Weltklang vs Blue Label Baritones

Weltklang vs Blue Label baritones: What are the differences?

As I mentioned on the previous B&S model page, the main differences between the Weltklang and the step-up model B&S include*:

• Tone hole placement: – the blue label horns have offset tone holes like modern saxophones do, rather than inline ones.
• Left pinkie cluster: the B&S had their G#, C#, B, and Bb keys coupled together.

*Not all features of B&S saxophones were found on baris. EG: high F# keys.

In addition to these differences that all B&S blue label saxes shared, the baritones differed greatly in one other area: bell construction.

Bell construction on the Weltklang baritone

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 ½ step.

The cylindrical tube interrupts the saxophone’s intended conical bore…

… 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.

Does this make a difference to the way a Weltklang plays vis-à-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.

B&S blue label baritones

Unlike Weltklang’s cylindrical tube insertion, the blue label B&S baritones—which were built from 1981 onward—had 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.

Weltklang vs Blue Label baritones: Which is better?

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 did own a 2004 Medusa bari. (Made by VMI, and a successor to these horns.) Was it “better” than my Mark VI? No. Was it better than my Committee III? No. It was however, a very different animal to both of them, and for nearly 15 years was my low A bari whenever I needed one.