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Curved or Straight or Straight with curved neck

Steve

Clarinet CE/Moderator
Staff member
CE/Moderator
Which do you prefer and why ?
[1] fully curved soprano (aka, a mini alto)
[2] straight soprano
[3] straight soprano with a bent neck

I'm not talking about which model is best, though we can. Just curious on the particular design is preferred

I prefer the fully curved, quite simply due to the easy use of a neckstrap. Plus it looks neat and a smaller case that's easy to handle. I'm currently sopless though but that's another story.
 
I find the curved sopranos to feel cramped. I prefer the bent neck models but presently play a straight neck Rampone & Cazanni R1.
 
We're leaving out a lot of variations, if you wanna go vintage, and one if you want modern: the Rampone and Cazzani R1 "Half Curved", for instance, is "Saxello Style", but doesn't look like a King Saxello. It is, however, a "bent" neck and "bent" bell, and a few other manufacturers offer this style, too.

Additionally, the neck angle is different on sopranos, especially fully curved vintage instruments in comparison with modern ones. I think Yamaha offers at least two necks for their 675, as does Selmer for the S80 III.

I prefer the fully curved vintage horns because I play them like saxophones, not clarinets. It's a mental issue, I know :). Makes a great difference in how I sound, though.
 
I have both a vintage curved and straight soprano. As a rule, I prefer the curvy over the straight one. Like you say Steve, smaller case and easier to handle. I also prefer the sound of the curved horn. Not to launch into a "which sounds more like a saxophone: curved or straight" debate, since the horns are vastly different you really can't compare the 2 anyway (a late 1920s Pan American keyed to high F & a late 1970s VI keyed to high F#). The Pan American (which is totally a Conn sans the rolled tone holes) is capable of a much edgier & bluesy sound...and I play it in a blues band, so it's great for that. The tone is far more complex than the Mark VI: richer in overtones & fuller across the entire range of the horn. I use my VI when playing jazz & it works great for that, but if I had to chose one to listen to, I would prefer the vintage curvy.

The other advantage the curved sop has that it mikes better. The straight horn does not mike as well with my wireless clip-on.
 
And then there's the stand to consider. I luv my curvy, but I use a straight (actually put more money into that to) because the typical sax stand can handle them better. This really can come into play in a pit orchestra with limited room. I do use a bent neck on my Yani S992 as it just feels more comfortable to me. My wife, the clarinetist prefers the straight neck Yani S902 that she has. No neck to fuss with and great intonation.
 
I have both straight and curved and have owned all the varieties. I MUCH prefer straight sopranos with straight necks - and if they are fixed, all the better. But, I don't believe that the presence or absence of the neck joint makes any difference - it is just the convenience of not having to hassle the neck.

The curved sops have their place (convenient for airline travel or cramped car trunks), and they perform better in very loud environments only because the player can hear the horn better. I use one of those folding Myatt stands for my SC902 and I like the stand.

I never amplify my horns, though, so better mic'ing means little to me. DAVE
 
I like the straight ones the best. They always feel more free-blowing to me, and I seem to have better control. I've never found a curved neck horn that I really like, except for the Yamaha 62R, and that's only because I was sort of "brought up" on that horn.
 
I have a Chinese S80III copy meaning that I have my choice between a curved or straight neck. I prefer using the curved neck as it makes the horn a little more comfortable for me to play. I've played a few curved sopranos before, and they are cool, but I still prefer a straight soprano.
 
I also play an R&C R1 Jazz straight sop.I find that I get into a Miles type swagger with it.The playing technique probably suffers but I can't resist.Probably stems as well from a Brantford visual from one of Sting's videos.
 
I've never cared for the feel of a curved soprano. I almost feel claustrophobic when I play them. As far as straight horns go, I have a one piece straight with a tone I haven't found equaled in anything I've come across yet. I seldom play it because it bothers my wrists holding it up so high. The sop I've settled in on as my main setup is a straight sop with the bent neck. I can play it all night and my chops give before anything else - thats the way I prefer it to be. I often use it in summer bands to play the oboe parts and with a neck strap I never have the fatigue issues I do with a straight horn.
 
Being a clarinet and bass clarinet player, I have never understood the "weight" issues alluded to by many straight soprano sax players. IF this were the hockey locker room, the term "effing candy-ass" would probably get some use. But, I'm the guy who can play a low C bass clarinet off of my thumb for extended periods, so maybe you all are just normal and I'm some sort of superhuman...

While on the topic of saxophone necks, let me bitch about the sacred tenor saxophone (and its bastard cousin, the C melody). While I have owned one in the past (Mark VI, no less, purchased for all of $400.00 in near mint condition), I have never enjoyed playing them (or the C melody) due to their "flat" neck".

Just like the cheap student bass clarinet necks, these two force what (to me) seems like a poor angle for the mouthpiece. Passages that I can handle on the alto or the baritone just do not articulate as well on the tenor, not unless I adopt an "unnatural" posture with the horn to better angle the reed in the mouth.

Back during the "celebration" of the 150th anniversary of the invention of the saxophone (there actually was some mention of this here in the United States), I saw a tantilizing clue that this may not always have been the case. A visual for one segment of the tribute on The History Channel showed a slow pan down a line of original Sax saxophones, starting with the soprano and heading downward.

What got me excited was that the horn in the "tenor" slot, after the alto and before what was clearly the baritone and bass, had a coiled neck, just like the baritone and (to a greater extent) the bass. Now, that is a tenor that I would like to try on for size...

Unfortunately, that's a piece of work I would imagine that few would be willing to attempt.
 
Regarding your descriptive terms of people who have weight issues with straight horns. I'm 6'2" and 200 lbs. I regularly lug farm implements around and change clutches and transmissions by using jack stands and bench pressing them into and out of position. Strength is NOT an issue. Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis are issues. Years spent playing Bach on the keyboard did horrible things to my wrists and the sustained stress of holding an instrument is a serious issue I must deal with. There was a time where it looked like I would have to give up music entirely because my hands couldn't move fast enough to play anything - I was a full time professional violinist and this is a serious issue to be faced with. I gave up all keyboard instruments and the clarinet for a number of years and did a total overhaul of how I approach all musical instruments.

The biggest help was doing NO lifting beyond my own case within an hour of playing and using neck straps whenever possible.

Maybe one of the other candy @$$E$ will chime in here too.
 
Neck straps with all saxophones. I don't play clarinet for an extended period of time so I rarely use a strap. For soprano, alto, and tenor I like a padded non-neotech strap. For bari I use a harness or a neotech. Preferably a harness. I pulled my back once using a neotech classic when playing tenor. I was subconsciously pushing the horn away from my body instead of adjusting the strap and moved the wrong way while standing up during a practice session. I know have a number of neotechs that don't get used.
 
As I've said, there is an alternative explanation - the superhuman one. I've done a lot of heavy lifting over the years (union brick mason, working on tanks and other armored vehicles when in the military), and still play hockey twice a week at age 58. I credit all of this with my physical endurance, including being able to heft heavy instruments for long periods of time. The bass playing used to go on for significant periods.

However, my back is no longer up to five hour gigs, so I have to be careful about hefting the baritone on a New Years job. I'm only part superhuman - Six Million Dollar Man-ish, if you will.

(Just how the rest of Steve Austin's body was able to keep up with the few superhuman mechanical parts was never adequately explained by the show. It's an explanation that I'd like to hear.)
 
Ex-military. I did three years as an enlisted wheel and track mechanic in the Army. Spent 18 months doing depot-level 2.5 ton truck repair. They'd tow them in; we'd do a complete rebuild. My three man team could do about 2 and half trucks a week. At 52 I don't crack wheel bolts anymore.
 
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