When I was in Victoria in February I mentioned to Don that whoever bought it, whether it be me or someone else, would likely want their own tech to do all the work on it. I advised him to leave the horn as it is, wait for the right buyer to come along, and let them make a decision of what to do.<\/p>\n
The Couf bass gets an overhaul light<\/em><\/h3>\nWhen I brought the horn home a few weeks ago, it was exactly in the condition I last played it. Therefore, I didn’t want to play the horn all that much before I took it into the shop and have David do the same work he did on my Blackgold Superba II bari when I first got it. <\/p>\n![\"Couf](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_1347-scaled.jpg?resize=1174%2C1565&ssl=1\" "\\"couf")
<\/a>David carefully staring the disassembly process of the Couf bass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Blackgold bari was also a closet horn, and what David did in the course of a Saturday a.m. was nothing short of remarkable. The overhaul light<\/em> as I’ve called it, returned the horn to factory, or better, playing condition. I knew that the Couf bass would leave the shop in the same like-new condition. <\/p>\nA partial listing of what David did on this Couf Superba I bass included:<\/p>\n
\n- Disassembled the entire instrument<\/li>\n
- Replaced any of the corks and felts that needed it<\/li>\n
- Removed all the fog from the mirrored resos<\/li>\n
- Cleaned all the pads<\/li>\n
- Greased and oiled all the springs, screws, rods, etc;<\/li>\n
- Reassembled it with no new scratches on this rather large beastie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
When I took it to the shop a couple of weeks ago the plan was that it would be done during the day. However, due to customers coming in, and me not wanting to rush David, I told him I’d come back the following day to pick it up. For that reason I don’t have as many photos as I do of my Blackgold bari<\/a> while it is in pieces<\/a>. <\/p>\nWhy Keilwerth basses play D2 better, and cleaner over the break<\/h3>\n
While I was there David took off the horn’s keys and found something interesting, which explains why the Couf bass is able to play D2 so much easier and with a cleaner sound than the vintage American basses it is modeled after. <\/p>\n
Despite what you may read online, Keilwerth bass saxophones have only 2 octave vents. They DO NOT have 3. Not sure how or where that rumor started, but it is not true. <\/p>\n
However, these 2 octave vents are different from each other. The one nearest the upper bow has a much larger opening than the one nearest the socket.<\/p>\n![\"Couf](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_1351-scaled.jpg?resize=1174%2C1565&ssl=1\" "\\"couf")
<\/a>The octave vent that is open from D2 to G#2. Note the size of the opening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"Couf](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_1353-scaled.jpg?resize=1174%2C1565&ssl=1\" "\\"couf")
<\/a>The second octave vent that is used from A2 and upwards. Note the smaller opening.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis added venting for the first octave pip explains the Couf bass’s ability to play D2 so cleanly, and the horn’s ability to go over the break with such ease. <\/p>\n
And how does it play now?<\/h3>\n
Now that David did this work on the Couf bass, it is like playing a brand-new saxophone. It was fast before, but it is now lightning quick. I am playing technical exercises and etudes, like those found in the Universal Method<\/em> and Klos\u00e9’s 25 Daily Exercises<\/em>, at almost the same speed I do on any of my smaller horns. <\/p>\nI am still amazed at how little air the bass requires. Although I am working on technical stuff, I am really working more on my long tones\u2014particularly the Pivot Around Middle C Exercise<\/a> that works on your relative pitch\u2014as well as a bit on my altissimo. <\/p>\nCurrently I am juggling bass and C soprano, since I also have to get my C soprano chops back in shape for some summer stuff I have going with my oboe-playing buddy. Bb bass and C soprano are quite the combo to get your face in shape for. No need to ask which is harder. \ud83d\ude09 The littler horn wins hands down every time. \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I played what is now my Couf bass for the first time in February, I recognized immediately that it had not been in the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50435,"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":[471,619,151,119,677,644,72,651,218,198,643,31],"class_list":["post-50465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bass-saxophone","tag-bass-sax","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-german-saxophones","tag-herb-couf-superba-i","tag-julius-keilwerth","tag-photos","tag-saxophone-maintenance","tag-saxophone-repairs","tag-stencil-horn","tag-stencil-saxophone","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax"],"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
<\/a>The Blackgold bari was also a closet horn, and what David did in the course of a Saturday a.m. was nothing short of remarkable. The overhaul light<\/em> as I’ve called it, returned the horn to factory, or better, playing condition. I knew that the Couf bass would leave the shop in the same like-new condition. <\/p>\n A partial listing of what David did on this Couf Superba I bass included:<\/p>\n When I took it to the shop a couple of weeks ago the plan was that it would be done during the day. However, due to customers coming in, and me not wanting to rush David, I told him I’d come back the following day to pick it up. For that reason I don’t have as many photos as I do of my Blackgold bari<\/a> while it is in pieces<\/a>. <\/p>\n While I was there David took off the horn’s keys and found something interesting, which explains why the Couf bass is able to play D2 so much easier and with a cleaner sound than the vintage American basses it is modeled after. <\/p>\n Despite what you may read online, Keilwerth bass saxophones have only 2 octave vents. They DO NOT have 3. Not sure how or where that rumor started, but it is not true. <\/p>\n However, these 2 octave vents are different from each other. The one nearest the upper bow has a much larger opening than the one nearest the socket.<\/p>\n This added venting for the first octave pip explains the Couf bass’s ability to play D2 so cleanly, and the horn’s ability to go over the break with such ease. <\/p>\n Now that David did this work on the Couf bass, it is like playing a brand-new saxophone. It was fast before, but it is now lightning quick. I am playing technical exercises and etudes, like those found in the Universal Method<\/em> and Klos\u00e9’s 25 Daily Exercises<\/em>, at almost the same speed I do on any of my smaller horns. <\/p>\n I am still amazed at how little air the bass requires. Although I am working on technical stuff, I am really working more on my long tones\u2014particularly the Pivot Around Middle C Exercise<\/a> that works on your relative pitch\u2014as well as a bit on my altissimo. <\/p>\n Currently I am juggling bass and C soprano, since I also have to get my C soprano chops back in shape for some summer stuff I have going with my oboe-playing buddy. Bb bass and C soprano are quite the combo to get your face in shape for. No need to ask which is harder. \ud83d\ude09 The littler horn wins hands down every time. \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I played what is now my Couf bass for the first time in February, I recognized immediately that it had not been in the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50435,"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":[471,619,151,119,677,644,72,651,218,198,643,31],"class_list":["post-50465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bass-saxophone","tag-bass-sax","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-german-saxophones","tag-herb-couf-superba-i","tag-julius-keilwerth","tag-photos","tag-saxophone-maintenance","tag-saxophone-repairs","tag-stencil-horn","tag-stencil-saxophone","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax"],"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\n
Why Keilwerth basses play D2 better, and cleaner over the break<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a>And how does it play now?<\/h3>\n