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Eb Tubax

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
Staff member
Administrator
Tubax, what the heck. Even the name strikes fear in the hearts of a lessor man. Benedikt Eppelsheim makes them and people like Groovekiller play them. Both referenced sites have sound bites.

tubax_komplett.jpg
 
Re: Tubax

I don't want to say never, but I doubt I'll ever buy anything lower than a bass sax. See SOTSDO's comment about why buying a bass sax is hard to justify. Of course I said that about the sopranino and then the soprillo. :D
 
Re: Tubax

Oh. I thought you got a Tubax, too. I'll settle for a bass review in the appropriate thread :).

And see my response to Terry :D.
 
Re: Tubax

pete said:
I want a review, Randy and Jim!

I never wrote a review of a saxophone. Heck, I don't even read reviews of saxophones because the reviewer might be NoChops McLame.

The Tubax is pretty rare, however, and I think there should be a better explanation out there of what it is and how it plays.

First, what is it? It is a contrabass instrument that sounds one octave lower than a baritone saxophone. The bore is similar to a baritone saxophone, but the tubing is twice as long. Fortunately , it is wrapped up in a compact baritone saxophone-like package.

The Tubax feels a little like a baritone sax too. It uses a baritone saxophone mouthpiece. You probably already own the mouthpiece that you will like best on the Tubax. The Zinner baritone mouthpiece that comes with the Tubax is very high quality and works great. For me, it's like a baritone sax that just keeps going lower and lower.

It's not as loud as a loud contemporary saxophone player, but it is much louder than a contrabassoon or contrabass clarinet. It has tremendous dynamic range, from ppp to fff.

The Tubax doesn't sound like a contrabass saxophone, nor does it sound like a sarrusophone, as some have reported. It sounds a little like a baritone saxophone. Critics have said that the listener has trouble discerning different pitches played on contrabass saxes. That's not a problem on the Tubax. The sound is quite centered. Playing in tune with other instruments is no problem.

Everyone who has tried my Tubax remarks about how easy it is to play. Like the saxophone, the Tubax reflects the personality of the player. I like Serge Bertocchi's sound on Tubax a lot, but he doesn't sound like me:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... =203877343

I'll close the "review" by saying the Tubax is the most practical contrabass instrument ever made. I love it.
 
Re: Tubax

Groovekiller said:
I never wrote a review of a saxophone. Heck, I don't even read reviews of saxophones because the reviewer might be NoChops McLame.
Hey! Who told you my nickname!

I drafted a review of the Eppelsheim Bass to low A a couple of times and discarded it. There were always too many superlatives and most readers would accuse me of hyperbole... again. But the difference between the Eppelsheim and the tweaked out Buescher bass (by Paul Woltz) is probably best described the Eppelsheim Tubax, "Very Centered."

Some people prefer the spread out sound of the vintage basses, but the focus and clarity provided by the Eppelsheim instruments means that even an intermediate player such as me can perform convincingly on an Eppelsheim instrument, be it a soprillo or Jay's Contrabass sax I played before purchasing my bass sax.
 
Tubax, what the heck. Even the name strikes fear in the hearts of a lessor man. Benedikt Eppelsheim makes them and people like Groovekiller play them. Both referenced sites have sound bites.

tubax_komplett.jpg
The best place to hear me play Tubax is on Youtube. Search Randy Emerick. I play Tubax on three videos - "Tubax Contrabass Saxophone with Big Band," "Four BIG Brothers," and "Tubax and Soprillo Solo Together."
 
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