SILVERSONICS are they special ?

[supersonic]

How does the Silverbell change the Sound of the Super 20

or is it more the Look ?

Tom

[kingsax]

It all depends, some would say it makes little difference, others would say it makes a big difference in terms of giving the sax a brighter sound, my experience with the alto is that it not only brightens things up it has more cut or more rip? depends on how you perceive this i suppose.
Remember you also get the silver neck, this also helps.

[Dr G]

Some years ago - I don't even know if the SotW archives still capture that far back - there were Super 20 fans claiming a preference for the brass bell over the silver bell. Of the Super 20s that I've played, the horns were so inconsistent that I couldn't say whether the bell, by itself, made a great difference. Better to go on a case-by-case basis - if it plays well, don't worry about the color of the bell. I wouldn't make the lack of a silver bell be a deal breaker (unless they are charging Silversonic prices).

FWIW, I have played some of the various Yanagisawa horns - a brand known to be consistent for its wares - and found the horns with silver bodies to sound slightly harsh.

[hgiles]

Your listening audience doesn't care about a silver neck nor a silver bell. Only you and other saxophonists might care.

[Souportwenty]

I played a brass super 20 for a few hours once and could definitely hear and feel a difference in "brightness" compared to my Silversonic. I used my mouthpiece/reed/ligature set up and there was certainly different tonal thing going on. Still, there are so many factors involved that I doubt the silver bell is really the thing that was responsible. I do suspect the silver neck makes much more of a difference than the bell ever could. There was this trumpet player I knew with a silver trumpet that was the epitome of harsh, but like the super20 bell, I think the "harshness" came from the player.

[Yellowhorn]

The sterling bell (stamped as such) on the silversonic 20 gives it more projection, brightness, and responsiveness - measured as the time from the moment you blow a note until its sound comes out of your horn/bell - than the non-silversonic ones. And I would not use the word color to describe the sterling bell because it is not silver-plated; rather it is made out of sterling silver (like sterling coins).

[blackfrancis]

You'll hear more difference from variation in your reeds than what the bell is made of.