Kessler Custom SONUS Alto Sax

Red-Brass Alloy
Typically, saxophones are made out of the alloy called “cartridge brass” (also known as “yellow brass”). While the exact formulation of brass can vary from vendors and suppliers, the typical formula is a brass that consists of 70% copper and 30% zinc. Our Handmade Series are made from “Red Brass” which consists of 85% copper and 15% zinc.

The extra 15% copper adds a little more mass to the alloy helping to produce a darker core tone. When combined with our professional bore and enhanced resonance from the Handmade construction, this alloy produces a wonderfully complex tone while maintaining excellent response and projection.

Soldered Tone Hole Rims – Not Roller
Their are a lot of opinions on what type of tone hole is best… and in the end, everyone is entitled to their opinion. We opted to provide a Soldered Rim tone hole on the Sonus for a myriad of reasons. One benefit is that they will increase the mass of the horn providing a generally overall richer tone. We opted for the soldered rim concept over the “rolled” concept due mainly to possible future repair. With a true rolled tone hole, if the tone hole is ever damaged, they are significantly harder to repair and in some cases, can never be repaired back to 100% original design or levelness. With the soldered rim concept, they can be properly repaired easier if ever needed and should they need to be leveled in the repair, they can as they are a solid piece of brass rather than a folded over rim. The soldered rim concept costs more to produce than the rolled tone hole, but in the end, we find that they perform better and offer better reliability in the future for the player.

G# Lifter
Sonus series saxophones are also equipped with a G# lifting mechanism to help prevent against the key sticking. There are several concepts on how to manufacture this mechanism. We went with a design that will assist in lifting a slightly stuck G#. Proper maintenance of your horn combined with this design will ensure that you never have a G# stick AND the mechanism works without any modified feel to the G# key when your pinky activates it. Some lifter designs will incorporate additional springs that will help prevent a G# from sticking even in the worst of maintained horns, however, the additional springs will add more resistance to the mechanism when you go to play the G#. So we opted to give the best of both worlds – G# assistance without increased mechanical resistance.

Vintage Dark Lacquer
Our Dark Vintage Style Lacquer is quickly becoming a fan favorite! Designed to emulate the look and feel of 50+ year old lacquer, the dark lacquer is truly unique. It is paired with Abalone finger touches to give a beautiful look that is only matched by the saxophone’s sound!

While the lacquer won’t truly impact the sound of the sax as heard by the audience, the player behind the horn will feel that the sax seems richer and darker than traditional lacquer.

Every horn we send out to a customer is not released from us unless it has been completely setup in our shop first. This is because the setup on the horn is of the utmost importance! Sometimes, a saxophone (regardless of who the manufacturer or the price point is) comes in needing 20 minutes of adjustments and then the very next one can require 2 hours! So if you were to get 5 of the same model right out of the box, they will all play different which leads people to believe that they are “good” or “bad” saxes… but the reality is that the one that was the best out of the 5 was likely the one that needed the least amount of work and on the flip side, the “bad” sax was the one that needed 2 hours worth of adjustments!

Once the same 5 saxophones are properly regulated and adjusted to perfection, they become near identical saxophones that even the pickiest of players would be challenged to pick a true “favorite” horn. However, since most stores do not or even can not perform this setup, the player never knows this and is simply relying on the luck of the draw. This is why we perform our setup (in our www.SaxophoneRepairs.com ProShop) on them before delivering your new sax to you. You trust us with your purchase and we want to make sure that you are rewarded by giving you your ideal saxophone setup flawlessly!