{"id":6413,"date":"2012-11-14T11:17:27","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T16:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=6413"},"modified":"2019-08-12T13:31:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T17:31:15","slug":"jazzlab-saxholder-neckstrap-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/jazzlab-saxholder-neckstrap-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazzlab Saxholder Neckstrap Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today, I will be reviewing a new neckstrap by Jazzlab called the saxholder.\u00a0 This is a revolutionary neckstrap that is designed so that there is no pressure whatsoever on the neck and upper spine of the player.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, I started having numbness and tingling in my hands and arms.\u00a0 I would get really bad pains in my upper back and my right shoulder also.\u00a0 After months of just trying to grin and bear it, I went to a Neurologist and had an MRI done.\u00a0 Afterward, the Neurologist told me that I had some herniated discs at C4 and C5 and that I would need surgery to have them fixed.\u00a0\u00a0 I never did have surgery in that area because the issues come and go but ever since that time, I have been looking for an alternative to my saxophone neckstrap. Many times I would feel\u00a0 pain in the center of my upper back after I had been playing for an hour or two so I thought a new neckstrap might help.<\/p>\n

Over the coming months I tried a variety of neckstraps but they were all different varieties of a strap that hung around your neck.\u00a0\u00a0 Some were more comfortable than others but in the end I still felt the back pain after playing for a while.<\/p>\n

Around this time,\u00a0 I heard of the Saxholder neckstrap on SOTW (Sax on the Web).\u00a0 Players were raving about how great it was and how it took the weight of the sax off of the neck.\u00a0\u00a0 I saw a used one for sale on that Forum and bought it immediately.<\/p>\n

Now, I have to admit that when I first got the Saxholder,\u00a0 it felt very strange to me.\u00a0\u00a0 I have had over 33 years of sax weight hanging from my neck when I play.\u00a0 It felt strange to not have that weight there around my neck. \u00a0 Over the next few days though,\u00a0 I started to feel comfortable with the Saxholder.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of all, I wasn’t feeling any upper back or neck pain!<\/p>\n

The way the Saxholder works is by putting the weight of the sax\u00a0 on your shoulders and traps rather than your neck.\u00a0 There is a bar that hangs down and presses slightly into your stomach area to also help support the weight.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a little strange at first but you get used to it.\u00a0 You can adjust the length of that bar just by pulling it out or pushing it in.<\/p>\n

The bars that go over your shoulder are padded with thick rubber.\u00a0 You can also bend them easily so that they form to the shape of your shoulders.\u00a0 Even though the weight is on your shoulder, it feels evenly distributed between the two shoulder bars and the stomach bar.<\/p>\n

The one downside to the Saxholder is that the strap does not work well when you are sitting down and have the horn to the side.\u00a0\u00a0 It throws the balanced weight on your shoulders off and everything feels a bit unstable and lopsided.\u00a0 I do most of my practicing and gigging standing up so this isn’t a big negative for me but some of you who are in big bands or sit a lot when you are playing will find this to be a big negative.\u00a0\u00a0 I would have given the Saxholder 5 stars but I deducted one star for the unstable feeling while sitting.<\/p>\n

The model I have is clearly for the tenor saxophone as I can’t pull it high enough to play my alto sax with it.\u00a0 I’m not sure if they make one model for both horns.\u00a0 I hope so as I don’t want to lug around two Saxholders every where I go.\u00a0 A new\u00a0 Saxholder model that works for both tenor and alto is on my Christmas list this year…………..<\/p>\n

If your are interested in learning more about this great strap you can visit the Jazzlab website <\/a>to read the great reviews and testimonials.\u00a0\u00a0 There are number of retailors who are selling the Jazzlab Saxholder now so if you do a search online you will be able to order one easily.<\/p>\n

I have included a video below so you can see how the Saxholder works in action.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve<\/p>\n