Bye Bye Buescher Bass, Bye Bye

The end of an era

It was a month ago that I said good-bye to my friend of more than 20 years. My website’s original namesake is gone.

Yup, I’ve gone and done it. After more than 2 years of thinking about it, I have sold my 1922 Buescher True Tone bass saxophone. 

My Buescher bass and I have had a lot of adventures. It all started when I travelled to New Orleans and picked up the horn in person from my sax buddies Paul Coats and Steve Goodson.  

The adventures continued once I returned home to New Brunswick, and were the seeds that grew into the original Bassic Sax website. With the bass sax renaissance just a glimmer in the distance, it made sense to create a resource site for new, and would-be bass sax owners to find info on things like reeds, MPs, stands, cases, harnesses, and the likes. 

Fast forward two decades

The landscape has changed radically over the last 20 years. Firstly, bass saxophones have made it into the mainstream in a BIG, BIG way. We are seeing younger and younger players adopt these huge instruments as their primary or secondary saxophone voice, and using them in all kinds of genres. Bass saxophonists are no longer having to longing look into rehearsals from the outside, or be relegated to Hot Jazz. Bass saxophones can be found everywhere. 

One reason for the bass saxophone’s explosion in popularity is of course the greater availability of Asian-made horns by Jinyin and Jinbao. These cheap horns allow more players to get into the bass sax market without having to spend tens of thousands on a new Selmer, Keilwerth, or Eppelsheim bass sax. These cheap horns also allow players to not have to go the vintage route if they are looking to save cash, or are looking for something with better ergos.

That’s not to say the Jinyin or Jinbao horns don’t have their own set of problems. However, the point is bass sax players now have more options than they did 20 years ago. 

Tech and social media has changed the landscape for bass sax players

When I bought my Buescher bass 20 years ago, SOTW was in its infancy. What is now the world’s largest saxophone forum was in its first incarnation. There were no dedicated bass saxophone threads, let alone sub forums. This is why I created Bassic Sax to begin with. 

Today the Net is littered with bass saxophone topics, forums, sub forums, blogs, Facebook groups, etc. Bass saxophone players, and players who are looking to acquire a bass for themselves, can connect with each other and exchange ideas like never before. 

As this connectivity has changed over the past 20 years, so has my website. Hence its gradual evolution into what it is today: a saxophone website with a focus on vintage horns that had previously not had their histories written in the English language. 

On a personal level, my bass saxophone playing significantly decreased when I moved back to BC in 2004. A major reason for that was the development of a neurological illness of unknown origin. This neuro problem has left me with some fine motor skill issues that made playing my Buescher bass more problematic. 

I have used my Buescher bass for only a handful of shows—all with my own Bassic Sax Jazz Ensemble—but have shied away from using it in situations where fast passages were required. (Or where I couldn’t play behind the beat if my brain and fingers weren’t in sync with each other. 😉  )

So what now? Change the name of the site?

Although I did say bye, bye to my friend of 20 years, I am not giving up playing bass sax. I have another bass sax already. The problem is COVID travel restrictions, and increasing infection numbers overall, are making it harder to pick up. 

Fingers crossed that the numbers in BC trend downward a bit next week. Right now we are in the midst of a very active 3rd wave that is overwhelming our hospitals and filling our ICU beds. Variants of concern include the new double mutant strain from India, as well the the UK and Brazilian strains. Like many of my friends that don’t have frontline jobs, I don’t go out unless I absolutely have to. This is why I haven’t yet gone to pick up my new horn. 

As soon as it is reasonably safe to do so, I will travel to go and get it. I am looking forward to it. It is as easy to play as a regular saxophone, and keyed like one as well. 

I don’t know if we will be able to start rehearsals in the fall here in BC. However, my goal is to be fluent on my new horn by then, and to have it entirely figured out so that whenever we rehearse, I’ll be able to do both bari and bass work with equal proficiency. 

My understanding is that the big band I play in does have some bass sax charts. Otherwise, I will simply transcribe a few of the bari charts for bass. My goal is to premiere my new bass whenever we do get to perform again for the first time. 

What kind of bass is it you ask? Watch this space. All will be revealed in the coming weeks. 

Changes to the Bassic Sax website bass sax section

Given all the changes in the bass sax landscape mentioned above, I feel it is time to redo the bass sax section of my website. Much of the info is dated, and really doesn’t apply like it did 20 years ago. 

The content won’t simply vanish, but I am going to archive much of it, and replace with current and more relevant information. I hadn’t planned on this major a website update for 2021, but if the last 14 months have taught us anything, they have taught use how to flexible and to adapt.