Bauhaus Walstein Bronze Sax's

[Mauriatboy]

So how many BW Bronze sax owner's are out there who like me are still very happy with these very good horn's.Very well made,solid sax's with superb tuning and sound.I have the BW Bronze Alto and straight Soprano and soon to be Bronze curved sop and i am still abit stunned how good they are and at such a great price.

[Al Carter]

I don't have one, but have been thinking about a BW curved sop....however, Woodwind and Brass is "out of stock" while some refinements are being made to the design, according to them. BW's certainly get good reviews, and Pete Thomas speaks fondly of them, which is a good endorsement.

[Budget Explosion]

Is this the horn that Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello drummer and former SOTW moderator) is endorsing?

[NissanVintageSax]

More or less, yes. I don't think he's a paid endorser, just allows him to post his comments on their website.

[Mauriatboy]

Pete play's the straight Bronze sop like mine and i read he prefer's it to any thing else,including Selmer' sop's he's tried.Very well made and solid and a direct copy of the Yanni 992 so feel is great also.The alto and sop are very warm sounding horn's and do the job great for me.

[Pete Thomas]

Slight confusion here.

I am not Elvis Costello's drummer.
I am not an official endorser (I buy my own saxophones), nor do I post my comments on the Woodwind & Brass website.

Anyway back to the topic. I bought a soprano a couple of years ago, this is now my main soprano for recording sessions. (e.g.Love Theme from Meet the Foxes) I also recently bought a baritone, and you can hear it on Youtube:

[Budget Explosion]

oh! so, it's like Bill Evans (RIP) the piano player and Bill Evans the sax player?

[Pete Thomas]

oh! so, it's like Bill Evans (RIP) the piano player and Bill Evans the sax player?

No, neither of us are dead yet.

At times we have worked at the same studio and I would frequently be called to reception for his cabs and girlfriends.

[rhysonsax]

I've bought a second hand Walstein (before the name change) alto for a very reasonable £200 and I've also tried quite a few of their other horns on a visit to Cowplain (Woodwind & Brasswind's base near Portsmouth).

I love the ergonomics, tuning and action, but I have found that the sound isn't very "lively". Whereas my MkVI comes alive with almost any decent mouthpiece, the Walstein sounds a little dull unless I use a nice, bright mouthpiece. But this is comparing a Walstein with a sax costing more than ten times as much, so it's pretty impressive.

Maybe that is something to do with the pads and/or relfectors they use for this very low cost horn.

Has anyone else found that ?

Rhys

[cmelodysax]

Rhys - totally agree - I have a generic Chinese alto (not Walstein, but I'll bet the workings are very similar) and I found that the subtle 'character' mouthpieces that sound great on various age Martin alto's mostly seem to be more than slightly withdrawn on the Chinese alto.

But when I slip on a very bright and edgy Saxscape mouthpiece, the Chinese horn suddenly comes alive. Very much a Jekyll and Hyde thing, the right mouthpiece seems to be the stimulus...

[Pete Thomas]

I love the ergonomics, tuning and action, but I have found that the sound isn't very "lively". Whereas my MkVI comes alive with almost any decent mouthpiece, the Walstein sounds a little dull unless I use a nice, bright mouthpiece. But this is comparing a Walstein with a sax costing more than ten times as much, so it's pretty impressive.

Rhys - totally agree - I have a generic Chinese alto (not Walstein, but I'll bet the workings are very similar) and I found that the subtle 'character' mouthpieces that sound great on various age Martin alto's mostly seem to be more than slightly withdrawn on the Chinese alto.

I haven't found another Chinese sax that is similar to the Walstein tenor. The bottom end is very rich, but it does get less rich near the top - some people would call this dark or smoky, but I can understand how others might want a livelier mouthpiece for extra brightness or zing for some styles.

[Mauriatboy]

I have never owned a Bari but when the time's right and i got spare cash i want the BW Bronze Bari and that's firmly on my want list.I find my high baffle Law buzzer bring's out just the right edge and cut and agree the BW just need's lifting atad with the right mp combo and reed but overall they are great for the buck.

[Budget Explosion]

okay, I got it: Avishai Cohen (bass player) and Avishai Cohen (trumpet player) are like Peter Thomas (drummer) and Pete Thomas (sax player)!

[cmelodysax]

okay, I got it: Avishai Cohen (bass player) and Avishai Cohen (trumpet player) are like Peter Thomas (drummer) and Pete Thomas (sax player)!

You're on dodgy ground there, associating drummers with musicians...

[katzer1]

Those phosphorous bronze saxes sure look tempting.
I am seriously considering getting a soprano one. After going through Pete Thomas' fantastic website and listening to the audio files and watching the videos I have enough confidence in those horns ala "if it is good enough for Pete Thomas it is good enough for me".

I am just wondering, what exactly is in that alloy that gives it that pinkish color and what is it coated with... with the big 4 and the Taiwanese makers, one can assume a certain consideration is made during to manufacturing process to led and other contamination, with the mainland china it is a harder tell..

Any ideas?

[crazydaisydoo]

I have sold both my Martin and Yamaha altos (play mainly T +S now) and just got a new Walstein Bauhaus alto (bronze) It is absolutely superb, no tonal differences at all, it is well made and has keywork comparable to the Yamaha (highish action but fine)

My old Walstein tenor was also great, I have just sold my Yani T901 "back up"and will be buying one again as a back up for my Selmer

You have two choices to buy one from, woodwind and brass, or saxophone studio in Wales. I got my alto from the latter, very good service,

[Al Fine]

How does this compare to the Antigua Soprano?

[lovesthesax]

i love my Walstein tenor. Dark and rich, especially on the lower registers.. it wails.
my setup is a meyer5m rubber with Vandoran Java Jazz reed. Perfect.

But I wonder how the Walstein compares to the Bauhasu Walstein. Is it the same exact horn just under revised brand? or are there any quality differences?

[Pete Thomas]

one can assume a certain consideration is made during to manufacturing process to led and other contamination, with the mainland china it is a harder tell..

Not sure why it's harder to tell.

But anyway, I was always under the impression that lead is or can be a constituent of brass so would not be classed as a contaminent, partly or wholly because any lead in there would not be poisonous as you don't eat saxophones.

However, and I think more to the point, lead is quite expensive these days, so may be used less in the alloy than in previous years. I don't think it is anything to worry about.

The metal is such a miniscule part of the total cost of the instrument (at least at the high level of quality you get with a Walstein Bauhaus), there is little point in any manufacturer at whatever level, skimping on the quality or cost of the metal.

[jerryshen]

After all of these positive review, I just felt like I had to try one of these. My Bauhaus-Walstein tenor is on the way...

I currently play on a Bundy II with 104 tip Vandoren V16. I wonder how much difference it would make by switching to the BW.