TENOR SAXOPHONES
“I love the roller octave key, you must have put a lot of thought into technique” “Compared to my MkVI, this horn [Temby Custom] is a much freer blowing horn and it plays easy” Pharoah Sanders
From the humble desire to build a high quality, reliable and affordable student saxophone Temby saxophones have gone well beyond and are sought after the world over. All design, development & modelling work is undertaken in Australia with input from many professional musicians. Heavy engineering is then completed with specialised machinery in Taiwan. Final work is then carried out in the workshops in Melbourne, Australia. Thanks to Temby’s commitment to instrument reliability, quality engineering, materials & unique features, it is no surprise there are many professional musicians around the world who now play Temby Australia saxophones.
Comfort and play-ability is always at the forefront of the Temby range of instruments and the saxophones are no exception ensuring comfortable playing and ergonomic hand positioning. This can be seen in recent improvements to the low Eb/ C keys that are shaped for ergonomically secure finger positioning. The pressure is reduced and balanced for the player’s weakest finger (the smallest finger). It facilitates fast and smooth transitions from Eb to C and allows for secure finger location for other intervals.
They have unique features that set them apart from other brands including genuine mother of pearl key touches from Broome Western Australia and the fast & smooth actuating roller octave mechanism for correct alignment of the left thumb. This reduces the chance of discomfort, and the potential for repetitive strain injuries to the left hand and wrist. Carbon steel springs give a light & fast key action & Temby’s ultra keywork results in a mechanically quiet mechanism.
All Temby saxophones come in a high quality case and have a 6 year manufactures warranty.
MODELS
DEBUT
These saxophones offer the greatest value in entry level to intermediate saxophones.
The Debut is designed to give the best start for saxophone students and to help accelerate skill development to intermediate playing level. The special octave key is ergonomic and comfortable, even for very young players who find many other student saxophones difficult to manage. Historically, the issue with traditional designs is the accidental and unavoidable opening of some keys whilst trying to press others. This results in those squeaks and sqwarks that you have probably heard and thought that it was the player’s fault, not the instrument.
This Temby saxophone model was first released in 1998 with younger students in mind – to offer comfortable and secure fingering, easy response, and highest quality construction to deliver the ultimate in reliability. Through regular testing, feedback and teacher input, small improvements have been made, culminating in what is recognised as one of the best student to intermediate level saxophones available – the Temby Debut.
PROFESSIONAL
The pro horn that students deserve!
The Temby Professional offers the sound & reliability of a European horn with the ease of playing of a Japanese saxophone. Since those early days of Temby, thousands of these instruments have been enjoyed by students, teachers & professionals. Like all other Temby horns, this model represents excellent value!
With a series of minor changes and improvements over many years, Temby professional saxophones have become recognised as the instrument of choice in many schools and by players of all levels.
The Temby Professional tenor saxophone has tonal clarity and versatility, accurate intonation, incredible response and is engineered for the ultimate in reliability.
Roller Oct mechanism, keyed to High F#, Gold Lacquer.
VINTAGE
This horn is the favourite of many professional jazz players.
One of the most expressive saxophones ever, you would think that our vintage model sax is a living and breathing thing. The horn’s sound develops quickly – particularly over the first 100 or so hours of playing.
The proven ‘Ultra Keywork’ design is renowned for its efficient, fast, smooth and silent action. If you are recording, you will appreciate the lessening or complete absence of mechanical noise.
The Temby Vintage is available with an optional high F# key. Without the high F# key there are less posts soldered to the body of the horn, which means there is less metal and solder to inhibit the resonance of the body. There is a distinct change to the overall tone of the Vintage if the interference from the high F# key is removed. When you play a Temby Vintage (no F#), you will also find less interference with the airflow in the top part of the body due to the absence of the high F# tone hole. You will be playing a horn that is more reactive and responsive to air flow and pressure.
The unlacquered raw brass neck, body, bell and keywork finish allows for the instrument to age rapidly creating a genuine vintage patina.
CUSTOM MODELS
The Temby Custom range of saxophones all feature the same starting body and keywork design with changes to the finish and tweaks to keywork layout for the individual models.
They have unique features that set them apart from other brands including genuine mother of pearl key touches from Broome Western Australia and the fast & smooth actuating roller octave mechanism for correct alignment of the left thumb. This reduces the chance of discomfort, and the potential for repetitive strain injuries to the left hand and wrist. Carbon steel springs give a light & fast key action & Temby’s ultra keywork results in a mechanically quiet mechanism. The redesigned low C key is the same as all recent Temby horns – shaped for ergonomically secure finger positioning. The pressure is reduced and balanced for the player’s weakest finger (the smallest finger).
The ergonomic, redesigned low Eb/C keys are comfortable and help the weaker little finger on the right hand to articulate those notes easier. It facilitates fast and smooth transitions from Eb to C and allows for secure finger location for other intervals.
MATT GOLD
The Matt Gold Custom tenor saxophone has a bright, clear sound that sings. It is free blowing and responds quickly to the player. It is perfect for an upgrade especially if you want a beautiful tenor that feels incredibly comfortable, has lightening fast and smooth keywork and looks amazing – this could be the horn for you!
Temby saxophones are made in limited numbers to ensure consistency of quality in materials and workmanship. This model features a hand brushed matt lacquer with clear coats of durable, baked epoxy lacquers over the top. The solid brass keywork is polished to a high lustre, and epoxy lacquered to create a beautiful contrast to the matt lacquered finish on the body of the instrument.
SILVER & GOLD
No longer in production.
The Silver and Gold Custom tenor saxophone was one of the first on the market with this finish combination. It has a bright, focused sound that is very responsive.
This model features a fine silver plate body, bell and neck with a clear coat of lacquer to prevent tarnish matched with rich gold lacquered keywork that really sparkels against the sivler. A really stunning looking saxophone!
ROSE BRASS
Looking for a tenor with a rich warm tone? Then you’ve found it in the Rose Brass custom. As the name suggests, the defining feature of this model is the ‘rose brass’ that the body, neck and bell are made from. This is a brass alloy that has a higher cooper content than the standard yellow brass. This gives a little more weight to the horn, a little more resistance to the blow and a lot more warmth to the tone.
Temby saxophones are made in limited numbers to ensure consistency of quality in materials and workmanship. This model is finished in gold lacquer, keyed to high F#.
BLACK & SILVER (PHAROAH)
Powerful, harmonically rich and visually stunning. This saxophone sings across big bands with projection and clarity, and cuts through rock bands with ease. Or take this horn to other tonal places that you have never experienced before. Jazz players will love the incredibly diverse tonal colour palette.
In honour of the great Pharaoh Sanders, who, while on tour in 2007 traded his treasured MkVI tenor and acquired his Temby Custom Tenor, Temby continues this model as a tribute to one of the finest saxophonists the world has ever known.
Rich black nickel plated body and contrasting fine silver plated keywork, ergonomic roller octave key, plus Western Australian dark mother of pearl key top inlays.
The horn is resonant and vibrant. It has power and clarity, but also has warmth when required. It allows the player to be totally expressive. Altissimo is easier, and intonation is excellent across the whole range.
From intimate jazz settings right through to hard hitting commercial, blues or whatever, this horn will do it all (and more!)
SILVER PEARL
Limited edition of 5 saxophones
If you want one of the smoothest to play horns ever made, then this horn should be at the top of your list. The horn plays with minimal effort – it’s super responsive at all volumes, it is vibrant and reactive. The sound is gorgeous with plenty of lively tonal colours. Pretty at low volumes and heaps of grunt when you push it hard. This horn is versatile and a dream to play.
Features beautiful frosted silver plating, finished with a durable coating that gives immense depth to the finish. The hand engraving on the bell is exquisitely detailed. The keywork is plated with the finest silver and polished to a bright, high lustre.
The ergonomic, redesigned low Eb/C keys are comfortable and help the weaker little finger on the right hand to articulate those notes easier.
BLUES HORN
A horn to rock and roll!
This limited edition sax was made to suit the requirements of Australian music legend Joe Camilleri. Joe’s Selmer MK VI was starting to feel its age with the rigours of touring meaning it was constantly in the repair shop so this sax was built to be his workhorse. The one condition – it had to be pink to maintain the iconic look.
BLUES HORN 2
Combining bold cutting edge designs, science and technology with “saxophone traditions” has always been the hallmark of Temby saxophones.
Here is the latest in David Temby’s masterful creations. The finish of The Blues Horn SERIES 2 is a tribute to the famous and collectable Grafton saxophones.
Only 10 of this limited edition saxophone will ever be made.
Combine the epoxy enamelled and oven baked hard finish with the smooth and luxurious bright silver plate on the keywork and we now have a timeless classic saxophone. This tenor “drips” with luxury!
The idea for this model eminated from Australian music icon Joe Camilleri who is a self confessed admirer of the Grafton Saxophones. After having worked for a few years with David Temby, developing Joe’s first (and current) Temby tenor saxophone – “The Blues Horn – Joe Camilleri Model”, both David and Joe started work on the next evolution of this soulful and powerful saxophone.
Like all other Temby horns, this tenor has a really relaxed and easy airlow. This makes it easy to play straight up, but more importantly helps you to increase endurance.
The low C key is the same as all recent Temby horns – shaped for ergonomically secure finger positioning. The pressure is reduced and balanced for the player’s weakest finger (the smallest finger). The low Eb is unique to this model. It facilitates fast and smooth transitions from Eb to C and allows for secure finger location for other intervals.
There is no high F# for a few very important reasons. Firstly, the extra keywork to add an F# adds weight, mass and extra sound deadening solder to the body. The body then becomes less responsive to the player. Secondly, the high F# tone hole interferes with the harmonic structure of saxophones, so we have done away with the “hole”. The horn plays with more harmonic colours this way. This also allows the altissimo to centre more easily and adds power in the stratospheric range.
Each horn comes with a hand hammered brass neckcoarted with the “Grafton colour” finish and a second neck, hand hammered from rose brass and fine silver plated over. Each neck has a different response, airflow structure and tone.
