Is a bass sax right for me?

I read a post on a Facebook bass group that other day from some rando who said: “I want a bass sax.” This got me thinking: A lot.

Why I’m writing this

These days everyone has an opinion on something. Opinions are not hard to find on the Net, and especially on SM. More often than not people are either a) Writing from their own frame of reference, or b) Writing without having much, or any, real experience on a particular topic.

I’ve got 25 years of bass experience under my belt, and have played and reviewed most common vintage and current production model bass saxophones. I also don’t have an agenda. I’m not trying to sell you anything. I really don’t care what you buy, but ideally I would like you to end up with a horn that is the right fit for you.

That’s why I took the time to write this. I am hoping that this will be a helpful tool in your bass saxophone search.

How we got here

Back in late 1999, before the current bass sax renaissance we are experiencing, I had the opportunity to get one of only a handful of bass saxophones that was still in existence. I saw it advertised on the then-fledgling SOTW, by a man who would become instrumental in my bass saxophone playing development: Mr. Paul Coats.

That bass was of course a 1922, Buescher True Tone that would become the inspiration for my Bassic Sax website. A site that was originally created as a bass sax resource for new and would be players.

Fast forward a decade or so and the Internet spread around the globe to places far and wide. As the Internet spread, so too did bass saxophonemania, like the a virus among a bunch of kindergarten students.

Next thing you know an enterprising American businessman saw the opportunity to make a buck from this rise in the demand for bass saxophones. He worked with two Chinese companies in bringing cheap, Asian-made bass saxophones to market. Up until P. Mauriat started making their own bass saxophone only a couple of years ago, Jinyin and Jinbao were still the only bass saxophone makers in Asia.

The bass sax landscape today

Potential bass saxophone players today are faced with a plethora of choices that as recently as two decades ago would have been unheard of. 

Today if a player wants a bass saxophone, they are no longer restricted to buying an expensive new horn, or vintage bass like a Conn, Buescher, Orsi, Beaugnier, etc. These days bass players have a whole bunch of cheap options to choose from coming from Jinbao and Jinyin, in addition to the fine pro models from Julius Keilwerth and Selmer, as well as the relatively new upstart, Eppelsheim.  

Jinbao makes all the short wrap, Selmer copies we see that carry all kinds of names from A to Z—literally. While Jinyin makes the vintage American style horns that are well, clunky, junky, and that have quickly fallen out favour with music stores and players. 

If you haven’t yet read my reviews on both the Jinyin and Jinbao stencils, I encourage you to do so before you buy one. 

Another bass I wrote a review on earlier this year was the P. Mauriat PM-350. 

Directly proportional relationship in bass saxophone land

Over the last 10 or so years I have noticed something, and this has really ramped up even more over the past 5 years: The more bass saxophone players there are, the more there is a demand for cheap horns.

Why this demand for ultra cheap bass saxes? Simply put, because sax players see the bass no differently than their smaller cousins. People appear less concerned with quality, than they are concerned with instant gratification. Ergo, why spend 20K on one pro horn when you can get 5 or 6 mediocre horns for the same amount of $$? 

I understand there are a lot of variables that factor into the calculation that players make when deciding which horn to buy, so my statement might be an oversimplification. That said, this is not the way I roll. I would rather have 1 fantastic pro horn than a bunch of mediocre ones, but then I have come to realize I am not like most people. 

A helpful flowchart to guide your bass sax purchase

I threw this together to give potential bass owners some idea whether or not buying a bass even made sense, and which style of bass might be right for them. Now there are A LOT of comments to fill in for this chart. 😉

 

A. Do you already have a place to play a bass sax?

Yes

• Paid jobs are great, but I used to joke: I will be gigging with it until I’m 100 for this horn to pay for itself. 
• Unpaid is fine as well, but it all comes down to what you can afford. 

No

• Bass sax players are more often than not having to create their own places to play. They might even create their own bands—and that can cost quite a bit of cash to do it right—or try to fit the horn into existing bands they already play in.

B. What is your budget

<10K

• You can find a very decent used bass for less than 10K. It might be a vintage American bass, vintage JK, vintage short wrap like a Beaugnier, or a new Chinese Jinbao stencil. I would advise away from from the Jinyin-made horns. You can also find long wrap, Orsi bass saxophones for <5K. 
• This is by far and away the budget that most new bass players are looking at.

10k+ 

• Over 10K will get you into some seriously nice used bass saxophones. We’re talking Conn 14M keyed to high F, used vintage and modern Selmers, a used Keilwerth SX90, maybe even a used Eppelsheim, etc. 

20K+

• Now we’re looking at new, serious pro horns that are at the top of food chain. Benedikt Eppelsheim’s bass saxophone is arguably the most profound new development in bass sax design since Adolphe Sax invented the instrument. 
• Selmer is the undisputed king when it comes to French, or short wrap basses. Their Super Action 80 Series II is THE horn all the cheap knockoffs are copying. 
• Keilwerth has only ever made, and continues to make, very fine long wrap bass saxophones that are very similar to their vintage Conn cousins. Each horn is handmade, with the same tooling, and careful handcraftsmanship that has been used since JK built their first bass back in the golden days of bass saxophones. Looking for a true professional, new, modern vintage American style bass? The SX90 is the horn you’re looking for. 
• P. Mauriat is an option, although personally I think it’s overpriced for what you’re getting. 

C. Short or long wrap? Which is best?

• This is really a personal choice. They do truly sound identical. Sometimes short wrap horns are described as big baris, but I don’t find that to be the case. I played one for 6 months, and I sounded the same on it, as I did on Buescher, and as I do on my Couf Superba I. 
• Still don’t believe me? Here is the duet of my friend an I playing our respective basses. Rob on his Sakkusu and me on my Couf. It was a sound sample for the review I wrote on his bass. Do you hear a difference? I don’t. Nor does my partner who has listened to my bass playing since the get. 
• Short wrap are slightly more manageable when it comes to moving them around and putting them in the backseat of cars, but they basically weigh the same as their longer cousins.
• Long wrap horns are a bit longer and tend to require a larger back seat, or space in the back of station wagon or mini van. 
• Short wrap horns have a wide variety of replacement case options, whereas long wrap horns don’t. 
• As far as MP choices goes, that is pretty individual, and some MPs work great on short wrap and long wrap horns, while others work better on one style or another. It really comes down to trial and error, and just b/c one MP works for one player on one horn, doesn’t mean it will for another player on the same style, or even the same brand of horn. 

Comments? Ideas? Questions? 

If you have any thoughts/input/questions about what I’ve put together here, please leave a comment in the comment box below. I am hoping to hear from both experienced players, and those new to the instrument, or those looking for a new, or step-up bass.