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Yanagisawa stencil: Artist Baritone Saxophone

B6 stencil. Serial dates to August 1976. "Artist" is a relatively common Yani stencil name. My article on the Yani 6 Series.

I've mentioned that I've played three different Vito B6 stencils at different times and didn't like any of them. My experience may not be typical, though, as Yani is supposed to have "built their name" around baritone saxophones. Arguably, for me, this may have been a combination of an "early" version of the B6 -- I don't remember the serials on the ones I played -- and the fact that they were school horns. The Artist stencil in that eBay ad was made 9ish years after the 6 was introduced, so it may have some design improvements. Yani did tinker with the bari designs a bit over the B6's 20+ year lifetime.

Anyhow, the B6 looks about 95% like a Selmer Mark VI. The major thing I remember as a difference in the look was the bell-to-body "ring." I haven't done any measurements or anything, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if a Selmer VI/S80 neck and other parts fit perfectly.

I couldn't see what the "missing piece" was that's mentioned in the ad. Admittedly, I'm working on my laptop; excellent screen, but pretty small. I think the neck receiver's been resoldered.

Are you thinking about doing the same treatment that was on that YAS-23 a couple years back? That horn turned out beautifully.
 
Thanks for that info Pete. There are just not very many Yani's in my neck of the woods. I'm looking for a bari for myself. A fixer-upper would be great. I have found some good deals on saxes that go to low Bb, but many of the charts in the band I am playing in go down to low A.
 
Yah. I used the low A often enough, I really didn't ever seriously considering low Bb horns.

RE: Heaven for necks, at least in the bari sax world, the bigger the horn, the more mistreated it is. I'd have no problem believing that the neck was damaged too badly to be repaired and/or it's sitting on the school's repairman's shelf because it needed repair and then was never picked up. Or, as another theory, I occasionally played multiple instruments, even in high school. It's possible that the neck was accidentally put into, say, a bass clarinet case after a gig, then the bari just sat there for years because nobody wanted to play it. Hey, that's what happened in one of my high schools.

Or, of course, there are bari sax neck fairies, just like the tooth fairy. Put a neck under your pillow and the next morning you'll have a shiny dollar coin.
 
I don't always agree with Stephen, but I love his posts.

[h=3]There are those who regard the crook, or neck, of the saxophone to be the most important part of the instrument. I personally tend to take the more moderate view that it's as important as any other part of the whole package - but there's no denying that its status is raised slightly by virtue of the fact that it's really quite easy to lose the thing, and without a crook all you really have is so much scrap brass...unless you can find a replacement. Not easy (granted, you could just as easily lose the whole instrument - but then the issue of replacing the crook becomes a bit of a moot point).[/h]Up until, if memory serves, the mid 1980's, the only practical way to replace a crook was to go back to the manufacturer and order a replacement - always assuming that your model was a current one. And then manufacturers hit on the idea of producing separate crooks for their instruments, available at any time after purchase of the actual instrument (hence the term 'aftermarket crooks'). I believe that Yanagisawa in particular were early pioneers of this scheme. The problem still arose though if your sax was no longer in production - and losing a crook from a Selmer MKVI or a Conn 6M often meant a frantic search for a replacement from a beaten up horn, or simply trying as many crooks as you could lay your hands on in the hope of finding something that worked.
Enter the craftsman.

In recent years a number of individuals have set up in the business of manufacturing bespoke crooks. Their philosophy is a double-edged one in that they provide a source for replacement crooks for just about any horn you care to mention, and they also provide the opportunity to customise your horn in terms of overall response and playability.

Read more: http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/Misc/Gloger.htm
 
In this instance, I don't necessarily think that the buyer would have to even go as far as paying a premium for a Gloger neck (although it might be nice, but I digress). I'd think it's probable that Yanagisawa has them still available and/or a 9xx Series neck might just fine.

Did you win the horn, jbt? Sold for $1023.
 
Nope. I got cold feet at the last minute. I am really waiting for a YBS 52 to come along that needs an overhaul.
 
I'd expand to the 61 and 62. There was a pretty nice 61 that needed some TLC about a month ago. I think it was around $2K and wasn't missing anything.
 
Hahaaa...I think the necks get jammed down the bell-end of baris, then they fall out and are never seen again.
 
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