| Eric, I think we're talking the same thing. However, I didn't realize that the alloys were no longer available. I thought it was perhaps more a matter of the makers didn't really care and were taking the path of least resistance.
I recently read on a saxophone site that Henri Selmer Paris made a concerted effort to reproduce their old alloys and that around 2000 the quality of their saxes reappeared with the adoption of the reproduced alloys. I've been trying to get Jerome Selmer to answer a few questions, but he's not answering my email, yet. I'll keep trying. I'm really hoping that he'll talk about the brass alloys.
I play in a band where the tenor/alto player has both 1950s Selmers and their "modern" Reference sax models. They sound remarkably the same. What's really interesting is when he and I play certain chord tones the resonance of our combined Selmer horns is astounding. He thinks it's the alloys and I tend to agree. When we both played Yamahas that didn't happen in such a noticeable way. It's incredible when it happens. We both hear it and just smile. It's wonderful.
Dave |