We have all heard claims for\u00a0products related to the saxophone that we have had a hard time believing. \u00a0A little while ago, \u00a0I was asked to review a\u00a0device that you connected to your saxophone. \u00a0Supposedly, the device could\u00a0play your favorite recording of a sax player and the sound vibrations would travel to the saxophone and over time the molecules and atoms would align to be\u00a0in perfect symmetry with the tone of your favorite sax player. \u00a0You would soon find that your saxophone sounded like your favorite sax player’s\u00a0perfect tone. \u00a0I think that was the gist of it basically. I consider myself a pretty open minded person but that was a leap that I couldn’t take. \u00a0I said “No” in a polite way to that review……..<\/p>\n
Now, \u00a0that persons claims and findings could be true, I’m not saying they are 100% not true but in my mind I have a hard time believing these claims until they are proven to me. \u00a0So in my mind, I categorize something like that as “snake oil” until it is proven to me that it is not.<\/p>\n
A number of years ago, \u00a0I started hearing about assorted\u00a0little devices and products that could effect a sax player’s tone and playing. \u00a0One of these was a heavy screw that you could replace your lyre screw with and it had a positive affect on your sound. \u00a0So again, here I am reading these claims and thinking \u00a0“C’mon it’s a frickin’ screw!” \u00a0“It’s on the outside of your sax!” \u00a0“This is stupid!” “Snake oil”……….<\/p>\n
“The Buzz” Oversized Neck Screw by Westcoast Sax<\/strong><\/p>\n Then a month or two ago, I was at my repair guys shop in Boston. \u00a0His name is Jack Finucane and he owns the Boston Sax Shop<\/a>. \u00a0I just started going to Jack last year because my old repair man Ernie Sola had passed away and Jack had trained with Ernie. \u00a0In my three\u00a0visits with Jack in the last year I’ve come to really respect his opinion about all things pertaining to the saxophone. \u00a0He tells it like it is and is very honest\u00a0in my opinion. (He is also an unbelievable repairman!)<\/p>\n So on my last visit, I am sitting there as Jack adjusts\u00a0my saxophone and we are talking about a variety of sax related subjects when he asks me if I have tried one of those “Heavy Mass Screws” on my sax. \u00a0My response was “Yeah right….” thinking he was joking. \u00a0He then proceeds to tell me that they do have an effect on the sound and I should try one. \u00a0He opens up a drawer with a bunch of them in there and asks if I want to try one. \u00a0 This is how you know how skeptical I was, my response was “Yeah, no thanks”. \u00a0 Although I respect Jack and his opinion a ton I was still thinking \u00a0“C’mon it’s a frickin’ screw”………<\/p>\n By this point, \u00a0you might be wondering where I’m going with all this but hang in there. \u00a0A few weeks ago I get a call from Matt Wickam who is the owner of Westcoast Sax and we are talking about having me review his new MoFo mouthpiece that is coming out soon. \u00a0At the end of the conversation, \u00a0he says he will send me one of his “Buzz” oversized neck screws to check out and perhaps review. \u00a0I tell him honestly that I don’t believe a screw will make any difference in a saxophones sound whatsoever. \u00a0Matt tells me that lots of guys say that to him but in his opinion there is a difference and I really have to try it for myself. After talking to Matt about it and thinking back to what Jack Finucane told me, I decide to give this Buzz screw a try.<\/p>\n I got the screw in the mail and the next day decided to try it out. \u00a0The whole time I was thinking “This is stupid” \u00a0“A screw will have no affect”. \u00a0I got my sax out and warmed up for about a half hour to the point I was feeling pretty good. \u00a0“The Buzz” neck screw can fit into the neck screw position or the lyre screw position on my SBA tenor. I decided to try it in the lyre screw socket which is right next to the neck screw on the neck receiver. \u00a0I gently took out my lyre screw from my Selmer SBA which probably has never been separated from\u00a0my sax since it was made around 1950\u00a0and\u00a0gently put in the “Buzz” screw. \u00a0It was threaded perfectly for my Selmer SBA saxophone and went in effortlessly. \u00a0Once all the way in I started to play again………..<\/p>\n “The Buzz” Oversized Neck Screw by Westcoast Sax<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, my first thought was “There is no difference what so ever.\u00a0 I was right!” \u00a0 As I was playing though, other thoughts started\u00a0creeping in to that looping preprogrammed thought tape of \u00a0“There is no difference”…….Thoughts like “It seems fatter sounding” \u00a0“It feels like the notes have more resonance” \u00a0“It sounds like the notes are richer” \u00a0“The low notes seem so fat and rich” \u00a0These thoughts were going back and forth in my head with “There is no difference, there can’t be, it’s a frickin’ screw!”<\/p>\n So, \u00a0I stopped and gently took the Buzz screw out and put the lyre screw back in. \u00a0I started playing again and the tone sounded thinner to me. \u00a0Less vibrant and resonant. \u00a0I stopped and looked at the sax and screw and thought “What the heck is going on here?”<\/p>\n Over the next 2 -3 hours I went back and forth between these two screws trying to figure out if there was a real difference or it was all in my head. \u00a0I was even trying to psychoanalyze myself and figure out if I had been brain washed and\u00a0was now part of a saxophone screw cult. Maybe I had been and\u00a0was just drinking the Kool-aid!<\/p>\n The last hour I just played my SBA with the Buzz screw in. \u00a0I was in heaven! \u00a0To be honest, I noticed a big difference while playing. \u00a0Whether it was psychological or real is up for debate but for me it seemed\u00a0very real. \u00a0 I would say I feel like it is 100% real although I do admit that there could be a psychological element to it but I really don’t think there is (but who really knows). \u00a0 I came at this trial not hoping for anything positive and at best thinking there would be no difference whatsoever. \u00a0I\u00a0came away from it believing otherwise.<\/p>\n If this heavier Buzz screw does work like I say, \u00a0how does it work? \u00a0I have no idea. \u00a0Matt told me he feels like the extra weight and mass at that important part of the neck to the body connection provides some deeper resonance or vibration. (I think Jack Finucane said something like this to me also) \u00a0I am\u00a0more of the mindset that the extra weight at the base of the neck changes the pivot and balance of the sax on my neck strap and something about that change is\u00a0changing the way I’m playing or the way I’m perceiving the sound. \u00a0 Without the screw, the upper\u00a0part of the sax is lighter but with the Buzz screw it feels heavier and the sax feels like the weight is pivoting towards my mouth more. \u00a0I’m not sure how that would change things but my skeptical mind can latch on to that easier than thinking a heavier screw on the outside of my sax is adding to the vibration or resonance of the saxophone. \u00a0This can be debated by you more scientific minds out there though……….<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The Buzz” Oversized Neck Screw by Westcoast Sax<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, this review is much longer than my average review but I thought it was important that you understand my skeptical mindset leading up to the review to understand my conclusions. \u00a0My goal whether I am right or wrong is always to be honest. \u00a0 You might argue with me that this is all in my head, or that I’m losing it or have lost all credibility in your eyes but what I have stated above is my honest opinion of this product and the changes that I noticed while using it.<\/p>\n At this time, \u00a0I am not choosing to do a recording of the differences in sound because I think it would be fruitless. \u00a0 I might change my mind on that later but I have done enough comparison recordings of stuff like this in the past (such as ligatures) where the feedback is generally split between it sounds worse, it sounds the same or it sounds better between all the listeners. \u00a0 Even if there is a difference in sound on the recordings, \u00a0many of you will say it is not scientific and doesn’t prove anything or that I’m probably playing different on the recording with the screw because I “think” it makes me sound better so I play better, etc………I don’t really feel like dealing with all the back and forth discussion on all that so no recording for now.<\/p>\n The important thing for me, \u00a0is not any differences in sound the listener might\u00a0hear but rather the sound, feeling and excitement I have when playing from my end of the horn. \u00a0No one knows my sound better than I do. \u00a0When I play day in and day out and have one of those moments where my sound is better or I feel like I’m in heaven, \u00a0those are the gold moments that are important to me. \u00a0When I dig my own sound that much, that is when I play better, have better ideas, and can execute those ideas much easier. \u00a0All that being said, I’m leaving my Buzz screw on my tenor for the time being because I experienced all those things while playing over the last two days. \u00a0All from a frickin’ screw!<\/p>\n Here is some more info from Matt at Westcoast Sax about the Buzz screw and where to get it:<\/p>\n Introducing: “The Buzz” SS Oversized Neck Screw by Westcoast Sax – Made in the USA<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2016\/Buzz.jpg\")
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