It was nearly three years ago that I had my vintage curvy overhauled. Ever since I got it back from Claudio Fantinato things have not quite been the same. Why? Because Claudio took out the two tuning crescents that had been in the horn ever since I got it from Gayle at Vintage Sax.com —and who knows how long before that.
When Claudio brought the Pan Am curvy back to me, he told me that he found that it didn’t need the crescents. So he carefully returned the little bits of cork just in case I did need my regular tech to glue them in for me again.
Immediately upon getting the little horn back, it was one of 12 or so I played at a concert at the Vancouver Art Gallery in February 2015. My tuning on the little beastie for that show was not great. I assumed it was because I hadn’t played the horn seriously for nearly a decade, so I just worked around the 4 or so really bad notes, and it worked out alright.
Since I am not much of a soprano player, my curvy sat back in its case for a couple of years. When I did need a soprano for pit orchestra work, I gave the job to my trusty Mark VI.
Over the past 12 months however, I really did want to play my curvy again. I started playing in a band that does a lot of dixieland-style stuff. Playing hot jazz solos with my 1920s curvy seemed like a no-brainer to me.
Sadly however, try as I might, I could not get my Pan American curvy to play in tune. Claudio had done an amazing job of overhauling it. It looks and plays beautifully. Now if only I could get its intonation under control again!
Here’s what I tried:
- Long tones, long tones, and more long tones.
- Looking for the tuning crescents. I know I put them somewhere safe, but can’t find them… F#*!
- Took the horn to my tech David. He tried to make new tuning crescents. Nada. No matter where he put them, or how thick or thin the cork was, the horn would not play in tune with my mouthpiece.
- David called Claudio to see if he could remember where the tuning crescents were attached. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t sure anymore.
- I came to the realization that my curvy was not going out of the house, since it couldn’t play nicely with others over 100% of its entire range.
- Since the horn was washed in the overhaul process, all the old adhesive was removed. This means where the old crescents might have been attached was no longer visible. Furthermore, without the original tuning crescents, we have no way of knowing where they might have been, based on their size.
- Curvy was put in the storage cupboard for a few weeks, until a new friend came over. This friend was a saxophone player/teacher from a local music school. She, like Claudio, was mostly an alto and soprano player. She too was able to play curvy mostly in tune the first time out.
- Although I am not primarily a soprano player, I am nevertheless a decent one, and I shouldn’t have this much trouble with my own horn. I came to a realization that the mouthpiece I have used for years—a Runyon Custom, which is a medium chamber piece—was the likely culprit. I considered the possibility that this horn without its tuning crescents required a larger chambered mouthpiece.
- As it turns out, my friend was using an Otto Link. Fortunately I did have one larger chamber mouthpiece for soprano that might do the trick: a Bilger Gold piece that Gayle sent me with the curvy way back in 1999 or 2000 when I bought it.
- Using the Bilger mouthpiece the tuning issues on my Pan American curvy suddenly cleared up. This got me thinking: I wonder what a Conn Eagle mouthpiece would sound like?
- I checked through my tech’s boxes of vintages mouthpieces that he has amassed over the years, but the closest I came was an Conn Eagle for alto. David had no soprano mouthpieces at all, but did tell me he would keep an eye open for anything that came into the shop.
This brings us today: Today I am going to do something either incredibly brave or stupid. I have not yet entirely recovered from major dental surgery I had 12 days ago. Since September 5, I have only played twice—and neither time was soprano. Regardless, I am going to take my curvy with its Bilger mouthpiece to rehearsal tonight.
How bad can it be? I haven’t played any soprano in weeks, and this soprano with this set-up really seriously at all. And I am recovering from dental surgery that set off a neurological attack. What could possibly go wrong. 
What’s the take away? Tuning crescents and mouthpieces matter.
If you want to read more about tuning crescents, I encourage you to read this excellent article by Curt Altarac titled, Tuning a Saxophone with Crescents.
I could have saved myself hours of aggravation if I had not misplaced the original tuning crescents. However, I did learn a valuable lesson: Some horns are so particular about their mouthpieces, that things like chamber size can seriously affect the horn’s ability to play in tune.
We’ve long heard that certain horns work best with certain mouthpieces. This is certainly not news, and something I have run into before. However, not being a player who specializes in playing a lot of soprano, I didn’t realize just how finicky these little beasties can be, and that for some of them, size most definitely does matter. 😉
I’ve only ever tried to tame two sopranos, and both cheap, but my reason for trying was the high C# veering incredibly sharp, and to a lesser extent, high A. Not saying that’s where your crescents were, but it’s a starting point if you want to see if they fit in the holes.
Oh David tried all the tone holes… He spent nearly 2 hours fiddle-fucking with my curvy.
I am very fortunate that Gayle from vintagesax.com sent me 2 mouthpieces with the horn. 1. A Herb Couf Superba II—which is very similar to the Ruynon Custom I used, and 2. The Bilger Gold—which was brand new in its original box with pamphlet and pouch.
Given that Gayle is also a soprano/alto player primarily, there is a good chance that she knew that the horn would require large-chambered piece when the crescents came out.
There is an informative article on large chamber soprano pieces at sopranoplanet.
Thanks Theo & Paul for your suggestions. Funnily enough, last night was quite remarkable.
With its Bilger Gold MP, Runyon dark lig, and a Leger Signature Series 2 1/2 reed, my curvy played remarkable well. My tuning at the beginning of rehearsal wouldn’t have led anyone to believe that it would tune that well—nor would my tuning with the piano before playing the tune which is a soprano feature. CURVY IS BACK, AND IT ROCKS!
Playing with a band is of course always the best way to learn to play an instrument in tune, and last night was no exception. My Pan Am was no more than 20 cents sharp on any note, and not at all flat. Given I have no soprano chops ATM, and haven’t played seriously curvy in forever, this was remarkable!
The best part was, that everybody loved the sound of the horn, and preferred it over the sound of my Mark VI for the style of music we’re doing. (A big part of that is the MP choice I use on Selmer. The Runyon Custom is bright, and brings out the overtones in the horn.)
I always thought that the Pan American would be a better choice for this band mostly b/c the tone of it. While still complex with overtones, it is overall darker in tone than my Mark VI.
The Bilger further adds to the core-tone nature, by “darkening” some of the curvy’s overtones. They are still present, but just not as edgy. With my Runyon, the Pan Am could be made to sound down-right raunchy. Not sure yet if that is possible with the Bilger.
Since I’m still rather sore at the moment, I found the back-pressure caused by blowing into the soprano was giving me quite a bit of grief. In another few days I should be settled down enough to be able to experiment more, and see what the Bilger can really do.
Nice to hear that you found a good voice with the Bilger mp.
Hi Helen,
Sorry to hear about what you are going through.
Like Theo, doing some long tones with a tuner (matching display) and without a tuner (matching a piano, synth, etc.) and taking notes over a dozen sessions or so would be the way to re-discover at least where the corrections need to be made.
IMHO you wouldn’t be happy with an original mouthpiece like a Conn or Buescher from the period. Without a lot of work it won’t let you blend with the sort of ensembles you are likely to encounter in the 21st Century.
Another thought would be if you could try a Selmer Super Session D or E. These have the large chamber with a modern facing and a gentle roll-over baffle that helps it speak without making it shriek 😉
paul
Sigurd Rascher mouthpiece :P.
FWIW, I have mentioned that I had an overhauled late Conn New Wonder tenor. I didn’t like the Rascher on it. It was rather resistant. At that time, I played in a group with another gent that had just about the same tenor, but was using a vintage Otto Link metal mouthpiece. Much freer sound.
Same group also had a badly beat up Conn NW bari which I had to play until I bought my own bari. It had crescents all over the place. IIRC, all the altissimo keys had them. I’m trying to remember 30+ years ago, so I could be wrong.
I’ve seen some exceptionally pretty PanAm curvies and yours is one of them. I’m glad you’re able to get it to work for you. I’m extremely happy that you’re feeling well enough to play out, too!
I know you’ve used a number of Rascher pieces on different horns. Funnily enough, I have never tried a Rascher piece. (Mostly b/c I did no classical since university, so I have only 1 or 2 pieces for S,A,T that were recommended by my profs ATT.) I should have bought that bari piece from you back when you sold it. It might have made an interesting bass piece.
As for my curvy, yup, I’m happy with the Bilger. The backpressure on the horn is a bit brutal however, and is currently causing my head to x-plode.
My TN is currently in a bit of an active phase again since my surgery, so all forms of sax playing are not a great deal of fun. The smaller the horn, the less fun they are. Also, the higher I play in the altissimo range on tenor, the more pain I have. So anytime my TN wants to settle down would be great! This is why the original surgical date of July would have been better. All of my ensembles are in full swing again, and rehearsals are a bit of a grind. Plus, I also have a student 2 nights a week ATM, so my poor head only gets 2 nights a week off. Ugh…
Good luck with this project.
Tuning charts for sopranos are different from person to person.
Maybe you could make charts for several weeks and do some statistic’s.