Xaphoon Pocket Sax Black Finish Key of C

by Xaphoon

Product Features

• Incredible Compact Saxophone!

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14 x 3 x 2 inches ; 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0002ODPDI
• Item model number: POCKET SAX Black
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,998 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #18 in Musical Instruments > Band & Orchestra > Woodwinds > Saxophones

Product Description

An inexpensive alternative to the handmade original. The Pocket Sax is made of indestructible ABS plastic - just put the cap on, throw it in your backpack, and go! Now the tiny instrument with the awesome sound has an additional care-free dimension. Comes with a 20-page full-color instruction booklet In "C" only.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful instrument!, May 20, 2006

By 

C L Abello (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Xaphoon Pocket Sax Black Finish Key of C (Electronics)

The reviewer who gave up on it after only 20 minutes did not give it enough of a chance. All serious musical instruments take quite a bit of time to learn to play and any serious musician is, even after decades of playing, essentially still learning.

The Pocket Sax and it's older sibling the Maui Xaphoon are serious musical instruments that deserve significant input of time in learning to play and reward you with endless hours of enjoyment and discovery.

I've played guitar and keyboards for over 3o years and have dabbled in various other instruments including several members of the woodwind family such as the alto sax and flute. The Pocket Sax is a great addition to my collection and you can start making music on it within a few hours, but realistically, it'll take a few weeks of regular practice before you can begin to enjoy your own music. It woudl be the same for someone picking up a guitar for the first time.

Does it really sound like a sax? Not always. At some notes, it will if you play it properly. Because of its design, it sounds like a cross between a sax and a clarinet, but is capable of flutey sounds as well if played softly. A sax has a conical bore while the PS has a predominantly cylindrical bore like a clarinet. This results in a "tubular" sound that has more in common with a clarinet. But since it uses a saxophone reed, you can get all kinds of sax-like expressiveness that is not available on a clarinet. If it were to have a conical bore, it'd probably sound more sax-like, bu would also be much longer and definitely less portable.

The PS is an excellent first instrument to give to your child or any person who is considering taking up the sax or clarinet. It's much less expensive and can be a great introduction to the world of woodwinds. It's much quieter too so you'll be able to keep it with you at all times and play it at hours when others are sleeping.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting sound in a small package!, March 27, 2006

By 

Chris "CC" (Grand Junction, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Xaphoon Pocket Sax Black Finish Key of C (Electronics)

As a clarinet and recorder player for years, I was intrigued by this little horn. It took about 3 minutes to get the feel of the larger mouthpiece and saxophone reed. The instructions are very well written and do not downplay the need to experiment a bit with mouthpiece position and lip pressure. For those who had difficulty producing sound, and for those who have questions about previous negative reviews, the instructions make a clear point to be sure the reed is allowed to vibrate when blowing into the instrument. You really do have to put quite a bit more mouthpiece into your mouth than is needed for a clarinet, pin whistle, or recorder. For me, I had to blow about 30% harder than I do on my tenor recorder, but much less than necessary to power my clarinet. A little patience and practice and anyone can make decent sound.

I may buy another if my son wants one! Once you get the feel of it, its a lot of fun to play and easy to learn. The Xaphoon maker in Hawaii has some great sheet music available, too.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but you'll need to put in some time before you can play it, March 25, 2006

By 

Martin C. Heermance (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Xaphoon Pocket Sax Black Finish Key of C (Electronics)

This instrument is fun. However, for the first few days I could only make it honk or wheeze, and get winded in the process. But then the technique of using the reed clicked and it became easier and took less effort.

The low C through A of the first register are a snap to play and several easy songs are in that range. The B is cross fingered, while the B-flat is not, which seems odd to a whistle player. However, this makes it easy to play in the key of F so this might be by design!

The fingerings for high C, D, E and F make sense, although playing a scale in that part of the low register is still hard for me. The second register remains elusive for me, so I can't comment on it yet.

The bottom line is that for $50.00 this thing is amazing and portable. However, you'll need to practice before you can play it well. But this is true of any musical instrument and part of the fun.