Neo Slings are great

[Mope]

No more neck strap for me. The weight of the sax is on your shoulder so its comfortable for hours. Doesn't restrict blood flow to your head either. Hook spins. Sax positions nicely. Much better idea.

[Lament]

Amen, I have one also and love it.

[Carl H.]

I won't use or recommend them. Too many issues with the clasps.

As recently as last night.

[bandmommy]

I had an issue with the clasp on the neotech harness that is supplied with the bari that I borrow from my daughters school.
Last night, just before warm ups at my Community Band/Choir Concert the clip streched open and the bari hit the floor with a sickening sound, and rendered the instrument unplayable. Leaving me scrambling to find a "playable" bari at a school where my girls are not students.

Now I'm having doubts about the straps I use on my alto and tenor. The school bari may be covered under the schools' repair contract, but my personal horns are not.

The straps and harness are comfortable, but........
I'm concidering doing a bit of surgery and replacing the plastic clasps with something stronger and more durable. I can't afford to see another instrument bouncing on the band room floor, and hearing that unmistakable sound of bending keywork. It's enough to make you feel the need to vomit.

[Budget Explosion]

I imagine it's what a training bra feels like.

[retread]

I had that problem with a Neotech harness, and posted about it. Neotech said they have improved the clasp and solved that problem. So maybe it's just the older harnesses you have to watch.

[Jazz Is All]

I imagine it's what a training bra feels like.

How do you figure? If the clasps on a training bra stretched open, there wouldn't be anything big or heavy enough left free to fall on the floor. Unless, of course, it was Chesty Morgan's training bra...:shock:....or you tried to use one as a sax harness on a gig with Madonna or playing at Jacques. :D

[Bebopalot]

I haven't had the need to replace my Ray Hyman in 27 years of use. I have never used one although they look comfortable, because it seems that it may not be the easiest thing to be taking off and on. It looks kind of nerdy and over the top to me. I suppose if you have back problems "nerdy" is not as bad as "in pain".

[bandmommy]

I imagine it's what a training bra feels like.

Close!
I only wish that the bari was as light as my 'Itty bitty titties'. :twisted: :D

The harness that I was using was, to the best of my knowledge, about 2 years old. When was the clasp sitiation supposedly addressed and improved upon?

[retread]

The harness that I was using was, to the best of my knowledge, about 2 years old. When was the clasp sitiation supposedly addressed and improved upon?
I don't know. And we also don't know how long that two-year-old strap had been in someone's inventory before it was sold.

[bandmommy]

I wish that the harness I was using was a "Post Improvement" model and not defective.
It would saved me the shame of having to explain the damage to the school owned bari I had to return today.

[jazzcat58]

I had that problem with a Neotech harness, and posted about it. Neotech said they have improved the clasp and solved that problem. So maybe it's just the older harnesses you have to watch.

a similar post about this was here recently, with regards to the neotechs i have never had a sax come off the hook, attached from the left hand side!.
The new harnesses i believe have a better spring mechanism, i think they are good..

[bandmommy]

I had that problem with a Neotech harness, and posted about it. Neotech said they have improved the clasp and solved that problem. So maybe it's just the older harnesses you have to watch.

a similar post about this was here recently, with regards to the neotechs i have never had a sax come off the hook, attached from the left hand side!.
The new harnesses i believe have a better spring mechanism, i think they are good..


You have been very lucky.
You'll never guess which side this one was hooked from......the Left!
The spring didn't fail. The 'hook' part straightened out and the bari was on the floor before I could react.

I'm not saying that the entire Neotech line is defective, just this particular harness had an issue.

[jazzcat58]

sorry to hear that!!...so it was a plastic hook as usual then i presume, and i guess it busted with the weight ...?

[bandmommy]

It never broke!
The danged thing went straight, the bari slipped off, and it snapped back into shape.
I was able to use it on the second 'borrowed' bari.
Except this time I held on to the horn with both hands while standing and laid it in my lap when I wasn't playing.

[dbpwnz]

I've had a similar situation with a neotech strap. The swivel is bent by the weight of the bari which then leaves a gap where it slips off. The bari has slipped twice for me, but I've been lucky enough to have one hand on it and I was sitting down, so no damage done.

[Murgo]

Scary. Is there a way to identify the "new and improved" clasp vs. the old unreliable one?

My neotech harness is only a few months old and the hook seems to be rock solid, but as I assume the circulation of such items here is not that fast, it might have been sitting on the importers shelf for years, so I'd like to be sure.

Or should I just cut off the plastic clasp and replace it with a climbing carabinier?

[gregcagle]

I imagine the Neotech rep will chime in shortly on this, but he assured me that there was a visible difference between the old and new hooks. I have a newer Neosling and my Yani bari has never stretched the hook as far as I can tell. And I check it frequently.

- Greg

[Neotech]

bandmommy- I have sent you a private message. Please check it and contact me.
__________________________________________________ _______________

There is indeed a visible difference between our older hook and the newer style, although the most significant improvement cannot be seen. The glass-reinforced plastic was completely reformulated to eliminate the stretch issue and to make a much stronger hook.

Visibly, the new version of the swivel hook is thicker and can most easily be seen at the "corner" of the hook as shown in the image below.



The new hook was implemented in 2005 (although as has been mentioned before, we have no way of knowing how long a strap may be on a dealer's shelf). It is engineered to be more than strong enough to support even the heaviest of horns. Here is a picture that I took for use on our current catalog cover. There are 30 lbs of weight supported on the hook. (The hooks are actually tested with 60+ lbs, but my model couldn't hold that much from a side angle... I don't know anyone who could!)

[Al Carter]

I have the newer style hook on my - I don't know what you call it - "yoke" style harness. The hook does indeed seem much more robust than the one on my older Neotech harness. The one problem with it is, with the thicker part of the hook, it now doesn't move as freely in the strap ring on my bari - it sort of occasionally gets "stuck" and I have to kind of work it a bit to loosen it back up. I had thought about filing off the corner some but now I'm not sure, as I don't want to weaken it any.

[BigHunk]

I tried a afew different straps when i started playing bari and for me the neotech shoulder strap was the answer.Im going to look and see which hook is on the one I have.

[Murgo]

Thanks for pictures, i seem to have the new hook, so I guess I can trust it. My horn is light for a low-A bari anyway. :)

[bandmommy]

The hook on the harness that I was using has the old style hook.
I guess the school purchased it before the change.