Since COVID closed down the world’s longest undefended border for over a year, I haven’t been down to the US very often. When I have been down visiting my friends, I haven’t had many chances to do any shopping. That all changed earlier this month, when my long-time friend Kenton and I went to our favourite music store: Bellingham Wind Works.
I was staying with Kenton and his wife Wendy, in Anacortes, WA for a few days. Since we’re both saxophone players, he and I decided to spend an afternoon trying out horns at Wind Works.
Flutes & sax mouthpieces: what could go wrong?
Kenton was looking to upgrade his flute. Me? I wasn’t looking for anything. When I go to Kat and Ed’s shop, I am usually interested in trying out the various used tenors and baris they have on consignment.
Unfortunately their selection of used horns was rather boring this month, so I opted instead to focus on trying the various used, tenor Dukoff mouthpieces they have, which have been touched up by Theo Wanne personally. Since I absolutely love the soprano and alto Dukoff pieces I got in 2020 that received Theo’s personal touch-up, I was eager to try out some tenor pieces as well.
Only one minor issue with the mouthpiece play-testing: I didn’t have a tenor sax with me.
Since I had already determined that there were no really interesting vintage, or used tenors for me to try out, Marcel suggested—I think it was Marcel, or maybe it was me, I’m not sure anymore now—that I use the brand new, Keilwerth, SX90R Shadow that was on the wall.
Since I hadn’t played a Shadow before, I thought: Why the hell not. Let’s see how it compares to the regular lacquer SX90R that I tried a few months ago. (Yes, it was very nice, but not nice enough for me to ditch my vintage babies.)
So I took the Shadow off the wall; along with a variety of about 5 touched-up Dukoff tenor mouthpieces; plus my own Dukoff 7*; and went into a room to try everything out. This is when stuff went completely off the rails.
How a JK SX90R Shadow tenor knocked me on my ass
I completely fell in love with a Dukoff 5 piece, that none other than Bob Carpenter himself had completely redone to a tip opening of .109. Since I only brought one Légère reed with me, I didn’t have much to work with, so Marcel was kind enough to find me some Fiberreeds to try out as well.
What I couldn’t get over, was how this Shadow performed.
- The Shadow responded instantly to my airstream;
- The horn was 100% in-tune when played anywhere from fff to ppp ;
- The sax played with no resistance;
- The tenor subtoned effortlessly down to low Bb;
- It played 100% evenly across the entire range of the horn;
- The Shadow had lightning-quick key action;
- The horn was ergonomically so intuitive, it felt like I’d been playing it for years, not mere minutes.
In short, the Shadow was hands down THE BEST tenor I have played in over 30 years of saxophone performance. I realized that this could be potentially be a horn that could do everything, and replace all the tenors I own. However, I did not come into Wind Works to buy a sax—and certainly not a new one. So I restrained myself. A Shadow is not an impulse buy.
After about 2+ hours of play-testing, Kenton walked out with a new flute, and I with the Bob Carpenter-refaced, Dukoff. However, I did have a lot to think about.
For the next two days I spent a lot of time playing my new Dukoff piece on Kenton’s two Mark VIs. I did have lots of tenor reeds with me at his place, so I tried a lot of reeds on it. I also did a lot of number crunching and soul searching.
On Monday before heading home I stopped back in at Wind Works to try the Shadow again. My original plan was to come back in a week or two and bring my Zephyr (my main tenor) with me. However, after spending another couple of hours play-testing the Shadow with a wide variety of my own reeds, and having the Winds Works head tech, David, go over it and regulate properly, I decided there was no point waiting.
Why I became a new horn owner
I know what my Zephyr can do. I was also beginning to get a sense of what the Shadow is capable of. Quite frankly, this Shadow leaves all my other tenors in the dust.
I can already do things with the Shadow that I have never been able to do with other tenors I’ve owned for more than 30 years! Why? Not because the other horns are bad, but because the Shadow is so effortless. For example, G3 is a bitch to play on many tenors. On my Mark VI, it is the hardest altissimo note to hit. On the Shadow it plays just like a regular note. Go figure.
The other reason I didn’t see a point waiting, was because of the individuality of each of the Shadows. Unlike many of today’s so-called “pro” horns, these are still handmade saxophones. So while they are all made to exacting specifications, there are potentially some variables from horn to horn.
I was starting to fall in love with this particular Shadow for how it performed, and its nuances. And while yes, I most likely could love another Shadow, I was worried that if Wind Works sold this tenor, another one would not be exactly the same.
Why do I love Bellingham Wind Works?
There are A LOT of reasons why I love Wind Works. Kat, Ed, and their staff are super knowledgeable, helpful, and all around just really nice people. They will go out of their way to make sure you have the info you need to make the right decision for yourself. This is how they build such a loyal customer base. Bottom line: Wind Works just wants you to be 100% happy with what you buy from them.
Instruments are big-ticket items. Quality pro horns, as well as the right mouthpiece to go with them, are designed to last a lifetime. The staff at Wind Works are patient and will work with customers to make sure they are getting a product that is right for them.
What do they sell at Wind Works?
Pretty much anything you can imagine, is available at the shop.
Reeds, cases, & small accessories
Need reeds? Pretty much any type of reed, for any instrument is available for the store. Like natural cane? As you can see your options are very plentiful. If you’re a synthetic player like myself, they’ve got you covered as well.
Need a new case? With BAM, Protec, as well as other brands available, finding a replacement case for your horn is something Wind Works staff will gladly help you with.
Need smaller accessories like neck straps, neck swabs, body swabs, cleaning or polishing cloths, oils, music and instrument stands, stand lights, etc, etc? Wind Works has you covered here as well. They have almost every kind of small accessory you can imagine in stock.
Quite frankly, I’m not sure when it was that I saw this many accessories available in one place. Wind Works is really a one-stop shop for all your musical needs. Oh and yes, if by chance they don’t have something in stock, they will get it in for you.
Vintage & used mouthpieces, ligs, caps, necks, et. al.
My personal favourite things they sell are displayed in a former jewelry store display case. Yup, this case, with its revolving shelves, holds the ever-changing inventory of vintage and used mouthpieces for a variety of instruments.
I have now found 3 amazing, vintage Dukoffs in this very case. After years of searching, in early 2020, I found both the alto and soprano pieces I couldn’t find anywhere else. Then last week the Bob Carpenter tenor piece completed my tenor set.
Horns, horns, & more horns
Since I’m a sax player, I tend to focus on their used—and in this case, new—saxophone inventory. However, the store has a wide variety of woodwinds, brass winds, guitars, ukuleles, folk instruments, harmonicas, and more.
From soprano through to contrabass, Wind Works has saxophones for every taste and budget in new, used, and vintage varieties. This is a partial sampling of the current saxophone wall. Yes, that is a SX90R Shadow alto. Maybe you’ve been looking, but can’t find one? Wind Works has one in stock.
But I don’t live near the store. Do they have an online store as well?
Absolutely. Wind Works has an online store where buyers from around the world can purchase products that they have in the shop. Just click on the Shop All tab on the top of any page of the company’s website, and it will bring up their online store. Their current saxophone inventory can be found here. Woodwind Accessories here.
When diving a little deeper and looking for their vintage MPs, you’ll notice that the online store is currently not showing any inventory. I didn’t ask Ed or Kat about this, but I suspect it has to do with the amount of time, effort, and resources it takes to photograph on-offs.
With inventory turnover happening fairly quickly, it is easier to deal with inquiries one at a time, which is most likely why Wind Works offers up the following info:
Looking for something that can’t be found? We are always working to add products as fast as we can, and we have much more in our brick-and-mortar store than what is currently listed online.
New products are added to our website daily, and in the meantime, give us a call at 360-733-5840 and we can see if we have what you need!
In other words, if you want to know about their vintage mouthpieces, ligatures, mouthpiece caps, or even necks, call them. They have some great stuff there right now!
The outside of the shop
Located in Bellingham’s Fountain District, the outside of Wind Works is a wonderful visual treat. As I drove off with my new Shadow in my trusty, vintage Volvo, these were the images that flooded my optic nerve. Yes, the inside of Wind Works is a musician’s dream, but the outside is a visual treat that everyone can enjoy.
