Woodwind instrument advice, reviews, care, repair & maintenance.
Whether you're interested in buying an instrument,
maintaining your flute or clarinet, hints on saxophone repairs or
just plain curious about woodwind - you'll find something to interest
you here, presented in a clear and relaxed manner.
Thanks to being snowed in by the 'Beast from the
East' I've had time to catch up a few reviews and articles. There's
a pair of tenors in the shape of the Sakkusu and the Mauriat 66
(not the R version), and a budget bari from John Packer. And on
the Benchlife Blog I talk about making yet another tool - a custom-built
saxwhacker.
As for the rest of the site, you'll find hard-hitting reviews that
show no fear or favour; commonsense advice about looking after your
instruments; myths debunkified; clear explanations and maybe one
or two laughs. So fill your mug/glass/pipe/atty, give your mouse
a buff and click on. You know it makes sense....
Latest reviews: "Don't blow it -
bench it!"
New:
Sax.co's take on the Ultra-Cheap
horn- the basic Sakkusu tenor.
New:
The Tri-tone
baritone - John Packer's JP044 MkII.
New:
The Mexican Conn 12M. It often gets
a bad press - so let's see if it deserves it.
Updated:
The Mauriat 66R tenor. Buy something
else. Updated (again): The Mauriat
66...the one without the rolled toneholes.
Recent:
It's 'foreign' and it cost twenty
quid in 1938 - but just how super is the New Super Dearman alto?
Recent:
The strange and mysterious Yanagisawa
S6 soprano. Not quite a review - more of a puzzle.
The much-anticipated update to Yanagisawa's
901 soprano - the SWO1U...in all its naked glory.
The
perils, pitfalls and pleasures of playing a 100 year old horn.
Meet the Couesnon '1900' GMN soprano.
Supercharged
- the Andy Sheppard Autograph series tenor.
The
Mauriat PMXA_76RUL alto. Hmmm.
Got
five grand spare for an alto? Want to know what you get for
your money? See how the A-WO33 fares in the five-alto playoff. Updated: Some very good
news in the postscript to this review.
A Yanagisawa 900 baritone turns up on the bench, so I've run
up a full review and amalgamated it into the existing 901/902/991
review.
Handy Hints: Hints, tips and maintenance
advice
Updated:
All you need to know about warped toneholes in this completely
re-written article.
Oiling
the action. Why you should do it, how to do it and what to use...in
detail.
Miscellaneous: All the other stuff...
Glossary: What does it all mean?
Updated:
The Black Museum's latest exhibit: The unedifying spectacle
of Goldfinger's Couesnon.
All
you need to know about point (pivot) screws...and more.
Testing...Testing: What works, and what
doesn't
Notes...from a small workshop
G# geometry - striking a balance between friction and functionality.
Of cash and kudos - the search
for remojofication.
Haynes saxophone & clarinet manuals
Benchlife...the workshop rolling blog
Everything
you need to know about looking after your sax or clarinet.
A
section devoted to the (almost) daily dabblings on and
around the workbench. Latest entry: A custom saxwhacker.
All material on this site copyright Stephen Howard
Woodwind, unless otherwise stated. 03/03/2018