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- Tone hole placement: – the blue label horns have offset tone holes<\/a> like modern saxophones do, rather than inline ones.<\/li>\n
- Left pinkie cluster: the B&S had their G#, C#, B, and Bb keys coupled together<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In addition to these differences that all B&S blue label saxes shared, the baritones differed greatly in one other area: bell construction.<\/p>\n
Bell construction on the Weltklang baritone<\/h2>\n
I have not seen a Weltklang baritone that wasn’t keyed down to low A. I’m not aware that they made any low Bb baris. However, when they added the low A, they choose to use a method similar to the one that Conn employed with their 11M. Weltklang simply added a cylindrical tube between the horn’s bow and the bell to give it the length it needed to obtain the extra \u00bd step.<\/p>\n
The cylindrical tube interrupts the saxophone’s intended conical bore…<\/p>\n
![\"Weltklang](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/version5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Right-Side-Lower-Half.jpg?resize=1174%2C740\")
<\/a>Cylindrical bell construction on Weltklang bari # 3836 Source: vsvs2002 on eBay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n … And if you compare it to that of the Conn 11M, it is even longer. Therefore the bell’s attached conical bore is even shorter.<\/p>\n
Does this make a difference to the way a Weltklang plays vis-\u00e0-vis an 11M? I don’t know since I haven’t play tested them, but that would be an interesting comparison\/contrast to do with two well playing, well-adjusted horns.<\/p>\n
![\"1969](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/version5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/1969-11M-Ad.jpg?resize=1174%2C773\")
<\/a>1969 Conn 11M Ad Source: ANTIQUE~GRAPHIQUE on eBay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n B&S blue label baritones<\/h2>\n
Unlike Weltklang’s cylindrical tube insertion, the blue label B&S baritones\u2014which were built from 1981 onward\u2014had their bells constructed in one piece. The B&S blue label bari’s bell was thus a continuation of the conical bore the saxophone was intended to have.<\/p>\n
![\"Weltklang](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/version5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/BS-Condor_2.jpg?resize=1174%2C413\")
<\/a>B&S bari Condor model, serial # ?. Source: Andr\u00e9 Milandro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Weltklang vs Blue Label baritones: Which is better?<\/h2>\n
I certainly cannot answer that, since I haven’t played either. Even if I had, “better” is often subjective, and open to personal feelings and opinions. That said, I do own a 2004 Medusa bari<\/a>. (Made by VMI,<\/a> and a successor to these horns.) Is it “better” than my Mark VI? No. Is it better than my Committee III? No. It is however, a very different animal to both of them, and if I ever truly need<\/em> a low A bari, it is the one that gets the gig.<\/p>\n
- Left pinkie cluster: the B&S had their G#, C#, B, and Bb keys coupled together<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n