At last, a really comfortable way to hold your saxophone! The Saxholder has generated a lot of excitement and interest in the saxophone community. It addresses a problem that many saxophonists encounter, neck and back pain, especially if you play a tenor, baritone or bass sax! Also great for Bass Clarinet and Bassoon

This particular new version, is suitable for bigger players - that is over 100kg in weight or over 190cm in height.

The traditional sax strap or sax harness transfers the whole weight of the instrument to the neck. By the time many performers complain of chronic neck pain, there may even be damage to the cervical spine. saxholder is a new, patented three-point support system. The whole weight of the sax is transferred onto the two padded shoulder handles with assistance from the abdominal rest.

Saxholder:

• transfers the entire sax weight evenly to both shoulders, no stress on the neck
• can be put on by one hand in seconds
• can be adjusted for neck width, shoulder blades, clavicles and shoulder shape
• saves space, smaller than a sheet of A4 paper when folded
• is very comfortable when sitting or standing, since it does not slip away
• looks great, especially designed for both men and women performers
• is a high-tech product that uses aircraft and space travel materials: made of Kevlar and aircraft aluminium
• can be set quickly and easily: swing both shoulder handles up, pull out the telescopic slide, rotate the abdominal rest, ready
• is under 180g
• developed in Switzerland

FAQs

Is saxholder suitable for all saxophones?
Saxholder works great with alto sax and tenor sax. Many players use the saxholder with the baritone sax. There are players who use saxholder with the bass sax. Saxholder is also very well suited for bass clarinet and bassoon, but a longer cord is required (included).

Is saxholder available in different sizes?
For most users the regular saxholder will fit, since all relevant parts are adjustable. However, for very big players, let say more than 100 kg (220 lbs) and / or taller than 190 cm (6? 3“) better solution would be a saxholder XL which is available in good music stores.

Is saxholder suitable for children?
It is suitable for children over about 12 years. It is recommended that children should not use neck straps as bearing the full weight of the instruments on their neck can be detrimental.

Can I play with the saxholder in sitting position?
Saxholder is suitable for playing whilst standing or sitting. When you play away-from-body, your right thumb will fatigue much less than with other straps, since the cord attachment is further forward. You can move with the instrument very freely in all directions. When sitting, the saxholder doesn't slip as the shoulder handle and abdomen rest are made of slip resistant material.

Is it possible to store the saxholder in the instrument case?
Yes, saxholder fits perfectly into the tenor sax or baritone sax bell. For alto sax, it will depend on the case size. Saxholder folded together is smaller than a sheet of paper, so it can be stowed in most accessory pockets or bags.

How secure is the hook?
On other straps, plastic hooks are assembled from multiple parts, this connection can often break. Most of the available cast metal hooks are inherently brittle and can break. Hooks made from bare metal have the disadvantage that they have a lot of friction in the attachment of the instrument, causing wear over time. The saxholder hook is made of stainless steel, with high performance plastic coating. This is the safest and most effective combination. The cord is made of highly durable, scrub resistant Dyneema cord with a breaking load of 250kg!

How heavy is the saxholder?
Saxholder weighs less than 180 grams, ready-to-use.

What the Pros Say

Benny Golson, saxophonist, composer and arranger: "The saXholder is what I've been waiting for. No more pressure on my neck. No more messed up shirt collars. No more sweated saxophone straps."

Chico Freeman, saxophonist, composer and producer: "The saXholder finally brings the best of two worlds together, the freedom of movement from a neck strap with the weight distribution of a harness and it looks good when you are wearing it."

Bob Sheppard, saxophonist: "This amazing engineered saXholder device works better than any harness I have tried. The horn feels like it's floating, very comfortable, natural and easy to use. Besides making the saxophone feel light as a feather, the saXholder has other positive side effects, including better posture and diaphragm breathing."

Sergio Flores, Sexy Sax Man, saxophonist, about saXholder: "I think I as soon as I tried it I fell in love with it!… my neck is totally free! ..It’s brilliant!"

Pete Thomas, music producer and saxophonist, about saXholder: "Finally, I can play the bass for more than 5 minutes at a time!"

Evan Tate, saxophonist: "It feels so natural. I can move freely without the weight of the horn on my neck. I'm able to breathe freely and the saXholder supports the breathing from the stomach. Truly, a great investment!"

Reviews

Pete Thomas, music producer and saxophonist, on taming the saxophone:

The important thing to help your poor old neck is the area of the strap in contact with your neck. Well, with the saxholder, nothing comes in contact with your neck. In fact this is not really a strap, it's more of a, well, sax holder. As you can see there are two "handles" which hang over your shoulders so the weight which would have been on your neck with a conventional strap, is on your shoulders, possibly a much safer situation for your long term health. Bit that's not all, only part of the weight is displaced on to your shoulders because there is a pad lower down which rests against your stomach, so much of the weight is also distributed down there. "Is that a good thing?" I hear you ask. I shall answer that in a little while.

I first saw the Saxholder at this years Musikmesse trade show in the saxophone hall. I had already met the inventor, Silvin Jancic, when he showed me his mouthpiece silencer the previous year. The saxholder looked intriguing and as soon as I tried it on I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the weight no longer on my shoulders (I have a very heavy bronze and solid silver tenor saxophone to walk around with at those shows). However, the lower pad (the "abdominal rest") very quickly started to drift to the left as it slid across my stomach. (And before you start commenting, it was nothing to do with the size of my stomach, it was just a bit too slippery). I mentioned this to Silvin, who said that he would work on that. Well, I'm happy to say the Saxholder he subsequently sent me has had that issue addressed, and it stays put right there in the middle of your stomach.

So what do I think now that it actually works properly for me? Well, it's not often I get excited about a saxophone accessory, but I have to say that this is something that totally and utterly astonishes me with its innovative answer to saxophone players' neck problems. I will probably use this as my main (almost said "neckstrap" then) saxophone holder.

Do you need different sizes? - No, it's adjustable. The shoulder handles are made from aluminium and can bent to fit comfortably, the angle between the shoulder handles can be adjusted, and the abdominal rest can be positioned by extending the telescopic slider. You can also adjust the length of the cord to suit your instrument. I found that with the default length it was perfect for alto, tenor and baritone, but I would need it just very slightly shorter for my soprano (if I used a strap on a soprano which I don't) or for my Buescher bass (which has a very high straphook ring). Having said that, it felt so comfortable on the bass I was inspired to walk around playing the bass, something I hadn't been previously been inclined to do due to its heaviness.

The Stomach/Abdomen Thing - This is the real innovation. I can imagine people in the past have tried to solve the weight on the neck problem by hanging a saxophone on the shoulders, but that doesn't work by itself as there is too much weight on the shoulders. The pad resting on your stomach takes a lot of this weight off. Is it a good thing to transfer it somewhere else though? In my opinion the answer is a resounding YES! Not only is the weight transferred to somewhere that has no bones or spinal column to interfere with, I think this can actually help by encouraging proper abdominal/diaphragm breathing b as it actually encourages you to keep your stomach firm, even if you are well endowed in that area.

Is It Unisex? - Many ladies complain that traditional saxophone harnesses are especially uncomfortable or unflattering because of the way they hang over or around the breast area. The saxholder has no such issues, so is ideal for ladies.

It seems Too Good to be True! What's the catch? - Well, maybe the fact that the hook is a plain hook instead of a doglead type catch is the only real catch (pun intended). Having said that the hook is a nice strong metal one (steel by the look of it) with a plastic cover that has a small protrusion to make it less likely for the saxophone to jump out, it's also longer than many hooks which will also help prevent such disasters. I would also like to see a larger abdomen rest which would spread the weight more, this would be especially useful for baritone and bass. Other than that, my only tiny criticism is that it looks rather utilitarian, perhaps in the future there will be a deluxe version with leather upholstery and walnut trimmings.

Finally, I will be very interested to see how this stands up to further testing. My initial thoughts are very positive, but it is the kind of thing that needs assessment over a period of time. I have currently had a few neck problems, and I would be very interested to see what a medical specialist thinks of this (and the Cebulla), I will update this article when I get some feedback on that. This is a very elegant piece of kit which I thoroughly recommend. Even if you don't have any neck problems, I wouldn't mind betting that this will go a long way to making sure you don't get any in the future.

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