Many players who try to keep a global eye on all things bass, have heard of Lopes before.¹ However, the company has not promoted their specialized bass saxophones in the North American market. This weekend this changed when 2 different ads appeared on the American eBay site, both promoting their bass saxophones.
The first ad that I happened across was for what is called the Windmaster II. It is Lopes’ low G bass saxophone.
Source: eBay.com
The seller is in Texas, and describes the sax like this:
The Windmaster II Bb Bass Saxophone plays like a dream. It is a hand made Bass Saxophone, incorporating a big sound and even intonation. Features such as a superb tone, warm sound, comfortable key work, and quick response make it a joy to play.
low G to high F range
modern style mechanism
wide bore for a warm, voluminous tone
large toneholes for a free response and a large dynamic range
new neck design for less resistance
precisely formed neck and bows
impressive overall height (145 cm = 57 inches) for more visual presence
same fingering positions as on any modern saxophone
floor peg: height adjustable
hard case with wheels
hand-engraved bell
acoustically annealed body
refined key shape
nickel or lacquer finish
also available in low A to high F range at U$ 8.995 (Windmaster I)
THIS UNIQUE INSTRUMENT IS HAND MADE IN BRAZIL AND THE DELIVERY TIME IS 180 DAYS.
There is an email address provided in the ad, which is ID’d as that of the US rep. This is the person to contact for more information about this horn.
Source: eBay.com
The auction for this Windmaster II runs until December 19. The horn has a Buy It Now price of $11,995.00.
Now in a weird twist of marketing—that I do not understand at all—the Lopes company from Brazil has placed its own eBay ad on the American auction site. Their ad came out the same day as that of their US rep, and featured low G as well as low A bass saxophones. The difference is that Lopes is actually auctioning a low G bass, with the price starting at $10,000.
Here is how Lopes describes their bass saxophones:
Lopes Instrumentos Musicais
Brazilian company
Buy your Bass Sax today, for our lowest price offers !!!
Complete fabrication facilities for saxophones, now for the US
Features:
la, low, A minor to F# Major
so, low, G minor to F# Major
Nickel or lacquer finish
five-year manufacturer warranty, except for surface finish.
Case and bag.
also with metal and plastic mouthpieces.
all the switching is done with unique details
Optional:
Also we offer customized bells which the buyer can select.
Models:
Mod. 45286 US 12.000,00
Mod. 45290 US 10.000,00
Size:
Mod. 45286 – 1.45 meter
Mod. 45290 – 1.35 meter
Diameter of bell : 26 cm
Manufacturing materials:
Bell and body made of brass.
Optional:
Body made of brass and bell made of copper
Deadline for delivery: 180 days .
Source: eBay.com
Did you notice the difference in ranges? The ad from the US rep states that the horns go to high F, whereas the Lopes ad states the horns are keyed to high F#. Unfortunately none of the photos are large enough, or clear enough, to make out the details. I wonder which it is.
Another major difference, is the price difference in the low A basses. The US rep is advertising the horn for $8,995, while Lopes lists the same sax for a $1,000 more at $10,000. What’s up with that?
Then there is also another option that Lopes mentions that the US rep does not: a copper bell. I wonder what this will set you back.
The auction for the Lopes-sold low G bass saxophone runs until November 29. As I mentioned previously, bids are to start at $10,000, with a Buy It Now price of $12,000. At the time of writing there were no bids yet on this highly unique, handmade, Brazilian bass saxophone.
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¹ Lopes has been mentioned a number of times in this blog. I had written a previous article about them, after I discovered that they were the company that did the modifications to the vintage Buescher bass that I play-tested at Quinntheeskimo’s place. Lopes has also been mentioned in a number of different comments.
I was wondering if anyone knows a way to contact the company directly, i cant seem to find it on google, because i want to know if they make a Tenor sax with low A key.
Hi Nathan. Welcome to my site.
I don’t know what exactly happened to Lopes. For a few years they had perhaps the slowest-loading site that I have ever seen. Then suddenly, maybe about a year or so ago, it vanished altogether. I don’t know if the company quit its operations, or has fallen off the grid.
If I can be brutally honest for a minute, I would suggest that you will be much happier not having Lopes do the low A extension on your horn. The low G bastardization that they performed on the Buescher bass I played at Quinn’s place truly was a Frakenhorn. There is a reason that the horn had such a hard time selling once it hit the music store in the UK. Last I heard, Howarths was thinking of removing the low G stuff altogether, and reverting it back to a conventional low Bb horn. I don’t know if they ever did that, but their tech and I had a number of back and forth emails about this horn. I also exchanged emails with a few would-be bass players in the UK who play-tested the horn, and thought it was a POS. Needless to say none of them bought the monstrosity.
At the present time I can’t think of anyone that I can recommend in good conscience to do such an extension on your horn. There is someone in the States who does such work, but some people who have sent their horns to him and have literally waited years to get their horns back. As to the quality of his work, I can’t speak, but the if you’re at all a member of SOTW, you likely know of whom I’m referring. There are lots of threads about the man and his work. It’s up to you to do your own vetting, and decide if you want to take the risk.
That’s really always the issue: sending any saxophone away to any place that does that type of major structural change is always a risk. The question is: How badly do you really need that extra 1/2 step? Is a low A really worth it? I can’t think of any of my horns that I would sacrifice for such an experiment. But then I have never, in nearly 30 years of playing sax, found myself in need of a low A on a tenor sax. But hey, that’s just me. YMMW.
Good luck in your search. If you do find someone who does horn extensions, or if you do find a contact for Lopes, could you please post it here? Thanks. I always get emails from people asking about this kind of stuff.
Regards,
Helen
Hi Helen,
The man in Germany who compiled this low A Keilwerth tenor in 1996 still seems active.
http://die-saxophon-werkstatt.de/eigenkonstruktionen.html
Best regards,
Theo
Thank you very much Theo, for the link to Martin Grünewald’s website.
I have seen photos of the famous low A JK bass saxophone that was built in the 90s as part of a Meisterprüfung when he was with Julius Keilwerth in Nauheim I had no idea what his name was, or anything about him. Very interesting.
It might be interesting to send him and email and “chat” with him. I have some questions that would be of interest to some of the players who read my blog…helen
Update: Well the Windmaster II is still on eBay, and it appears to be an ongoing listing. From what I can tell, none have been sold yet.
As for what was being sold as a Bass Saxophone by Lopes itself, when the auction ended there were 0 bids on the horn. So far it has not reappeared back on eBay.