My Otto Link New York Tenor piece

Here's a shot of my trusty 1950's Otto Link New York made Tone Master - 4* tip. These are very different from the later 'Florida' model - shorter shank, slightly different chamber and baffle, thicker rails and most important, the bell metal is different - how, I couldn't say, but it has a different feel and tonal character.

This piece takes some getting used to, particularly coming to it from a more modern piece, it can feel stuffy and closed down, but once the embrochure and diaphram adapt, it is a mellow, rounded, versatile player with a very centered tone. Lots of partial, loads of subtones.

But it ain't no screamer, and projection it don't have - no power and no guts. If a player needs to cut through, this one won't do it, and as an ensemble player, an electrified one or high octane one - it probably won't do. In a small band setting - sheer magic. Sweet!!!

Tenor saxes - the skinny on vintage & modern horns

Let's get my own prejudices out of the way first. I started on an Olds Ambassador when I was in school - it was really crappy, it leaked, it was tough to play, the egronomics sucked - not a good horn, but I had it, and I played it. In a way, it forced me to be a better player because it pushed me to make up for it's deficiencies. If you start off with a minty Selmer Mk. VI, you'll get there faster and much easier, but you'll have missed out on a lot of important learning to get there, and the first time your horn lets you down, you won't be able to deal with it. I tried a ton of mouthpieces with it - a Link metal Florida Tone Master, a metal Berg, a metal Guy Hawkins (which was in some ways the best), a metal Wolf Tayne (similar to the Hawkins with a bit more edge, tougher to control). I didn't realize at the time, as I got caught up in the "wide opening and hard reed or you are a wimp" school of thinking - and at the time there wasn't a lot of information around on alternate views. If I had known at the time that Coltrane used a 4* Link with a medium hard reed, for example, I might not have had such a tough time blowing my guts out. At some point I picked up an Artley closed hole flute with a silver head, and because I wasn't trying to overcompensate for the mouthpiece, in some ways I moved ahead on it quicker. Don't remember what happened to that one. After the Olds, when I got a few bucks together with my first job, I got a Buffet Crampon Super Dynaction, a 1970's horn, really nice player with superb action and a nice, if somewhat bright tone. Worked well with my Link, which by that point was something of a status piece. At the same time I picked up my first soprano - a Yanagisawa, an early one - I think they were just starting to sell in North America then. Nice horn, tough to blow on top, a few intonation issues. Not as nice as a Selmer of that era, but close enough for the price. As other things in life took over I stopped playing for some time. When I got back in, the Selmer Mk. VII fiasco had ended and they were about to move to the next model. I got a King Super 20 Silversonic that had the sterling silver bell and neck, a real beauty, and a screamer with nice action, pretty fast, not egronomically ideal, but a great, great horn. I picked up a Gary Sugal metal mouthpiece which were the latest fashion (despite not being terribly good) and some hard reeds. For some reason I moved off the King, I think despite it's sound I found it physically a demanding horn to play. And as I continued to evolve, I started to look for a bigger sound - not in terms of volume, but in terms of tone and color. I found the King a bit one-dimensional in terms of expressiveness. So next I came across a 1950's SML, which are not terribly well known but perhaps are the ultimate underground tenor - a "Revision D" SML, with most of the adjustment features, and of course that big bell. It's the one I have today. Not a screamer, but a beauty of a tone, with lots of harmonics and variety of tone color. Nice action that is egronomically good but makes one work a bit too. Every key falls nicely into place. The LH cluster feels good. Great horn - and if you think about it, far more rare than a Selmer Mk. VI which were pumped out in massive numbers. This is a real hand made horn built by people from a now gone era who were real craftsmen. My horn was completely rebuilt by Palo Tung in New Orleans in 2005, it was completed only a short time before Katrina hit - fortunately for me, unfortunate for Palo who has yet to get back in business. He stripped the horn down, chem stripped the lacquer to bare brass, rebuilt the mechanics and gave it a light coat of clear lacquer. His work is magnificent and the horn was transformed. Took me awhile to get familiar with it again. I'm playing on either a New York Link Tone Master 4* or a Brilhart Tonalin 5*, I found a big stash of incredible new Populaire reeds unopened from the 60's, they are pretty much all players and sound wonderful. Next time - talk bout the saxello. Maybe more on mouthpieces.