I too have a Conn-made C soprano. It is engraved Lyon & Healey and INSPIRATION in an elaborate fashion. Mine is exactly like the one shown except it was lacquered, unrolled tone holes, and a standard small right-hand thumb rest. Fortunately it came with the original (I assume) mouthpiece; very short as described here. I am in process of restoring it in my home shop. Thanks for posting this Matt. It is always helpful to learn the ideosyncrasies of a particular saxophone.
Wow, good to see this review Matt. I have one exactly like that but without the naked lady. Original mouthpiece and case. I am doing an overhaul on it at the moment. It's a rare instrument which I got from a guy who though he was selling a Bb soprano. I ended up getting it for little money.
I love my c soprano. I have what I think might objectively be the nicest one ever made (custom made buescher, I haven’t been able to find another), and it’s just amazing. Intonation is… a work in progress, but the tone is like you took a tenor and just pitched it up. Amazing for jazzier stuff with more of a zing than I ever really hear from modern bb sopranos. At this point any time I have something I need to play soprano for, I transpose it and play it on my c
I own a Buescher C Soprano and could not play it in tune with a vintage Bb Buescher soprano Mouthpiece. Then a gentleman with the F and C saxophone group on Facebook told me to get a Yamaha 4-c soprano mouthpiece. I did and sure enough I was able to play it much better in tune. And it was not a very expensive purchase.
Beautiful horn! I have my with serial M158xxx which dates a bit earlier and together with Morgan mouthpiece it is a blast, really love how the sound is different from standard Bb sopranos. Still, it is hard to play, especially at the top, because of smaller scale length and cone width, so it has to be in a perfect condition and your embouchure has to be well controlled and tight. Without a modern mouthpiece it would be practically impossible to play it adequately nowadays.
Second sax I ever bought was a 1920’s C Soprano, Hawkes and Son,purchased 1990,not in good condition but it came with a Selmer 1950’s metal mouthpiece. Paid £90 total, sold the sax to a collector for £350 and kept the mouthpiece- still use that mouthpiece. The sax was an ex British army one, apparently they were used for doubling from flute to sax as they could use the same scores.
Hey Matt I've been doing up some silver saxes but tarnish is awful where I live in NZ. I have been using Autosol a German polish but find it a bit aggressive. What are you using? Your vids are informative and useful thank you
The transformation in the beginning was really cool. Have you ever thought about live-streaming parts of your work to the "hardcore"-audience (Loius Rossmann style)? Would that be too much of a distraction for yourself?
No, if the body is undamaged I do not then damage it by pushing or pulling the toneholes around. You can make surprisingly large intonational changes by doing that since it changes the volume of the bore- and I don’t want to do that.
@Blokfluitgroep The c soprano(or any saxophone for that matter when played right) can reach notes into the 8th, even 9th octave. It would be harder to reach on a c sop, however the c sop is very capable of having potential to be as agile and high as a flute.
I see that scar on your wrist. Glad you're back and able to work again!
What a treat to see this horn. Thanks. And thanks for coming back on line. You've been missed.
Fantastic transformation Matt! Can’t wait to play her!
I too have a Conn-made C soprano. It is engraved Lyon & Healey and INSPIRATION in an elaborate fashion.
Mine is exactly like the one shown except it was lacquered, unrolled tone holes, and a standard small right-hand thumb rest. Fortunately it came with the original (I assume) mouthpiece; very short as described here.
I am in process of restoring it in my home shop.
Thanks for posting this Matt. It is always helpful to learn the ideosyncrasies of a particular saxophone.
Neat!
If it helps, Morgan Mouthpieces makes a modern C soprano mouthpiece.
I was unaware! I have their C melody mouthpiece and it is great.
Wow, good to see this review Matt. I have one exactly like that but without the naked lady. Original mouthpiece and case. I am doing an overhaul on it at the moment.
It's a rare instrument which I got from a guy who though he was selling a Bb soprano. I ended up getting it for little money.
Wow! What an incredible find!
I love my c soprano. I have what I think might objectively be the nicest one ever made (custom made buescher, I haven’t been able to find another), and it’s just amazing. Intonation is… a work in progress, but the tone is like you took a tenor and just pitched it up. Amazing for jazzier stuff with more of a zing than I ever really hear from modern bb sopranos. At this point any time I have something I need to play soprano for, I transpose it and play it on my c
I own a Buescher C Soprano and could not play it in tune with a vintage Bb Buescher soprano Mouthpiece. Then a gentleman with the F and C saxophone group on Facebook told me to get a Yamaha 4-c soprano mouthpiece. I did and sure enough I was able to play it much better in tune. And it was not a very expensive purchase.
Beautiful horn! I have my with serial M158xxx which dates a bit earlier and together with Morgan mouthpiece it is a blast, really love how the sound is different from standard Bb sopranos. Still, it is hard to play, especially at the top, because of smaller scale length and cone width, so it has to be in a perfect condition and your embouchure has to be well controlled and tight. Without a modern mouthpiece it would be practically impossible to play it adequately nowadays.
Second sax I ever bought was a 1920’s C Soprano, Hawkes and Son,purchased 1990,not in good condition but it came with a Selmer 1950’s metal mouthpiece. Paid £90 total, sold the sax to a collector for £350 and kept the mouthpiece- still use that mouthpiece. The sax was an ex British army one, apparently they were used for doubling from flute to sax as they could use the same scores.
Hey Matt I've been doing up some silver saxes but tarnish is awful where I live in NZ. I have been using Autosol a German polish but find it a bit aggressive. What are you using?
Your vids are informative and useful thank you
www.stohrermusic.com/2014/06/how-i-polish-silver-saxophones/
@@StohrerMusic Tyvm
The transformation in the beginning was really cool.
Have you ever thought about live-streaming parts of your work to the "hardcore"-audience (Loius Rossmann style)? Would that be too much of a distraction for yourself?
Have you started to try and level rolled Conn tone holes or do you just try to make do with floating? Very cool 😎
No, if the body is undamaged I do not then damage it by pushing or pulling the toneholes around. You can make surprisingly large intonational changes by doing that since it changes the volume of the bore- and I don’t want to do that.
@@StohrerMusic 👍
How do you restore the matte finish on the body?
Hard to tell from the video but do you think it's made of yellow brass or gold brass?
I'm sorry I sold my Conn C but I have a Buescher that plays well The morgan C soprano mouthpiece is the way to go That Conn is gorgeous
So if I get one of these, I can read flute music?
As long as the flute music is in C and not in D flat. Also the flute music could still be a bit high overall.
Since flute music can be a little high, you could try oboe music.
@Blokfluitgroep The c soprano(or any saxophone for that matter when played right) can reach notes into the 8th, even 9th octave. It would be harder to reach on a c sop, however the c sop is very capable of having potential to be as agile and high as a flute.