Saxophone Forum


by chasebk
(4 posts)
19 years ago

sharp upper register

i realize that there is a little difference from upper to lower register as far as intonation goes, but my new Z is really sharp in the upper register, i can deal with a few cents, but it is just way sharp. is there anything that can be done about this repair wise?

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  1. by johnsonfromwisconsin
    (767 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: sharp upper register

    IIRC, if it's a straight issue of the stack notes not being in tune between the octaves, I'm not sure you could do much to fix it via repair. if you alter the pitch of one note, it's corresponding note in the other octave would be negatively influenced. The next thing I'd try is attempting to experiment with reeds and mouthpiece chamber sizes.

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  2. by barisax999
    (400 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: sharp upper register

    heres an idea, try lipping down. my old horn was 20 cents sharp on the high E. i lipped it and got perfectly in tune with the whole sax section. its really not that hard. and you should have tried the horn out and seen that it was sharp up there before you bought it.

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    1. by sax_maniac
      (984 posts)

      19 years ago

      Re: sharp upper register

      Depending on how adventurous you are, you can also shim the palm key corks so they don't open as much. Best to wait until you've settled into your mouthpiece of choice before doing this if you want to go through this only once. There is some risk that keeping the key too closed could make it stuffy, but I've found that this is the best way to lock in the high end without having to extensively retrain your muscle memory. Once you've got confidence that high B, C, and C# are in tune, then go to high D and adjust how much it opens such that the same embouchre from high C# gets you an in tune high D. Then go to D# once D is is fixed, then adjust E, then F, then F#. I am all for making sure you're not too tight in the throat at the high end which can cause this problem, but if you feel like you're straining yourself or having to use radically different embouchres to achieve good intonation, then I recommed shimming the corks. Obviously, you have to either do this yourself or find a REALLY good tech who will do this with you at their side so they can custom fit the horn to your playing style. I will be going through this procedure tonight with a new horn of my own, so this posting caught my eye...

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  3. by peter090
    (155 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: sharp upper register

    I suspect you are playing with too tight an embouchure and not giving it enough breath support to get sound without pinching. I've never run into a yamaha that was more than a few cents out. If this is that rare exception that breaks the rule send it back.

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