Cannonball Big Bell Stone Series Tenor Sax

I'm always searching for the next best thing whether it's a new interesting musical concept or a mouthpiece, so a couple of months ago I couldn't resist trying a really beautiful instrument that was hanging on my local Sam Ash's sax wall. I really enjoyed playing it, and I came back a couple more times just to continue trying the horn again. I've recently had an extended two day play test of the instrument, and, though I'm not replacing my Mark VI, this particular model by Cannonball is definitely unique and a great playing experience.

The Big Bell Stone Series comes with two necks, a traditional style neck and an underslung octave key style neck called the "Fat" neck. They each provide a different playing experience, and I'll start the review by outlining their differences. The Fat neck was my preferred of the two.

The Fat Neck

What initially interested me about this horn was its similarity to the vintage Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor I used to own. The similarities are very striking. The sound, though certainly not identical to an SBA, is warm, powerful, and somewhat spread. It is also very flexible, easy to inflect in all registers including the altissimo, and able to transform from warm and lush to punchy and thick. This kind of flexibility does requires good air support, and some might find the feeling a little too free-blowing. That free-blowing element also allows extreme control over dynamics and other subtleties that you can't always control as minutely otherwise.

Here are a couple of sound clips with the Fat neck:
Fatneck.mp3
Fatneck2.mp3

The Traditional Style Neck

The traditional neck is a little brighter in tone quality, but has less core to it. It is also more supportive in terms of air efficiency, which makes it feel slightly less free-blowing. It is still easy to inflect and mold the sound, however I didn't feel like I had quite the same freedom and control as I did with the Fat neck.

Here is a clip with the traditional style neck:
Traditionalneck.mp3

The Rest

The rest of the playing experience is great overall. The key work is solid. It feels slightly unique, but I was able to adjust easily to it. The biggest quirk in the key work is the distance of the left hand spatula (pinky) keys. They might have been a little too far for me. The intonation seems fantastic and easy to work with. Nothing stuck out there. Overall, this is a great horn and possibly my favorite modern horn so far.

Conclusion: A warm, flexible yet powerful, modern horn. A great playing experience.