{"id":21107,"date":"2014-11-07T11:26:59","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T16:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=21107"},"modified":"2014-11-07T11:48:57","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T16:48:57","slug":"viking-m58-and-m60-valkyrie-cognac-tenor-saxophone-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/viking-m58-and-m60-valkyrie-cognac-tenor-saxophone-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Viking M58 and M60 Valkyrie Cognac Tenor Saxophone Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing the Viking M58 and M60\u00a0tenor saxophones. This is another great saxophone that is manufactured in Taiwan. I had\u00a0been hearing about the Viking tenor saxophones for a few years now and have been very curious to try them out. \u00a0Rich Maraday is the owner of Viking instruments<\/a> and he was happy to send me a M58 and M60 for this review. \u00a0Rich is a great guy to talk to on the phone and is very sincere and passionate about saxophones and the music business.<\/p>\n

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Viking M58 (Left) and M60 Valkyrie (Right) Cognac Tenor Saxophones<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rich Maraday told me that his main goal in starting Viking instruments was to provide a great quality saxophone that is affordable and in a comfortable price range for working musicians. (I \u00a0liked the sound of that……..) \u00a0Here are some descriptions of the M58 and M60 from the Viking website:<\/p>\n

M58 Series<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“The M58s tenor was developed in the spirit of the Vintage SBA & Mark VI tenor . We added a under slung octave key to the new generation and are presenting a more custom aesthetic to this model.
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

These horns provide exceptional intonation, response, and dynamic range. The Viking M58s can cover any musical genre, and is considered a very versatile horn. If you are playing everything from a show pit to a rock and roll band, this horn might be your top choice.We invite you to the Vintage French sound spectrum, where you can experience the vintage French sonic quality without the huge price tag. Try the Viking Legend Series M58 s tenors for yourself!<\/em>\u00a0”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

M60 Valkyrie<\/strong><\/h3>\n
“For years, most players have put a saxophone\u2019s core sound into two types: the Selmer focused sound and the Conn big, spread sound. Players always wanted that core, the structure, the focus of the Selmer while also craving the big, fat, and powerful Conn sound. What if there was a horn that combined the two?
\n<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n

“We believe the Viking M60 Valkyrie is that saxophone. This horn uses a different bore and geometry than our other models, and perfectly combines that Selmer focus and structure with the warm, resonant spread of the Conn school. This creates a unique playing experience unlike anything available on the market today.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“The M60 Valkyrie features a medium focus, while remaining incredibly warm, resonant, and is more spread than our other models. This may sound confusing but it is slightly focused while still remaining fat sounding. The resonance has structure, core, and an incredible deep richness that we feel surpasses almost any saxophone made today. Intonation is outstanding up and down the range of the horn.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“This horn features Pisoni pro pads installed with shellac (not pad glue) for a better feel to the action, has a two-point body brace similar to vintage Selmers, a wire BA-style neck octave mechanism, and absolutely gorgeous \u201cportrait style\u201d engraving. Our Cognac lacquer M60 has the engraving cut through the lacquer and the contrast is simply stunning. It is also available in an un lacquered model with silver accents.”\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Viking M58 (Left) and M60 Valkyrie (Right) Cognac Tenor Saxophones<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Both Viking\u00a0tenor saxophones came well packed in cardboard boxes with padding all around the cases inside the box. Inside the saxophone case the saxophones had key clamps on them with a sheet of plastic around them and more bubble wrap. \u00a0It’s good to see that Rich knows how to pack these instruments so they won’t get damaged in shipping. \u00a0The cases have ample room to store your mouthpiece, neck and other saxophone accessories.<\/p>\n

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Viking\u00a0Tenor Saxophone Case<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Viking saxophones I am reviewing are both a gorgeous cognac lacquer\u00a0as you can see from the pictures. \u00a0I thought the engraving was beautiful personally. \u00a0I’ve tried a few other Taiwanese horns over the years but I don’t remember the engraving being as intricate or as detailed as these Viking horns. \u00a0The engraving reminds me of the great job Selmer use to do on their SBA and Mark VI tenors. \u00a0It really stands out!<\/p>\n

The M58 saxophone came with two necks in the case. A neck with an underslung octave key and another neck with the LOR attachment on it. (Rich wanted me to try the horn with both necks to see what I thought)<\/p>\n

Here’s a picture of both necks:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Viking Underslung Neck and Neck with LOR\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

M58 Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The M58 saxophone felt great\u00a0to me ergonomically. I don’t believe it is very different than my Selmer SBA tenor when it comes to key placement. \u00a0I felt like I could get around the horn well and I felt very comfortable on it. I do have a history of tendonitis so I prefer a pretty light spring tension on my saxophones. The spring tension on the M58 saxophone felt pretty good to me.\u00a0 \u00a0Usually, I take a new horn immediately to my repair person so he can tweak the spring tensions to what I prefer but I don’t think I would need to with this horn.<\/p>\n

The build quality of the M58 saxophone looks very good to me also. \u00a0As I set the horn up \u00a0and took the key clamps off I was looking at the keys and inspecting\u00a0them. \u00a0I didn’t notice any weak or shoddy mechanisms, nor any play or movement in the keys. \u00a0The keys felt sturdy and firm to me. \u00a0In the past, I have had some student come in for lessons with saxophones they got off ebay. \u00a0The metal was so weak and flimsy that just the act of playing and pushing the keys would bend the metal. They were horrible. \u00a0This is not the case with these Viking horns. \u00a0They seem like quality parts and manufacturing \u00a0to me.<\/p>\n

They also seemed very well set up. \u00a0I didn’t notice any leaks and could play down to low Bb with no problems the first time I played it. \u00a0I appreciate Rich sending me a horn that is in good regulation and using the key clamps and padding to make sure shipping didn’t knock it out of whack.<\/p>\n

I tried the horn first with the underslung neck and found the tone to have a nice core to it but with a full \u00a0sound. \u00a0The intonation was quite good. \u00a0I would say better than my SBA for sure. \u00a0Notes that I expected to be sharp and would adjust for on my SBA were actually perfect and I didn’t need to adjust. \u00a0I must say that this horn and all the other Taiwanese horns I have reviewed on this site have all had excellent intonation in my opinion.<\/p>\n

\"Viking<\/a><\/p>\n

The M58 saxophone has domed metal\u00a0resonators. (Just like my Selmer SBA). \u00a0The low register was lush and fat sounding and the altissimo was easy to reach and in tune. \u00a0I have included a sound clip of the M58 with the underslung neck below.<\/p>\n

Next, I was eager to try the neck with the LOR attached. \u00a0I have no idea what LOR stands for but I joked with Rich on Facebook about it being related to “Lord of the Rings” (thinking I was being funny) and he said the inventor really loved those movies so maybe that is what it stands for………….<\/p>\n

Now the LOR neck did feel and play differently for me. \u00a0It’s hard to say if it was the difference in neck or if it was all attributed to the LOR device. \u00a0I can’t say. \u00a0I know the neck with the LOR device felt more powerful and centered to me. \u00a0I didn’t find it more freeblowing for me but it had a resistance that I felt I could blow harder against or something. I really liked playing that neck…….I put a sound clip below of the M58 with the LOR neck also. \u00a0You can listen and tell me \u00a0if you hear a difference and or what differences you hear…………<\/p>\n

Sound Clips<\/strong>: \u00a0In the sound clips below and the one at the bottom of the page, \u00a0I am using a much brighter mouthpiece than I usually use for sound clips on this site. \u00a0This is a metal Otto Link that Jon Van Wie put a baffle in and refaced. \u00a0This is my go to mouthpiece for loud gigs……funk, rock, pop etc…….. It has a brighter, louder, more cutting sound than most other mouthpieces. \u00a0It can sound pretty bright and even harsh at times but with some reverb on the gig it just kills………..I say all this because I don’t want you to think these are just bright rock & roll horns. \u00a0Trust me, I also tried the horns with darker mouthpieces and they were beautiful sounding. \u00a0Dark , lush and round sounding. \u00a0I know in a perfect world I would have recorded clips on 5 different mouthpieces but I only have so much time in a day……………<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing to notice in the clips is that even though these are new horns to me, I could get around the horn pretty well and the intonation is very good on these recordings and I’m not even used to the horns yet………….<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/public.neffmusic.com\/M58US%202.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Viking M58 (Underslung Octave Key Neck) Sound Clip with JVW Baffled Metal Otto Link<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/public.neffmusic.com\/M58LOR.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Viking M58 (LOR Neck) Sound Clip with JVW Baffled Metal Otto Link<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Can you notice a difference between the LOR neck and the underslung octave key neck? (Feel free to make a comment below………)<\/p>\n

In the end, \u00a0 I felt the M58 was a very good horn! Rich’s pricing probably changes over time like most commercial products but at the time of this review I see that these tenors are listed for 2350.00 on the Viking website. \u00a0In my opinion, that is a great price for a tenor of this caliber and I would have no problem recommending it to a student or another player. \u00a0I still love my SBA and am not ready to trade that in but to be honest, I have played many new Selmer, Yamaha, Cannonball, Keilwerth and other tenor\u00a0saxophones\u00a0over the years that I have not cared for at all. \u00a0(Bad tones, stuffy, bad set-ups, bad intonation……..) \u00a0 Most of those were at a higher price point also! \u00a0These Viking tenors are great in my opinion and worth checking out if you are in the market for a tenor sax.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Viking M58 (Left) and M60 Valkyrie (Right) Cognac Tenor Saxophones<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

M60 Valykrie Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The M60 Valykrie \u00a0was\u00a0an\u00a0identical\u00a0experience to the M58 as far as opening the case and unwrapping it. \u00a0Rich protected it exactly the same with the key clamps and all the bubble wrap. \u00a0The M60 sax felt a little heavier to me than the M58 saxophone. If you read the description above from the Viking website, it says the bore is larger than the M58 and gives a tone and sound similar to a cross between a Selmer and Conn. \u00a0 This was very interesting to me as I have loved my Selmer SBA for as long as I have had it but………I had one infidelity where I strayed to a Conn 10M for about 3 months. (my SBA is still mad about that…..) \u00a0I was curious what this sax would play and sound like………..<\/p>\n

The first thing I noticed were that the ergonomics were different than on the M58. \u00a0Things felt like they were in a different place compared to my SBA that I’m used to. \u00a0The spatula low Bb flat keys felt closer to my hand than I’m used to and the side Bb \u00a0and side palm keys seemed to be in slightly different places than the M58 sax. \u00a0It wasn’t bad at all but I would have to get used to it more. \u00a0Also, \u00a0the spring tensions were also a bit firmer than on the M58 but like I said earlier that is something I would get adjusted on any horn that I would buy. (and I did indeed even do it on my SBA when I got it almost brand new in 1996) \u00a0The cool thing to take into consideration if you buy one of these horns is that Rich has priced them low enough that even if you decide to bring it to a tech to get tweaked the total price would still be lower than some of the other Taiwanese horns out there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Viking M60 Valykrie Cognac Tenor Saxophone<\/strong><\/p>\n

The engraving on the M60 was incredible. Rich says that the engraving is cut right through the lacquer. \u00a0I’m not sure what that means but I know that it looks really nice as you can see in the pictures. (Especially the one below)<\/p>\n

How did the horn play, in my opinion it did seem to have a fatter more spread sound than the M58 or even my SBA. (listen to the sound clip below) \u00a0It did kinda of remind me of a cross between a Selmer and a Conn. \u00a0It also reminded me a lot of an H-Couf Superba tenor that I use to have. \u00a0Like the Superba 1 this horns had a fatter meatier quality to the sound. \u00a0On horns with this fatter tone quality I love to play higher baffle mouthpieces. \u00a0I feel like the fatness of the tone combines with the brighter tone to give a nice balanced bright sound that is still fat\u00a0and killer in funk and rock situations.<\/p>\n

The intonation was \u00a0great just like the M58 saxophone. \u00a0The altissimo notes came out easily but I did notice that some of the notes above altissimo A needed a different fingering than I use on my SBA to be in tune. This is no big deal really as once you find the fingerings that work best on any horn…..those are the ones you use. I’m assuming the difference could be attributed to the bigger bore of this horn and me not being used to it. I did find fingerings within a few seconds that gave me the altissimo B,C,C# and D with no trouble though.<\/p>\n

In the end, like the M58 sax this is another great option and choice for tenor players. Which\u00a0is better, the M58 or the M60…….I honestly can’t say. I would need more time to figure that out for myself. \u00a0 I only played them for a few days and I enjoyed both. \u00a0To be honest, if something happened to my SBA, I would probably drive down to Rich’s place and try out each of the tenors in different lacquers and materials to see which tenor I liked the best over countless hours\u00a0(driving Rich insane in the process………..I can be a bit obsessive though………).<\/p>\n

The M60 is priced at 2750.00 as of today on the Viking website. \u00a0Again, this is a \u00a0reasonable price for a horn of this construction and quality in my opinion. \u00a0If you are looking for a new tenor sax with some of the properties of that Conn, \u00a0Couf, Keilwerth fatter kind of sound this is a good tenor to consider. \u00a0It gives you that fatter tone while still keeping a solid core to the sound and is priced reasonably.<\/p>\n

This recording is a great example to me of how you can hear a\u00a0difference in horns with the same mouthpiece. \u00a0 Above, I wrote about how I like to use high baffle pieces on horns like the\u00a0Viking M60 saxophone\u00a0because the fatness of the horn’s tone balances with the brights of the high baffle mouthpiece. \u00a0I’m using the same JVW baffled link, but to me, the tone sound fat and round. \u00a0 It sounds \u00a0fuller and fatter than how the JVW sounds on my SBA tenor. \u00a0Of course, with my JVW and SBA \u00a0the sound man on a live gig usually adds a little reverb to the sax sound to fatten it up but with this M60 sax, I feel the fullness is added naturally with the larger bore…………Honestly, when listening to clip I forget it’s a high baffle mouthpiece I’m playing………….<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/public.neffmusic.com\/M60.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Viking M60 Sound Clip with JVW Baffled Metal Otto Link<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"M60_Valkyrie_Tenor_sax_006\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Viking M60 Valykrie Cognac Tenor Saxophone (check out that engraving)<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are interested in a Viking M58 or M60 tenor\u00a0saxophone you can click on Viking Instruments<\/a>\u00a0. Rich Maraday is a great guy and will answer any questions that you might have. \u00a0In my opinion, he has priced these beautiful tenor saxophones at a lower price point so musicians can afford them but he has kept the quality at a high level which is huge. \u00a0 Let me know what you think in the comments below and if you get a Viking tenor sax be sure to stop back here to share your opinions with us. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Thanks, Steve<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing the Viking M58 and M60\u00a0tenor saxophones. This is another great saxophone that is manufactured in Taiwan. I had\u00a0been hearing about the Viking tenor saxophones for a few years now and have been very curious to try them out. \u00a0Rich Maraday is the owner of Viking instruments and he was happy to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":21509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[615],"tags":[1208,1207,1211,72,265,1212,1206],"class_list":{"0":"post-21107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sax-reviews","8":"tag-lor-neck","9":"tag-m58","10":"tag-m60","11":"tag-tenor-sax","12":"tag-tenor-saxophone","13":"tag-valkyrie","14":"tag-viking-instruments","15":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}