Eastman 52nd Street - ETS652 - Tenor Saxophone

Sax legend Bob Mintzer & award-winning saxophonist Alex Hahn's first choice of saxophone. 

A serious heavyweight addition to our pro sax range, the 52nd Street Tenor captures a classic vintage sound – full-bodied and free-blowing – and combines this with wonderful ergonomics. 

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

The first thing to take note of is the slightly lower angle on the neck – it’s not massively changed, but just fractionally.  The key work has been re-positioned to suit both large and small hands!  It is now closer to the layout of the Vintage American saxes that inspired it.  This includes a reduction in size of the table key block, which is now narrower and sleeker in design.  Eastman have abandoned the double key arms on the lower bell keys for single ones – yes you could argue that they are sacrificing some stability of the keys but the weight saving is worth it.  The bell-to-body brace is now a two-point ring rather than three points.  There is now a nickel silver neck tenon clamp.  In terms of the set-up materials there has been an upgrade of pads, felts and corks.  Eastman have decided to ditch the adjustable palm keys in favor of just fixing them exactly where they feel they need to be!  One thing that has remained consistent from the previous model to this one is the use of rolled tone holes throughout the horn. 

Sound

As mentioned, Eastman have sourced a different brass material that has allowed them to make a huge weight saving (in combination with ergonomic changes, it is around 400 grams).  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 10M tenor.  Think big, full-bodied, plenty of core, but not overly focussed like a Mark VI.  Due to the lighter build the response is very quick, and its unlacquered finish just gives air to those higher overtones having more presence. 

Features

• Material: Aged unlacquered brass
• Finish: Unlacquered
• Key Touches: Abalone inlay
• Neck: Eastman 52^nd St
• Engraving: Hand-engraved neck and bell
• Case: Deluxe, with backpack straps
• Mouthpiece: Eastman
• Made in: Eastman's Chinese factory
• Free Professional Set Up & Free Check over within a Year
• Recommended for: Advancing students, professionals 

Reviews

"Initially when I heard about these horns I saw that they were connected with Bob Mintzer and knew he had great things to say about them. However, it wasn’t until I met him out at the NAMM show, representing Eastman, that I realised first-hand just how much he loves his tenor! I then tried one for myself and couldn’t believe how full-bodied and deep the sound was, as well as being effortless to play throughout the entire range.

We’re now on to the second generation of these saxes and even though they have made so many changes, including a revision of the brass being used, they have not lost the basic character that was on the original models.  Instead, they have channeled it into a tone with more core and slightly less spread.  There are arguments to be made for both approaches and I guess it’s personal preference.  More core is certainly useful when trying to play with others in the same frequency range as it allows you to lift your sound above everything around you.  Overall, I just love these horns – the sound is great, and they have the feeling of solidity and sturdiness under the fingers which just added to the joy of playing it!  This sax has the hallmarks of being a classic." - Jim - SAX