Lawton ICON B chamber compared to regular brass B chamber

[Subtone Sam]

I have tried the Lawton ICON BB chambers,very bright.I also have experience with Lawton brass B chambers,OK but lack little power.Those of you who have played the ICON B chamber and regular B chamber,what are the main differences,does ICON B chamber have more punch and edge than the regular one? I´m talking tenor here.Thanks again!

[JimD]

I'm writing out of semi ignorance here as I haven't tried an Icon. My understanding is that they are bright, intended for rock etc. I play a brass 8*b Lawton tenor piece which I find has plenty of power although I have tried a couple of others fairly recently, one a bronze 8*b with a long window, the other an 8 plain. Both have had a sort of diffuse feel to them with a lack of the punch I'm used to. I'd assumed that the long window was responsible for the first and maybe the plain chamber is responsible for the second but I'm beginning to wonder if I was just lucky with my regular 8*b.

[Subtone Sam]

Thanks! I think Icons are brighter than regular Lawtons,too,at least Icon BB was.BTW,if you tried a bronze 8*B with the long window then it must have been the Icon,its the only bronze model they make.I didn´t know they make Icons with longer windows.Are you sure it was bronze?

[BATMAN]

Actually, they make Lawtons in Bronze for all the models. Look for the "special" on the side. Gold plated bronze. At least this is what I have been told....

I used to have a Lawton 9B in Bronze. For jazz, it is a nice medium bright....very Sonny Rollins-like. I also had an 8 plain in gold plate brass. Nice straight ahead piece, much like a Berg and a link crossed together (a low baffle berg with a linkish chamber and "feel" of the bite).

They are good mpcs indeed. Wished I'd kept them!

[Paul S]

Sam - i had a icon 8B that i found to be quite bright and punchier than anything I've played other than a stainless 7*BB (paint stripper!)

I don't know if its brighter than the regular brass model?? I doubt there's much difference........if anything i would think that bronze being a softer, denser metal might be darker and softer in sound if anything?? But I'm no expert.

My Icon 8B was certainly WAY bighter and punchier than the 120 ESP i just got from you. I love this piece btw, perfect blend of darkness, warm, projection, easy to play, good altissimo. without the spoiler its similar to my 9* metal link, just not stuffy or reed picky with better projection.

[JimD]

The bronze piece was a regular Lawton with a special long window, either done as a special order or just one of Geoff's experiments. I once had a silverplated bronze 6* piece designed to be used with a Rovner lig that I think was a one off. I hot footed it to the shop when I saw the 8*b listed thinking it must be an Icon on account of the price. It's still available from Howarths if anybody's interested, for £180.

[Chris]

In which peroid had Sonny Rollins played lawtons?
Thnaks.

[JimMetcalf]

I have played my 7*BB special tenor piece for 5+ years-recently found a newer Icon 7*B. It has almost the same edge as the BB, but plays with a warmer sound, and blows easier. The lawtons are all very good players-have great intonation and a wide, full sound. I like my Tenor Icon so well-I am looking for a 7*B alto icon!
I play Lawtons on Baritone-6*BB, Tenor-7*B Icon, Alto 7*B special,Sop-SS9B.

[rhysonsax]

I have played my 7*BB special tenor piece for 5 years-recently found a newer Icon 7*B. It has almost the same edge as the BB, but plays with a warmer sound, and blows easier. The lawtons are all very good players-have great intonation and a wide, full sound. I like my Tenor Icon so well-I am looking for a 7*B alto icon!
I play Lawtons on Baritone-6*BB, Tenor-7*BB Icon, Alto 7*B special,Sop-SS9B.

That is updating quite an old thread !

I would agree that the ICON has edge and for me is more flexible in sound than the standard BB Lawtons.

I have got quite a few Lawtons on SATB and spoke to Geoff Lawton a couple of years before he died. The ICON was made differently to his other pieces, including the other bronze pieces, as he had to cast it to get the internal shapes he was after - all the other pieces were machined from solid.

I think that the ICON started out only for tenor and only a high baffle piece. I have two ICON BB tenors that are different to each other (one is more smoothed off inside) and an ICON B tenor that I don't really like.

The only ICON alto I have seen is the 6*BB that I bought from eBay here in the UK and it's great (although a bit closed for me), but a different internal shape again. I think that the alto ICONs are much, much rarer than tenors. And I have never seen or heard of a baritone ICON, but I would love to get one.

Geoff did so much experimentation and development that the numbers and letters marked on his pieces don't tell you the whole story at all. But the workmanship on all the ones I've seen is great.

I also spoke to Geoff's son, Jason, on the phone last year. As far as I could tell, he and a colleague are making small numbers and only of the standard models. I wouldn't expect there to be any new ICONs from them soon.

Rhys

[tomonsax]

Hello Rhys
i've owned a few Lawtons and currently play a 9*B on alto, a 8*B Bronce on Bari (which was the older version of the special) and a plain numbered 9 ICON on tenor- and wow- i played a 8*B before, but this one has a fuller sound and wider range so with the plain Icon it's a bit more difficult to get a powerful edge in the sound, but it's much easier to rounder than on a usual lawton in ff it has got the brighness i like!
blow the horn
Tom