Dual Neck Question

[VegasChris]

I recently purchased a Yanagisawa 991 and I have been experimenting with the straight and curved necks to see which I like better. I have been favoring the curved neck because the position of the mouthpiece and the position of my hands and wrists feels more comfortable and natural to me. After playing exclusively with the curved for a couple of days, I put the straight neck in and was surprised in that it seemed to me to be easier to blow on (i.e., less resistance). Do the curved necks require more effort to play? If I put one neck in and play a little, then put the other neck in I can't really notice a difference, but if I play the curved for a while then switch to the straight I do notice something. Is there a general opinion on this or is it my imagination?

[singlereed]

I think it has to do with familiarity more han resistance - after all, just about every other sax you play has at least one curve it it. I used to use the curved neck on a Yani, finding the position more comfortable and like you, felt I got better performance. Now I have switched to a fixed straight soprano and don't have the choice, but I had to adjust my position to get a good response, having been used to a different instrument. It impacts your embouchure and head position and I think if you just swap necks, then the one you are less used to is likely to suffer from wrong positioning until you adjust to it.