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https://www.brassandwinds.com/products/ ... e-gorgeous



Posting this for no other reason than it’s groovy.

I'd love to see someone roll in with that when Grainger gets programmed with their group. :)

The college I went to had one of those, but it had been converted to a single reed instrument

I got to play it a few times, pretty cool experience

Does a normal bassoon reed fit that?

Also, wow! Looks like fun, too.

no it's much wider

I got to play a few notes on what I suspect was that very instrument, though of course prior to the "complete rebuild." Cool instrument, and of course it's silly to expect to be able to bring out the value of an unfamiliar instrument at first sight. Maybe I should have bought it ... .... nah. It's sure a lot more manageable than a "standard" Eb contrabass saxophone.

The single reed mouthpiece is probably a good idea, though I guess it doesn't entirely solve the problem - I mean, you still have a weird reed that has to be made by hand? Narrow to suit the bore, but tapered to function two octaves below an alto sax. Double reeds aren't really all that hard to play, and a big one like that will hold up for a long time, but there could be a difference in articulation potentials.

I was told it was using a sopranino sax mouthpiece and reed

off the shelf parts, as long as you know what shelf to look at

I bet a contrabassoon reed is big enough. If so, you could pony up for a Legere and you'd be good to go!

I don't think so - the tube end of a contrabassoon reed would be too small. That's what it looks like to me, anyway, in this video - Sarrusophone Reeds.

Among his three examples, there's a Vandoren reed, fairly recent manufacture with a little Vandoren logo on it and everything. They might still be willing to do that, for a price.

In 1953, I saw two of these instruments in use in a large concert band from the San Diego CA area's huge Grossmont High School. They were playing at a regional music festival in the California competitions. Placement was near the euphoniums and bassoons. On the band's program were Wagner's Tannhauser Overture and Liszt's Les Preludes.
Around 1950 I acquired an old dog-eared booklet (circa 1920's) featuring Pan American instruments. Shown therein was their Sarrusophone, so we know the Sarrusophone was somewhat in demand and in production early on.

@Ace My late father-in-law was a 1948 graduate of Grossmont High. It's odd to think he might have seen/heard one of these in the band at the time. He was a jock, so his knowledge/awareness of the band was limited to when they accompanied sporting events and graduation.