American made Powell "Silver Eagle" alto

Groovekiller

Groovekiller

Distinguished Member
Distinguished Member
I finally got to play this saxophone tonight. I played a concert with Frank
Sinatra Jr. and the lead alto player, Mike Smith, formerly with Keilwerth, let
me try his new Powell. Here's the story:

The Silver Eagle is constructed much like a King Super-20. Non-ribbed
construction, brazed (not soldered) tone holes, but the tone holes can be either
brass or solid silver. King style pivot screws with locknuts. G key is on the
same hinge rod as left hand A, B and C keys.

Differences are, seamless neck, seamless body (straight part), better bracing on
the neck, different main body-to-bell bracing, right hand D,E,F,F# keys rotated
to the right like Selmer and other modern saxes, and the blowing characteristics
are different than a King alto.

Keywork was immediately comfortable for me (I play an early Mark VI alto.) I
think the sound is brighter than a King, but it has more depth than a Selmer,
even tho my Selmer is unusually good. Low register is much easier than a Selmer.
I love the Powell's sound.

I tried the Powell with 4 mouthpieces - A New York Meyer 6 M, a Meyer New York
USA 7 small chamber, A morgan Jazz 8, and a high baffle Lakey 7*3.

What really blew me away was the intonation. It was incredibly good with every
mouthpiece, the best pitch I have ever seen. I was simply amazed.
 
Thank you for that excellent first hand review of the Powell Silver Eagle. What can you say about the closeness of the timbre going between open C# and D and the evenness of tone going from one register to the next? Do you have any ideas about what attributes of the sax design help to make the low register more responsive? That seems to be the "holy grail" that makers keep seeking---to make a conical woodwind behave unlike a conical woodwind when producing its lowest tones. :)
 
Evenness of tone throughout the range is the horn's best attribute. I know Mike Smith made some suggestions to improve the instrument, and he's one of the world's best players for intonation and dynamic range. If they started with a King Super-20 alto (and I don't know if that is what they did), those Kings had an exceptional low register.
 
The Powell "Silver Eagle" will be available with all brass construction (Although the keywork will use a lot of solid nickel, especially the rods). Neck, bell, and toneholes can be specified in solid silver.

The horn is available with or without a high F# key.

This instrument is in production now. New orders will be delivered in about a year.

Cost? $8,000 - $10,000 depending on the variables mentioned above.
 
Hmmmmm.

As a cross-question, have you tried the Yanagisawa "Silver Sonics" (9937)? Why I'm wondering is because you've got the Super 20 Silver-Sonic, which you mention is very similar to the Powell, and the Yani is all sterling silver -- not just the neck and bell, like the King. Don't know if Yani uses brazing, tho.
 
Groovekiller said:
A Bb tenor is on the way. I'm salivating.
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I was going to ask if that $8-10k was alto only ....

I prefer the tonehole design, ala Martin over drawn toneholes but it is a costly and more design & labor intensive solution. No particular reason, I just think it's neat and one of the reasons I like martin saxophones.
 
I'm going to order one of these Powell altos - the more expensive one, so soon I'll really know what they cost.

To answer Pete's question, no. I haven't tried any of the Silver Yanigasawas, but I'm a big fan of their horns, especially the small saxes. I'm not so sure that the precious metal is the source of their excellence. I think that the production skills are more important, and it's the same with the Powell alto.
 
They're both in just about the same price range, too. I was just wondering about the similarity or lack thereof in manufacturing techniques and if it made a difference in the final product.
 
I've tried the silver Yangisanwas and also their silver with gold plating models (I think they call it pink gold or somethng like that, but can't remember). I haven't seen those for sale anywhere so don't know how much they cost. They were all very good, but my favorite Yangisawas that I've tried were actually not silver and I can't say the silver made any difference.

As far as a difference between silver Yangisawas and the Powell, I think the design is completely different. Re the brazed tone holes, these are much better than soft soldered tone holes, but I still prefer drawn tone holes for a couple of reasons. I imagine Powell used brazed tone holes since they are used to making them on their flutes?
 
The top end flute guys swear by brazed tone holes. They say it improves the sound. Funny, so do Martin players. Dunno myself, but it'll affect the sharpness of the angle/edge between the body and the tone hole, so maybe there's something in it.
 
I haven't looked at a Martin lately but the toneholes were quite a bit thicker than just a drawn tonehole. Near the top where the pad touches the thickness steps down to something much more manageable for a seal.

You do have to be much more exact in the body dimensions. The toneholes have to have the proper arc to fit the body so it's a snug fit (plus additional man hours & material making the tonehole chimneys). I think this design complexities make drawn toneholes so much more easy and a cost effective solution. Because of the what looks like significant added material, it adds weight to the horn too.

I miss playing Martins ... I guess Selmers & Coufs are an ok alternative though :)

here you can see the Martin tonehole design on an earlier model
picture.php

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versus a later Martin Committee 2
picture.php
 
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kevgermany said:
The top end flute guys swear by brazed tone holes. They say it improves the sound. Funny, so do Martin players. Dunno myself, but it'll affect the sharpness of the angle/edge between the body and the tone hole, so maybe there's something in it.
Click to expand...

The sound issue is a tricky one .. you have all the naysayers etc.

One of the fixers/designers with the Couf horns at one time told me that the RTH (Rolled Tone Holes) of the Superba 1 strengthened and stiffened the tonehole, which also affected the body at that location. This changed the tonal aspects of the instrument slightly as compared to the non-RTH of the Superba II. Thus S2s were considered the Selmer competitor, and S1s were in a different tonal league in a sense.

And I would have to correlate that the brazen THs have even more of an effect, theoretically that is, depending upon which side of the fence you are on.

The most I learned about flutes was the head design and specifically the embouchure hole design is so important in tonal aspects of the instrument. I never got around to fiddling with bodies as the cost of professional flutes is just absurd.
 
In one sense drawn tone holes should be better because there will be less turbulence at the sharp edges--there should not by any sharp edges anywhere where air is moving according to Peter Hoekje--who has studied such things extensively. OTOH as long as there is a minimal amount of rounding of edges, it becomes pretty much a non issue. Soldered chimneys distort the bore less, especially in flutes, so there may be something to it. Personally, I think the difference is extremely minimal...if even perceptible. There are so many factors that affect such things.

I have two handmade flutes with soldered tone holes, a Powell and an Almeida (former Powell foreman). They play noticeably differently with either head joint (interchangeable). But the tube diameter is different--not much, but obviously enough...

Pretty hard to compare soldered to drawn, because bore differences will make it comparing apples to oranges.

Another point is that on expensive handmade flutes (with soldered holes) the keywork is going to be made to much better tolerances, giving a much nicer feel. Does it sound different, or does it only FEEL different, and that gets mixed up in the player's head?
 
kymarto said:
Another point is that on expensive handmade flutes (with soldered holes) the keywork is going to be made to much better tolerances, giving a much nicer feel. Does it sound different, or does it only FEEL different, and that gets mixed up in the player's head?
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I think so!
 
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