and Joyce wrote:
>There used to be a web site on making your own tuba.
Basically, the process is to make a section of a cone by bending and
>soldering/welding(?) the brass, filling the tube with
lead, bending (the lead keeps the metal from kinking), melting out the
lead, scouring
>with some chemical that gets the rest of the lead out, and
then resoldering.
Actually, the site deals mostly with fabricating the smaller
non-precision parts of a tuba. You still have to go and scavenge
a valve cluster and bell from somewhere, unless you've got the
necessary heavy equipment stashed in your garage for machining valves
and spinning large bells.
Pitch and low-temp alloys, such as Wood's metal, are used
as tube bending fillers nowadays--lead is just too nasty to work
with. Many commercial builders uses a frozen slurry of
water mixed with soap (one trumpet builder uses Murphy's Oil Soap).
Cheers,
Chuck
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Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 18:58:31 +0000
From: David Bobroff
Subject: [CB] Bass sax neck
As for the missing bass sax neck; have you thought about having
one made? I know a bass trombonist who was having his horn
modified. One of the modifications was to put the tuning in the
hand slide and having the bell bow replaced with a one-piece deal
copied from an old Conn 62H. He found a repairman who would/could
make the bow for him. This shouldn't be any more difficult if a
couple of conditions are met:
Does the neck have any moving parts (is there an octave key vent
in it)?
Do you know the length?
If you have that information it should be nearly trivial to get
a neck made. I'm assuming that the neck is a relatively short,
vaguely "L" shaped piece of tapered brass pipe.
Good luck!
-David
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From: Chris Potter
Subject: [CB] Alto and Bass Flute Masterclass
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 12:16:01 -0700
Dear Contra List Members,
No need to hide in the closet any longer!
I am thrilled to announce that I will be teaching an alto and
bass flute masterclass this summer June 9-13 in Colorado. In addition
to solo and ensemble performances, workshops will cover Intonation,
Tone Development and Discovering New Repertoire. I will be arranging
works specifically for altos and basses to play together.
Glacier View Ranch near Boulder is the site for this event. The
ranch has a large indoor heated pool and hot tub, horsebach (ha ha)
riding, mountain biking, canoeing and hiking available.
For more information, visit my website
www.altoflute.net
where you can download an application form. You can also email me and I
will mail you a brochure.
Chris Potter
cpotter@altoflute.net
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From: David Richoux
Subject: Re: [CB] Heckelphone!
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 11:32:14 -0800
Your description of the "alphorn ad anche" lead me to do a quick
web search - while exploring, I found this instrument:
Das Spazierstockalphorn ;-)
Dave Richoux
On Mar 7, 2005, at 4:38 PM, Grant Green wrote:
> The heckelphone is here! Spent a *great* weekend in Seattle
with
> Peter, Jay, and Arthur. Two heckelphones and a contraforte
were
> played, along with a number of other interesting
instruments (Bb
> tubax, straight bari sax [aka alphorn ad anche],
sax-fingered oboe, 2
> F-mezzo saxes, etc.). The heckelphone plays wonderfully,
thanks to
> several reeds that Peter and Arthur graciously provided.
***End of Contrabass Digest***