{"id":4739,"date":"2009-01-27T08:50:53","date_gmt":"2009-01-27T16:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=4739"},"modified":"2025-09-13T10:16:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:16:17","slug":"orpheo-bass-sax-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2009\/orpheo-bass-sax-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Orpheo Bass Sax Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In fall I noted in a post that Noteworthy Musical was selling their Orpheo bass saxes on eBay for $5495<\/a>. Just a couple months later, a regular reader of my blog found the Orpheo bass sax on Amazon.com for $3,999! This price difference of $1,500 seemed ridiculous. It got me wondering: How much is the markup on these instruments? How much does it actually cost to produce these “hand made” horns? Are the people working in these factories making more than sweat shop wages?<\/em><\/strong> I am beginning to seriously think not.<\/p>\n

Last night I was looking at eBay listings, and guess what? Noteworthy Musical is now selling their Orpheo bass saxophones for $3,995<\/a>. And to make this even more tempting for would-be bass players, they are offering free shipping on your bass saxophone. Huh? <\/p>\n

The pictures they included with their eBay ad are the same as the ones they used the last time around, with a couple of new additions. For example, this time, they added this partial shot of the left side of the horn.<\/p>\n

\"Left<\/a><\/p>\n

    Source: eBay.com<\/h6>\n

Noteworthy did also include a better shot of the low C key, which does indeed show that the key has double arms. (In October I mentioned that it appeared the horn had this feature, but the photo was a tad too blurry to be sure.)<\/p>\n

\"low-c-key-double-key-arms\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Source: eBay.com<\/h6>\n

This is how Noteworthy Musical describes the Orpheo bass saxophone on eBay:<\/p>\n

This Orpheo<\/em> Bass Sax is based upon the great vintage Saxophones from the golden era of Bass saxophones. It is totally handmade and represents a breakthrough in recreating the essence of bass saxophone performance.<\/p>\n

The Orpheo<\/em> Bb Bass Saxophone goes from low Bb up to high F#. The sound is gloriously mellow, with complete ease of resistance. Believe me, it is nothing like the old boat anchors from hock shops that took years of adjusting just to play. The keywork has been totally modernized so the hand position is as natural as playing on an alto saxophone. All of this would not be possible if it weren’t for the exacting intonation this Orpheo bass produces from top to bottom. It has a 3 Ring neck strap, and is supplied with 2 necks.<\/p>\n

The Orpheo<\/em> Bass comes with a real hard rubber Bass Sax mouthpiece so it can be played right out of the box. And speaking of boxes, it comes with a lightweight Hard Case with WHEELSs, so you don’t have to break your back. The instrument is Brand New and comes with our one year warranty and money back guarantee.<\/p>\n

To make it even more amazing, we are giving FREE SHIPPING! Experience a legend…..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m not sure what the point of the 2 necks is, since they appear to be identical, and nothing in the ad copy indicates otherwise.<\/p>\n

\"2-necks\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Source: eBay.com<\/h6>\n

So if you’re in the market for a bass saxophone, and want to take the gamble on a $4,000 new horn, apparently there are 2 available for purchase through Noteworthy. If you don’t manage to get one of those, Amazon.com is still selling them as well<\/del>.<\/p>\n

A few days ago, myself and one of the other Content Experts\/Moderators of the Woodwind Forum<\/a>, were discussing these very instruments. Grant was wondering if anyone had played an Orpheo bass, and was able to speak to their strengths\/weaknesses. I told him that I hadn’t heard from anyone, anywhere, that they had experience with this brand of bass saxophone. So if you have, please leave a comment here. People are curious about these instruments, and would like to know what players’ reactions to them are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In fall I noted in a post that Noteworthy Musical was selling their Orpheo bass saxes on eBay for $5495. Just a couple months later, a regular reader …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[828,209,619,660,182,183,644,53],"class_list":["post-4739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bass-saxophone","tag-asian-made-bass-saxes","tag-asian-made-saxophones","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-ebay","tag-modern-saxophones","tag-new-horns","tag-photos","tag-woodwind-forum"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t