In my quest to try and stay on top of what’s happening in the world of new bass saxophones, on a whim I found myself checking the German eBay site this morning. What I found was something very interesting and unexpected.
Now we know there are only 2 Asian companies that currently make modern bass saxophones. If you buy any of the umpteen brands of stencilled, vintage, American-style bass saxophones, you are buying a bass made by Jinyin. These horns range in price from around $3,500 to around $7,000. That is unless you buy a IW-602 for the full Retail List Price of $10,998.
If on the other hand, you want to buy a French style, or short wrap bass, you will end up with a sax made by Jinbao. A bass made by them will set you back anywhere from $8,000 to $11,000. ($14,998 for the IW-661 at the full Retail List Price.)
The prices I noted above—with the exception of the International Woodwind Retail List Prices—are documented in my Series on Asian-made bass saxophones, which this article is a part of. The IW retail prices can be found on their saxophone inventory page.
As you can see from these prices, the Jinbao horns cost considerably more than the Jinyin ones. I’ve never fully understood why the difference in price between the 2 manufacturers. Better materials? Better workmanship? Better quality control? Better overall quality?
The only company that sells both, International Woodwind, has never really explained the price difference well on their website. In their descriptions of their IW-602 (American style), and IW-661 (French style), there are differences, but $5,000 worth?
The IW-602 is described like this:
This Bass sax is based upon the great vintage Basses from the golden era of Bass saxophones. We have modernized the key work and keyed this instrument up to high F. It also has some innovative redesign in the key work, thicker rods on the keys and a beautiful engraving pattern. Their is engraving all on the underside of the bell as well as on the bow and on the back side of the body tube. Really impressive looking and playing Bass Sax!Source: International Woodwind.com
Whereas the IW-661 is described like this:
Brand new Bass sax just out by International Woodwind. Keyed from Low B Flat to high F#. Plays real easy from the bottom to the top. What a sound. Strong metal, a great neck, and solid keywork make this bass sax easy to play. Patterned in the style of a modern Bass Saxophone. It features a shorter wrap, and smaller bore, with modern style fingering similar to the IW Baritone Saxophone. This gives the instrument a very even feel and even sound! Also comes with a real hard rubber Bass Sax mouthpiece. It comes with a hard case on wheels that really protects the horn well. The case is also made from lightweight material.
Source: International Woodwind.com
Now getting back to this German eBay ad I saw this morning, I happened to find a French style bass saxophone being sold by a brick and mortar store from Cologne, Germany. Totalbrass appears to sell saxophones under their own name—since they provide no brand names whatsoever on their company website. [They do now.]
On the German eBay site, Totalbrass has their bass saxophones listed. In total they have 4 for sale.
Source: eBay.de
Bass-SaxophonStimmung: BbUnser Bass-Saxophon besticht durch eine für das Instrument sehr leichte Ansprache. Die Intonation ist exzellent und die Verarbeitung sehr solide. Für alle semiprofessionellen Musiker, welche ein qualitativ hochwertiges Bass-Saxophon zu einem fairen und bezahlbaren Preis suchen.Hinweis: Aufgrund der Größe und Seltenheit des Instrumentes hat dieses Saxophon eine längere Lieferzeit. Bei Interesse erfragen Sie bitte die aktuelle Lieferzeit.Détails:
- Stimmung: Bb
- Tonumfang: Tief Bb bis hoch Fis
- Material: Messing, lackiert
- verstellbarer Daumenhalter
- Lederpolster
- inklusive Mundstück
- Lieferung im Koffer
Bb Bass SaxophoneOur bass saxophone has an impressively easy response. The intonation is excellent, and the construction is solid. For all semi-professionals who are looking for a good quality bass saxophone at a fair and affordable price.Note: Due to the size and rarity of this instrument, this saxophone has a longer delivery time. If interested, please contact us for actual delivery time.Details:
- In the key of Bb
- Keyed from low Bb to high F#
- Material: Lacquered brass
- Adjustable thumb rest
- Leather pads
- Includes a mouthpiece
- Delivered in a case
If you look carefully at this photo of the Totalbrass bass, and compare it to pics of the other Jinbao basses, you’ll notice a few differences. What I immediately noticed was that the bell to body support bracing was different, compared to that say of the IW-661.
The Totalbrass bass appear to have less bracing. The bracing that is there is shaped differently, and placed in different locations.
Perhaps what’s most interesting about the Totabrass bass is its price. The sax is being sold on eBay, and through the company’s website, for €3,900.00. According to XE.com, that’s $5,450.45 US at the time of writing. This price is of course significantly less than the prices we see here in North America for Jinbao stencil bass saxophones—which as previously noted range from $8,000 to $15,000 US.
Since in Europe everything costs more, why the cheap price? How is it possible? What’s the difference in build quality that allows these horns to be sold for so much less money? There has to be a difference.
I certainly don’t have any answers, and I’m not willing to spend $25,000 or so to buy myself a few to find out.
Note too that Totalbrass markets their horns to the semi-professional, while International Woodwind makes the claim that theirs are pro horns. Perhaps Jinbao makes different models of French style bass saxophones, depending on what the ordering company reqeusts.
In any event, I just thought it was interesting to note what is being sold in mainland Europe in the form of new, American-designed, Asian-made bass saxophones. I’m sure that this is just the first of many that I’ll stumble across over time. If you know of any, please leave a comment on this post, or send me an email with a link. Thanks!
Please give me advice bassed on your experience. I located a beautiful Bueshcer bass with soldered toneholes sold at ah honest and very reputable sax store. Some are telling me that soldered toneholes, even if repaired correctly, are going to be a serious chronic problem. If I take good care of this horn, is their pessimism true. Thanks
Hi Vince. Welcome to my site.
I have not had any problems with the resoldered toneholes in any of my saxophones—my bass included. If the job was done well, then you should have no future issues. Years ago people were always talking about the problems with Martin’s toneholes, but those horns hold up very well. For example, I had a Handcraft restored in 2000 and used it as a backup horn for years. Layne Francis, my tech in Halifax at the time, did such a fine job, that its restoration held up for 10 years before it even needed an adjustment again. And the toneholes on that 1927 sax are good as new.
My Buescher bass had quite a few tonehole repairs done on it in 1999 before I bought it. I don’t have a lot of photos of the horn, but here is one of the repairs, and on this photo you can see another really obvious one. None of these repairs have ever caused me any grief.
If you like the bass from the store, buy it. Soldered toneholes are a fact of life when dealing with many vintage horns. In my personal experience, once they’ve been repaired well, they’re no longer a problem.
Hope this helps…helen