Silver has significantly more edge and clarity, laquer is rounder. Clear as day to me. btw you say solid silver - you mean silver plated right? Clearly from the images a lot of it is brass.
There is a much larger difference when you try these necks in solid silver (not silver plated). Yamaha puts a clear lacquer on their solid silver necks. I have these necks in solid silver (V1 and E1) for both tenor and alto. I use the V1 (solid silver) for my mellow mouthpiece (it puts more sweetness, volume, and focus in my sound) and I use the E1 (solid silver) for my brighter sounding mouthpieces (the E1 sounds much better to me with the brighter sounding mouthpieces). I have the Yamaha 875 tenor and the Yamaha 875 EXII alto. The solid silver definitely adds very noticeable depth and spread to the tone and it seems I get more dynamics in volume from the solid silver necks (especially the V1). If you are a classical saxophonist, you would probably prefer the Yamaha C1 neck... it's more focused and the darkest sounding of these necks and easiest for intonation... the E1 is a little easier for the low notes and also has great intonation. I actually think the V1 has great intonation, but when you listen to the C1 neck, you hear the greater focus and that's why it is easier for beginners or advancing players. Yamaha supplies the E1 neck on their 875 EX tenors and they supply the V1 neck with the 875 EX alto and also the Custom 82Z alto and Custom 82Z tenor... it surprises me that classical players will use the V1 neck... I think they they haven't tried or know enough about the other necks. There is an art in creating your setup. I like having more than one setup for different situations. If you are looking for more warmth or more brightness or more depth in your sound, it is very much worth trying these necks before trying a different saxophone. If you have a Yamaha 82Z sax, you could definitely add some depth to your sound with the E1 neck.
Interesting comparison. It would be nice to hear it totally dry without any reverb. I'm one of those guys that thinks material doesn't matter, but I definitely hear a difference here. Are these physically identical aside from the material? It would also be interesting to hear a couple examples of both the lacquer and the silver model to see if they're consistent or if each individual neck has as many differences in character.
What if the perception of sound is a mix of the material and the ability of the listener's ear to hear at different frequencies? For example, people with damaged hearing from working in an industrial setting to someone who has lived in a rural setting would hear different partials.
That's interesting. I thought I heard a pretty clear difference between the two, but clearly the frequency analysis shows them to be pretty similar. I wonder, though, when you look at the gap between each harmonic if there is a difference there? It looks like the shape of parabolic-shaped gap between each harmonic might be slightly narrower and shallower on the silver neck than the lacquer. It looks like it would be awfully slight, but maybe it is enough to impact our timbre perception.
Silver has significantly more edge and clarity, laquer is rounder. Clear as day to me. btw you say solid silver - you mean silver plated right? Clearly from the images a lot of it is brass.
There is a much larger difference when you try these necks in solid silver (not silver plated). Yamaha puts a clear lacquer on their solid silver necks. I have these necks in solid silver (V1 and E1) for both tenor and alto. I use the V1 (solid silver) for my mellow mouthpiece (it puts more sweetness, volume, and focus in my sound) and I use the E1 (solid silver) for my brighter sounding mouthpieces (the E1 sounds much better to me with the brighter sounding mouthpieces). I have the Yamaha 875 tenor and the Yamaha 875 EXII alto. The solid silver definitely adds very noticeable depth and spread to the tone and it seems I get more dynamics in volume from the solid silver necks (especially the V1). If you are a classical saxophonist, you would probably prefer the Yamaha C1 neck... it's more focused and the darkest sounding of these necks and easiest for intonation... the E1 is a little easier for the low notes and also has great intonation. I actually think the V1 has great intonation, but when you listen to the C1 neck, you hear the greater focus and that's why it is easier for beginners or advancing players. Yamaha supplies the E1 neck on their 875 EX tenors and they supply the V1 neck with the 875 EX alto and also the Custom 82Z alto and Custom 82Z tenor... it surprises me that classical players will use the V1 neck... I think they they haven't tried or know enough about the other necks. There is an art in creating your setup. I like having more than one setup for different situations. If you are looking for more warmth or more brightness or more depth in your sound, it is very much worth trying these necks before trying a different saxophone. If you have a Yamaha 82Z sax, you could definitely add some depth to your sound with the E1 neck.
This is musical nerdy goodness - thank you for taking to time to do such an in-depth comparison!
Music nerds unite!!!
Interesting comparison. It would be nice to hear it totally dry without any reverb. I'm one of those guys that thinks material doesn't matter, but I definitely hear a difference here. Are these physically identical aside from the material? It would also be interesting to hear a couple examples of both the lacquer and the silver model to see if they're consistent or if each individual neck has as many differences in character.
What if the perception of sound is a mix of the material and the ability of the listener's ear to hear at different frequencies?
For example, people with damaged hearing from working in an industrial setting to someone who has lived in a rural setting would hear different partials.
Great thought!
That's interesting. I thought I heard a pretty clear difference between the two, but clearly the frequency analysis shows them to be pretty similar. I wonder, though, when you look at the gap between each harmonic if there is a difference there? It looks like the shape of parabolic-shaped gap between each harmonic might be slightly narrower and shallower on the silver neck than the lacquer. It looks like it would be awfully slight, but maybe it is enough to impact our timbre perception.