Eastman 52nd Street Baritone Saxophone - Aged Brass

If you love the vintage vibe but need the reliability of a modern horn, this baritone is for you!

Following the huge success of the tenor and alto releases, the baritone 52^nd St hits the scene and builds on all the same qualities and innovations that have come before it:  there is that classic warm and vintage sound; incredible ergonomics and key action; a more lightweight design – surely a bonus for all you baritone players out there!

Although this is the first baritone release, this is now the second generation of 52^nd Street saxes.  And Eastman has now taken things up a notch and refined many aspects of the design and its performance.  The new models are significantly lighter, and this is achieved by using thinner, but harder, brass.  The benefits are that the sax responds more instantly and at the same time there is a greater clarity of tone with a more defined core.  Beyond this Eastman has made quite a few ergonomic and design changes to optimize the playing experience.  The good news is that the same basic identity of the 52^nd Street remains, which is to say that it has a big fat vintage sound, full of character and with great intonation to boot.

Design Upgrades and Features

The 52^nd Street baritone features rolled-tone holes throughout, giving added warmth and increased response.  Beyond the first generation of instruments for alto and tenor, the entirety of the keywork has been re-positioned to suit both large and small hands! This includes a reduction in the size of the table key block, which is now narrower and sleeker in design.  The bell-to-body brace is now a two-point ring rather than three points.  The tenon clamp is heavy-mass and has been specially designed to provide a perfect and completely tight fit, essential for transmitting seamless airflow from the neck into the body.  In terms of the set-up materials there has been an upgrade of pads, felts, and corks, all adding to the quality of the build and ensuring longevity between services.

Sound

As mentioned, Eastman has sourced a different brass material that has allowed them to make a decent weight saving – by way of comparison, this baritone weighs 4.3 kilos whereas a YBS-62 weighs 4.45 kilos.  Okay, this is only 150 grams or just under 4%, but every little helps!  The brass is now thinner and harder, offering a greater degree of core tone, but still retaining the depth and fullness of the previous model.  They have even included a steel wire in the bell, as was used in pre–World War II instruments and this is thought to add a certain sparkle to the sound.  The intonation has been tweaked and refined, from bottom to top.  Overall, the tonal quality that the 52^nd offers is akin to those classic vintage American horns, like the famous Conn 12M baritone.  Think big, full-bodied, with plenty of core and center.  Due to the bore structure, it has also been designed to be incredibly free-blowing and efficient with airflow – another win for the baritone player!

Features

• Material: Aged unlacquered brass
• Finish: Unlacquered
• Key Touches: Abalone inlay
• Neck: ‘S’ neck
• Engraving: Hand-engraved neck and bell
• Case: Premium-shaped hard case with wheels – metallic silver
• Mouthpiece: Eastman
• Made in: Eastman's Chinese factory
• Free Professional Set Up & Free Checkover within a Year
• Recommended for: Advancing students, professionals 

Reviews

“Having just got off the back of a video review for this baritone I really am buzzing about this instrument.  For me (really, someone who just picks up a bari as and when it is needed) I’m looking for an instrument that works straight off the bat – that means it must respond easily up and down the full range, be in tune, have a great sound and have playable keywork.  This bari has all of this in abundance!  Particularly satisfying to me is the ease of key action – it’s light and low and you just don’t have to do battle with the horn, everything just pops out with fluidity the first time of trying.

I was surprised to find out that the tuning position for the mouthpiece I used to trial it (Burnin baritone) needed to be 95% down the cork, but when I achieved this position (with a little cork sanding) the intonation popped out pretty much perfectly up and down the full range.

We first heard about these 52^nd St horns some years ago through meeting Bob Mintzer at the NAMM show – I can see why he raved about them at the time, and why he is even more enamored now that Eastman has continued to innovate and improve the designs!”

Jim Cheek