{"id":47767,"date":"2018-12-17T11:19:02","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T19:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=47767"},"modified":"2024-06-25T11:33:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T18:33:34","slug":"my-new-h-couf-superba-ii-bari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2018\/my-new-h-couf-superba-ii-bari\/","title":{"rendered":"My New H. Couf Superba II Bari"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have now owned my H. Couf Superba II bari for around six weeks now, and I realized a couple of days ago that I hadn’t yet written the actual article about this horn. This is likely a first for me, because I normally write about a new horn within the first couple of weeks. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

As most musicians know, this is a crazy-busy time of the year. Christmas and holiday shows are a staple, and for me they started in the middle of November already. (Two weeks after I got the Couf.) Add to that, that I have been busy researching and writing the soon-to-be-published H. Couf page for my website. The result: I totally forgot to write an article about this really great bari that is now my main bari in the big band I play in.<\/p>\n

How I ended up with a H. Couf baritone<\/h3>\n

When I started to look for a low A bari, I wasn’t all that serious about the task. I wasn’t in a hurry because I have two very different, but killer low Bb baris already, and knew I wanted just the right horn that would last my lifetime.<\/p>\n

The relatively local shops that deal with vintage saxes just didn’t have anything that interested me, so I looked a bit further afield, and there it was… a stunning, black nickel beauty listed on the website of one my favourite vintage sax dealers: PM Woodwind<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"H. <\/a>
H. Couf Superba II bari # 61XXX Source: pmwoodwind.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

A quick phone call to Paul Maslin confirmed that the horn was still available, and a sound file later convinced me that indeed this baby would be right for the type of playing I do now.<\/p>\n

Then came the logistics of shipping such a stunningly good-looking, closet horn thousands of miles from the Midwest to the West Coast. Paul of course specializes in shipping saxophones around the world, but shipping large instruments always carries a bit more of a risk.<\/p>\n

One of the things that made this baritone so special was that it literally was a closet horn. Although it was 50 years old, it had seen relatively little playing time, and had spent most of the last half century stored in the same man’s basement, attic, or wherever he stored his collection of saxophones.<\/p>\n

Getting a bari to the West Coast<\/h3>\n

I have friends who live just across the line in WA State. I decided what made the most amount of sense for a whole host of reasons, was for Paul to send the horn to their place, and for me to stay there for a few days. This way I could bring the horn back into Canada myself\u2014thus eliminating the customs brokerage fees. I would only have to pay the applicable taxes on my purchase at the border upon my entry back into Canada.<\/p>\n

Within the US Paul uses UPS for parcels of this size, since the USPS doesn’t handle a parcel this large. He worked with me to figure out a date that would work for my schedule, yet would allow the horn to arrive during the week and not sit over a weekend in one of UPS’s warehouses.<\/p>\n

To give the bari the best chance of making the trip unscathed, I decided to not have the horn shipped in its original case. (Another first for me.) I opted instead to buy a BAM HighTech bari case through Paul.<\/p>\n

Despite knowing that Paul personally packed the horn, and that all the proper precautions were taken, I was still pretty nervous during the week of October 22-26. Lots can go wrong. Accidents happen. I was never as relieved as when I saw the UPS truck coming up the driveway.<\/p>\n

\"Only <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Shipping <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Shipping <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Peanuts <\/a> <\/div>
\"Interior <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interior <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interior <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Interior <\/a> <\/div>
\"In <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Packing <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Packing <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Packing <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"2-bags-of-peanuts-anyone-ws\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Success! This H. Couf Superba II bari made the trek from Evanston, IL to just outside of Bellingham, WA with no ill effects. I spent the weekend with my friends while their sighthounds howled, and their parrots screeched any time I made any effort to play-test my new baby.<\/p>\n

I went home just in time the following week, to attend my weekly rehearsal with The Moonliters (the big band I play with). That of course would be the test. How would the Couf do anchoring the sax section? In a word: marvellously.<\/p>\n

Given that I had a grand total of under 3 hours of actual playing time on the horn, my intonation came in surprisingly well when playing with everyone. While the horn’s ability to be heard by everyone in the band\u2014a hallmark of great big band bari saxes\u2014was obvious right from night 1.<\/p>\n

Because The Moonliters were performing on November 17 at a big band festival, I had very little time to decide which of my very fine baris to use. At the encouragement of our musical director, I used the Couf. I didn’t think I would have it totally figured out, but our director thought it sounded great, and even better than my Committee III that he had asked me to use previously.<\/p>\n

Go figure…We sometimes are our own worst critics.<\/p>\n

Yup, I used the Couf on November 17, and the horn kicked ass. I got a lot of compliments that day from people about my horn\u2014because let’s face it, it is beautiful\u2014and about the way it sounded. Yes, it has been mistaken for new by quite a few people. When I tell them that it’s 50 years old, they are pretty much speechless.<\/p>\n

Pictures are worth 1,000+ words<\/h3>\n

I have managed to take a series of HDR shots of the Couf. I offer these up for you now. It is without a doubt among the prettiest saxophones I own. I am an extremely lucky bari owner.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately like my other large horns, it does not fit into the light box we built. I apologize for the reflections. I did my best to hide the mid-century European teak d\u00e9cor from our dining room, and of course the tripod, etc. I did try to minimize the distractions from the sax porn. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"Right <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Right <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Right <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Right <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Right <\/a> <\/div>
\"Right <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lower <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Front <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Front <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bell <\/a> <\/div>
\"Bell <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bell <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bow <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Pig <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Pig <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Octave <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Strap <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Serial <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Neck <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Neck <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Neck <\/a> <\/div>
\"Neck <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Specs<\/h3>\n