Vibratosax
Today I'm featuring a certain saxophone- one which I know I'd get a lot of heat for writing about if I were writing a hugely popular blog. But since I'm not...!
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| A1 Alto Sax |
Vibratosax is a company based in Thailand which has developed a completely polycarbonate alto saxophone. This subject is but another chapter on why I write this blog- people say some pretty one sided and opinionated stuff. Let me dish out the facts (and some of my opinions, of course) so that you can check it out and form your own thoughts. There's a lot of debate about this product, especially since the manufacturer is based in Thailand. I see nothing wrong with this. As long as the product is good- or at least super cool -it doesn't matter from where the product hails. This functioning plastic saxophone is super cool (in fact, I'm inclined to throw a duper somewhere in there) and demands some attention.
The pads and keys are all made of interchangeable parts. This means that if some of your pads go bad, it's incredibly easy to replace them yourself. The alto is light weight and durable- after all, it is made of plastic.
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| A1S Colored Pads |
There are two main models as of this moment: the A1 and the A1S (the S stands for 'solid'). The A1, priced at $575, is pretty cool. The white and grey colors are modern and sleek. It's goofy, yet elegant: something that I wouldn't think twice about gigging with. The A1S features slightly more dense materials, offering a warmer, more 'vintage' sound, and goes for a hundred dollars more than it's counterpart. I've heard the clips that the company offers, and (keeping in mind that they were filmed with phones or bad cameras in general) the altos sound pretty darn good- and pretty vintage as well. The web pages (listed below) talk about a new Series II, that takes care of some lower register intonation issues. This is good, and something to look into. Also, the pages show the A1S Limited Edition: the same old A1S, but completely transparent. They're only selling a hundred, and each will have a serial number (001/100 to 100/100). It looks pretty cool, though I imagine you would have to clean it pretty well. The pages have no real information on how to buy one, or how much it costs, though I imagine that following the contact information would lead to that data.
There's no way around it: for $500-$600 you can get a truly unique alto saxophone that sounds good; that comes with interchangeable and multi-colored pads and an option for a trippy looking gig bag for $60. There are a lot of people saying "It isn't from the U.S, and it should cost $200 based on the materials", but to that I say this: there was a lot of research and money to go into this product, which turned out to be a really fun looking and sounding saxophone. Also, if the U.S made this, it would cost easily thrice what it does now. Regardless, it's a pretty cool product. If you have the money and are looking for something to amaze people with, or just something new to play, get Vibratosax's A1 or A1S, I know I will.
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