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Selmer SA80 Series II Bass Intonation and Key Heights

3K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  geoffroach 
#1 ·
I've been playing my university's bass recently and I've noticed some really dreadful tuning issues. The palm D is a few cents flat and the rest are all 20-25 cents flat and sound very muffled. I looked at the key heights and they look shockingly low when they're opened. Has anybody else had these experiences on a Series II bass? The low D and C are also quite sharp no matter where the mouthpiece is on the cork. This is a relatively new instrument and is rarely played so I highly doubt damage to be the issue. I have much better intonation on alto through bari and can't justify putting all the blame on myself. I am using a Vandoren Optimum BL3 baritone mouthpiece.
 
#3 ·
D'oh! Simple logic, eh? I tried the Selmer C* bass mouthpiece that came with the horn and bam! It was much more in tune. I guess it's because I can push it on farther on the neck (better for the scale) than my bari piece. The palm keys still need a bit of extra support but are much better, though the low D and C are still sharp without adjustment. The keyguard bumpers can only screw in so far...
 
#4 ·
I'm going to reopen this thread. I have a Selmer SA80 II bass sax with the same problems.
I used a tuner to check the intonation of the bass. I checked it with three bass mouthpieces and 2 necks. Here's where I found problems. They were pretty consistent across equipment.

D - fourth line - 20 cents sharp.
C# - third space - 20 cents flat
E - first line - 20 cents flat
Eb - first line - 20 cents sharp
D - first space below staff - 30 cents sharp
C# - below staff - 0-10 cents flat - most of the time real close
C - below staff - 30 cents sharp - too much
B - below staff - 10 cents flat - like the C#
Bb - below staff - in tune.

The rest of the horn is exactly where it should be. Before I take the horn in for work, I would like to learn from anyone else who has encountered this. It could help provide some guidance to the repair person. Seems to me to be a key height problem, but maybe only partially. Ideas?
-Geoff Roach
 
#5 ·
More info - It turns out a combination of improper key heights, corks too thick, and a few leaks were causing problems. The key heights on the low Bb,B,C,and Eb were not right. No consistency - some too high and some too low. The corks underneath the left hand pinky figure setup were too thick preventing the low C# from opening to where the note would play in tune. Chris Taque in Sacramento is the tech who was both knowledgable and patient enough to address this. I hope this helps someone in the future. -Geoff
 
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