Warburton Modular Sax Neck System

I have an exciting product to review today.  It is the Warburton Modular Sax Neck.  This is one of the coolest products I have ever tried.  Whoever thought of it is a genius.  Basically, it is a neck that has no tenon or cork on it.  The two items that are missing can be screwed on to the neck to complete it. Here’s a picture of the neck without the tenon and initiator.

Warburton Modular Neck Unassembled

As you can see from the picture above there are threads on each end of the neck.  The tenon and initiator (cork area) screw easily on to the neck.  There are many sizes of tenons to fit any size receiver.  When I received this neck to try Eric Falcon also sent me 11 tenons to try on my Selmer SBA as well as my RSBerkely Virtuoso. It was no problem finding a match for each horn.  Once you have the tenon issue settled then comes the fun part.  The initiators………………

Warburton Tenon

 

Warburton Initiator

Now the full coolness of this system is in the initiators. The package I received for this review had 11 initiators in it.  Every initiator was different and unique.  The initiators come with little rubber rings that are in grooves on the initiator.  The mouthpiece slides on to the rubber rings and makes a perfect seal.  Believe me, I was skeptical so I tested these thoroughly.  There were no leaks in this system, . The mouthpiece sealed great on the rings and it was much easier than cork to slide the mouthpiece on and off of the neck.  It was refreshing for me to know that I wasn’t crushing down cork every time I slid the mouthpiece on and off.

Warburton Initiators

I have taken the description for each initiator from the Warburton website and posted it below. I also posted a sound clip for each initiator that I tested. Sound clips are the true test in my opinion.  The first clip is of my Selmer SBA with my normal neck and a Lamberson J7 mouthpiece.  All the rest of the clips are using one of the 11 initiators on the Warburton Modular neck with the same Lamberson J7.  I tried to play a very similar phrase and pattern on all the clips although there are slight variations.

The first letter or letters are a code for the model of the initiator.  The number is for the width of the inside diameter of the initiator. 50 stand for .50″. A SBA tenor neck is around a .50 from what I’ve been told although mine measured a bit larger than that.

Selmer SBA Neck

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The Initiator internal shapes are illustrated and described below:

 

Warburton A Intiator

A – continuous Arc – The Arc shape is the brightest and most powerful shape. It has a uniform timbre while adding brightness and more center to the sound. The resistance and timbre are especially even at full volume. This is an excellent choice for jazz lead playing and more contemporary playing styles when Projection is needed.

A46

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A48

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A50

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Warburton F Initiator

Warburton RT Initiator

F – cylindrical first 2/3 of length then Frc – The Flare shape is the warmest and most flexible shape. The lows in the sound are more prominent and the timbre is easily changed. The lower register is big and warm with an excellent subtone and the upper register is fluid and singing. This is an excellent choice for straight ahead jazz and classical where the use of all possible sound colors is desired.

F46

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F50

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Warburton S Initiator

RT – Reverse Taper large to small – (tenor only) – This shape helps players who have too much middle in their sound. The RT emphasizes the highs while balancing out the mids and lows. This quality allows the player to push a lot of air and not have their sound become harsh or brittle. The palm key notes have a special character to them that none of the other shapes provide.

RT47-46

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RT49-48

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S – Straight cylinder – The Straight initiators are the most balanced in terms of lows, mids, and highs in the sound. When pushed this shape will hold its center and not break up even at extreme volumes. This is an excellent choice for more contemporary styles.

S46

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S48

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S50

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My Impressions:

• I really liked the RT 49-48.  When I played it I loved it and when I listened back to the recording I loved it even more.  It has a very thick mature sound to it.  It felt like the sound had a lot of power behind it although I was blowing at a moderate level.
• The S series had the least resistance for me.  I felt like I just blew and my air went straight through the horn. This would be good for pop or R & B playing.  I tend to prefer a little more resistance to blow against usually.
  
• I seemed to like the initiators that were larger in number.  I measured my SBA neck and it is a tad larger than the 50 Warburton neck. It is very close.  I think that is why I like the 50 neck size better. They seemed to have a bigger fuller sound to me.
• The A initiators seemed brighter and more focused to me.
• The F initiators had more spread sound to them.
  

The Warburton modular neck is a great invention that gives the buyer the ability to change the  sound of his saxophone by simply changing  a neck initiator.  Each initiator gives a slightly different sound and resistance when playing.   I tried this neck on my RSBerkeley silver Virtuoso tenor saxophone and the different necks made a big difference in the sound and response.

Let me know what you think and which initiator you like the sound of the best.  If you are interested in trying a Warburton Modular Neck yourself visit the Warburton website to get the full details.