Session Tenor Saxophone – Gold Lacquer

Designed for Saxophonists, By Saxophonists

At BetterSax, we’re saxophonists first. The Session Tenor is the result of years of development by a small team of working players in Indiana and France, with one goal: build the best tenor saxophone in production today. There are no shortcuts and no cost-cutting measures anywhere on this horn. Its price is a deliberate choice, not a compromise. Our mission is to create the highest quality saxophone gear and help musicians of all levels reach their full potential, and pricing the Session Tenor where we did is part of that mission.

We didn’t do it alone. World-class artists, including Eric Alexander played prototypes as the design took shape and gave us feedback at every stage. Today Eric plays a Session Tenor exclusively, completely stock, with no modifications. His horn is the same instrument that ships to every player.

“This is the best saxophone I’ve ever played.”-Eric Alexander

What Sets the Session Tenor Apart

Tone & Bore:

The Session Tenor is built around a French taper bore that follows the French school of saxophone acoustic design. The result is a warm, powerful, focused sound that speaks quickly and stays in tune across every register.

• • Drawn, two-stage leveled tone holes: Each tone hole is drawn, then leveled in two stages with dedicated tooling, so every pad seals precisely.
  • A newly designed neck: The neck has its own bore taper and a tone ring, voiced to match the body and balance intonation, tone, and response.
  • Internally tapered tenon: Eliminates the usual gap at the neck receiver for a smooth, continuous bore and even airflow.
  • Brass where it matters: Lighter-gauge brass through the neck and body keeps the horn free-blowing and responsive. Heavier-gauge brass at the bow and bell adds durability and fills out the low end.

Construction:

• • • Mini-rib construction: Key posts that need to stay aligned are mounted on shared plates. The mechanism stays stable for the long haul, while the body tube stays free to resonate.
    • Ringless bow-to-bell joint: In place of a traditional clamping ring, the joint is precision-machined and soldered. Less vibrating mass means better response and a quieter, more stable low register.
    • Brass rim wire: Reinforces the bell and adds projection.
    • Hand-hammered bell: Each bell is formed and hammered by hand.
    • Nickel-silver neckstrap ring: A thicker, stronger nickel-silver ring gives any neck strap a secure connection and resists the wear from neckstrap hooks that can wear through a ring over time.

Keywork:

We designed the action to feel like a beautifully maintained vintage horn: light, fast, quiet, and even.

• Cold-forged keywork: The keys are cold-forged for strength, reliability, and durability through years of daily playing.
• Spring-loaded bushings: They take up side-to-side play inside the mechanism, so keys stay free of clatter and the action stays tight for years, with fewer trips to the repair shop.
• Pisoni blue steel springs: Each spring is set with a force gauge for light, even action across the whole horn. 
• Pisoni Pro pads with metal resonators: Added projection and longevity.
• Built to fit your hands: Genuine mother-of-pearl key touches, modern palm key placement, a well-placed front F, and an adjustable investment-cast thumb rest suit small and large hands alike through long practice sessions, gigs, and studio work.
• Underslung octave key: keeps the octave key off the top of the neck and out of the way of your hand. It is one of the most commonly bent parts on a saxophone, and this is a simple way to stop bending it.

Setup: Twice by Hand

Every Session Tenor is set up twice. Our long-time, specially trained artisan team assembles and adjusts each horn by hand. It then rests for a minimum of two weeks, giving the newly shaped brass time to relax into its new form and the pads, corks, and springs time to settle. After that rest, each horn gets a complete second inspection and adjustment before it goes into its case.

That extra step is why your Session Tenor arrives settled, sealed, and ready to play.

Finishes and Engraving:

Choose from three finishes:

• Matte Black
• Matte Dark Gold
• Gold Lacquer

Whichever finish you choose, every Session Tenor is hand-engraved with an intricate pattern designed in-house by BetterSax’s Marcy Lyzun.

Case and Mouthpiece:

• Professional backpack case. Padded backpack straps, a molded memory-foam interior that is enclosed in a durable corrugated plastic shell to support and protect the horn, then tightly wrapped in a durable ballistic-nylon exterior, a large outer pocket plus additional accessory storage, and a rain cover for travel in any weather.
• BetterSax Session Tenor mouthpiece. A hard rubber tenor mouthpiece made to our specification, based on our favorite vintage tenor mouthpiece. Genuinely vulcanized rubber, molded around a core, which is the only way to get a chamber shape a CNC machine cannot reach. Then CNC finished for consistency, because the historical problem with vintage hard rubber is that no two pieces are alike. Then hand finished to a standard you do not normally see in serial production at any price.