Sax Harness Suggestions?

[Keith Taylor]

I have back issues, so pretty early on after having bought my Cannonball Big Bell Global Series tenor – I bought a Walker and Williams harness to where while practicing. For those of you that don’t know – I’m not sure if it’s all Cannonball horns – but the model I own is significantly heavier than most tenors.

So, earlier today while I was in the middle of playing through The Nearness of You – when ironically – my sax suddenly dropped. Luckily, I caught it before it hit the ground. The metal swivel mechanism broke and had come apart completely. Which is kind of a shock to me because the harness appears to be well made. I guess not, though.

I’d share the photos I took of it to send to Walker and Williams here, but I don’t see a way to attach a photo?

So, my advice to you all is to stay away from this harness made by Walker and Williams:

https://www.amazon.com/Walker-Williams-Premium-Leather-Harness/dp/B00Q8EM9QK/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1494181197&sr=8-9&keywords=saxophone+harness

My question for you all is what harnesses do you recommend? As I mentioned, I have back issues, and have noticed that practicing will irritate it – even with a harness and not just a neck strap. So, I’m willing to spend more to get something that works well as far as being comfortable and distributing the weight – and also something that’s secure and won’t fall apart as the Walker and Williams harness did on me this morning after right at a year of use.

Here are the two that I’m looking at right now:

https://www.amazon.com/Jazzlab-SAXHOLDER-Saxophone-Harness/dp/B005J3EZZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494181197&sr=8-1&keywords=saxophone+harness

And this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Neotech-2601162-Super-Harness-Swivel/dp/B000EENBTE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1494181197&sr=8-3&keywords=saxophone+harness

Please let me know if any of you have any experience with these two, or what you’ve found to be most comfortable for you for use with a tenor sax. Thanks!

[Pete]

Hi Keith
I have severe neck problems very often and have suffered for years
until I bought the Jazzlab sax holder. My tenor is also pretty heavy
and since I purchased the Jazzlab saxholder I have no more problems
with neck pain, caused when playing the sax, I strongly recommend it
to you. I am sure you will agree once you try it.

[john]

guys I have a possible solution from a guy I met at NAMM in Jan. will post it soon as I can.
check out Steve sax’s solution here:

he plays in a band called Well Hung Daddies! check it out.

[Pete]

Johnny
Thought it was a joke at first when I saw the video, it seems to be
a lot of hassle, it might be ok for a Bari player.

[brother cavefish]

well if i was in an orchestra i might consider this as an option, (like a bass ) i really don’t like the idea of putting tape on my sax, but it looked comfortable

[Keith Taylor]

Ok, so I ended up ordering the Jazz Lab Sax holder due to Peter recommending it here, and also a couple of other people in a saxophone Facebook group that I posted the same question in. It should be here on Wednesday, and hopefully, it will work well for me too.

As far as other solutions go for those with chronic back / neck pain goes. Even beofre my harness broke yesterday, I had shown pictures of a couple of the higer in options as far as neck straps and harnesses go to my chiropractor due to still having issues with the harness I had. I also mentenioned one that I once saw – somewhere – I assume online – that’s kind of like a boom arm to hang your sax from with a counter weight on the other end of it.

This looked like it could be a great solution for practicing. I mentioned it to my chiropractor and he suggested something that seems like it’s too simple and good of an idea to not be more widely known – or used. This being finding a 2×4 from your rafters in your ceiling to screw an eyebolt into in a designated practice corner or space. From that attach some rubber covered cable, or chain, that would hang down that could be adjusted to the perfect height you need it to be for practicing while sitting or standing.

I have not yet had time to rig something up like this in my office, but I may be giving it a try soon. You’d defintely need to hold the horn more at an angle – which I do anyway – rather than holding it straight in front of you while playing due to the cable / chain running right up where the neck of the horn and your face would be.

So, I see where it could be somewhat restrictive, but also possibly a great idea due to it taking the weight completely off you – much like the boom stand thing I saw online somewhere does. This would just be a simple chain handing down rather than a large stand that needs a large footprint to be safe for your sax to work well.

I’d be interested to know if anybody here has ever tried this – or known somebody that has. And if (or when) I do – I’ll post here again to let you all know how it works for me.

Thanks for the input y’all!

[brother cavefish]

well Keith if i had a bari i would probably do it too or make a better one

[Keith Taylor]

I’m commenting again to give credit where credit is due:

I sent an email to Walker and Williams – the company that makes the harness I had that broke while I was practicing – and told them exactly had happened. This morning I first woke up to a notification from Amazon that my money for it had been refunded, and then I saw this reply to my email from Walker and Williams:

Yikes! I’m really sorry that happened, but glad you were able to catch the horn before it fell. I’ll need to pull those off the market right away. And of course, I’ll arrange a refund for you.

-EBWalker

So, hats off to them for taking what I made them aware of seriously enough to pull them off the market until they find out what the defect was in the swivel mechanism.

My tenor is not that pricey of a horn in comparison to some other tenors – but it is still my baby and was by no means cheap considering that I paid $1600 for it used. But imagine somebody having their MK VI – or another equally valuable horn fall like that and not catching it in time…

“Yikes!” is correct.

So, if anybody from EB Walker happens to read this – thank you for the refund and for taking my email seriously.

[Author]

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