King Tempo Bari

[Morry]

Anyone played a King Tempo Bari? If so, can you please share your observations? Were these made by Keilwerth, or some other German company?

[Wicked Good]

Years ago I regularly played on a borrowed King Tempo baritone sax. I loved the big, lush tone but hated the intonation. The entire upper range from written D2 on up was incredibly sharp, no matter what mouthpiece setup I tried. Otto Links, Berg Larsens, Meyers, Bill Streets, nothing worked for me on that horn.

I hope that it was just a matter of the horn needing some work, because it really did have a wonderful sound. It wasn't mine, though, so :(

I read somewhere that the Tempos were made by Keilwerth - the exact term I saw was that the Tempos were "Couf stencils."

[Morry]

The intonation on this one seems very good. D3 and up need a little work, but I'm sure it's me, since it has been a long time since I've had bari chops.

After looking at some images on saxpics site, I can say that my Tempo is identical to the Superba II, except that my Tempo, strangely enough, has double control arms on the low C that I don't find on the Superba IIs.

I love the fat bottom end, and tenor-like upper register with this Barone Trad./Cont. mpc that I bought. I was hoping that I wouldn't like it, since it is $500, but I really do.

[Wicked Good]

$500 for a good Tempo/Superba II bari?? :shock:

You gotta go for it, man.

[Morry]

No, I meant $500 for that Barone mouthpiece!

[Wicked Good]

:D I thought that's what you might have meant, but wasn't completely sure. You do hear of insane deals every once in awhile.

Wow, $500 for a mouthpiece. I've been playing the clarinet for over 30 years and the saxophone for almost as long, and I've never, ever paid more than $120 for any mouthpiece ... and that was for a Ridenour bass clarinet piece last year.

My best sax moutpiece is a bottom-of-the-junk-drawer Babbitt Meyer 5 alto piece that I got for free, and had re-worked by Theo Wanne into his "Custom Meyer". Fantastic piece, that. I think I'd go that route again before I shelled out $500 for any mouthpiece (and I understand how killin' Barone's pieces are). I'll betcha Theo could do something excellent for you for much less, if you're interested.

[Morry]

I like the feel of metal bari pieces, in that they have more of a tenor-like footprint. I never thought I'd pay this for a piece, although I've paid $300+ for tenor and alto pieces (looking back on it that sounds insane). This Barone traditional/contemporary just sounds great with this Tempo bari. I still have some time left on the trial before I have to decide. The bari was $1250, and is in pretty good shape. There is a little problem with an octave pip than has to be realigned somehow, but hopefully my tech can fix it.