Description
Introducing the new NOVA Woodwinds line of instruments. The NOVA Woodwinds line meets a need in the marketplace for a lower-priced Low A Baritone saxophone that is still good quality. People have been asking me for years if I can recommend anything in the sub-$3500 price range for a low A baritone. There’s nothing much to recommend USED let alone new. That’s where the NOVA baritone shines. For only $2300, you get a NOVA baritone (NOVA means ‘new’ in Latin) that is brand new and plays quite well, and that holds up well over time by all accounts.
If you are shopping for a baritone saxophone, whether for a school band program, for doubling and taking extra gigs on bari, or just for playing some sick funk lines with your Tower of Power cover band, this horn is worth a look. I have friends who have used this bari in their band programs for years, and it holds up to punishment by middle and high school students quite well. That’s saying a lot!
Much of the reason it holds up well is that I am spending $400-500 per horn on an extensive amount of setup work. It’s almost an overhaul, because it’s fully disassembled, cleaned, oiled, gets all new corks, gets rods straightened, many pads reseated or replaced, the LH pinky table rebuilt, the neck tenon ‘fit’ to the receiver, regulation between keys fixed, and actually several other small things improved. At that point, its a completely different instrument from how it arrives. It plays down to low A easily and well and should continue to do so for a long time with only occasional upkeep needed. As such, it’s a solid school bari, doubler’s bari, or just a fun horn to play around on.
You could set it up and sell it doing MUCH less work – $50 to get pads sealing and send it out the door, but that would not be the way to build a good reputation for your brand, or to take good care of your customers, over even the short term. I want the NOVA line to stand out as the most reliable baritone saxophone you can get new under $2500. Unfortunately, after I buy the horn, pay for international shipping and spend $450 per horn on repair, there’s very little profit to be made on these. Thankfully, this is not a large part of the overall business here at GetASax.
Once it’s properly ‘mini-overhauled’, the tone is big, loud, and medium between bright and dark. It tunes well with a variety of mouthpieces. The keywork is pretty comfortable, and works fine for anyone from middle school up through adult. The stacks are actually in line, not offset, meaning the tone holes are all in one long row. That changes the feel of the right hand, as you rotate around farther than you otherwise would on a modern horn. This is NOT a Yanagisawa copy. From neck to bell to keywork, it’s really not similar to a B901. The case is usable, with a hard foam contoured interior, sturdy zipper, decent amount of storage, and wheels that are usable on a smooth surface. The mouthpiece it comes with isn’t great, so see below about cheap but good mouthpieces.
It comes in this version, which is brass, and then in the bronze version also. The bronze is a slightly darker tone, and gives you the two tone look, where the all brass like this just looks like a typical new saxophone. You won’t go wrong with either one. Both of them include the pictured hard case which has wheels, as well as the other accessories in the photos. I would recommend a Yamaha 5C or Rousseau for an inexpensive beginner baritone mouthpiece for concert band, and the Rico Metalite bari for jazz, or there are lots of other options getting listed in the baritone mouthpieces section of the site.
These low A baritone saxophones tend to sell quickly, so please let me know if you are wanting to order more than one, so that I can be sure to order them far enough in advance to fill your order quickly.
admin –
T. Keith @ 12/21/2019 11:21
I’d give it 4-1/2, but of the options, I chose 5.
So, what can I say abou the Nova? A lot.
First, the intonation is frighteningly easy. I have played a Mark VI bari since 2005, because nothing is close. Now, settle down, the Nova has not bumped off my Mark Vi. But it IS my go-to #2. It’s intonation is easier to control than the Mark VI, which is barely possible. I *did* find that it was not a great match for my RPC .125 B mouthpiece (too open), but have since snagged a Theo Wanne Durga 8*. To be frank, it’s still too open, but other than that, this combo does EVERYTHING I would ask of it. Projection? Check. Beef? Check. Intonation? Check. Free blowing? Oh yeah!
It feels a bit more fragile than the Mark VI (a tank, by any measure), but not “cheap”. It just feels like it needs to be respected (like a nice set of dishes). Thus far, it’s been able to caress my inner-Mulligan, as well as bark like Pepper. The VI has more bark, if a half-step less range. I think the intonation of the VI above octave-B (the palm, especially) is better, but if you push this horn, it stay sin tune (the VI struggles0.
How’s it look? Flat sexy. Seriously… I wanna buy this horn drinks. On the whole, this is precisely what I was looking for — a solid back-up keyed to Low-A. I was going to grab a Kessler (had a tenor previously and loved it), but the price of this was just that much better. For the price, you can’t go wrong. You won’t find a better person to deal with than Brian.
So, only one question remains: What are you waiting for?