TJ Evo alto saxophone (2024 model)
Origin:
China
Guide price: £1200
Weight: 2.43kg
Date of manufacture: 2024
Date reviewed: November 2024
Well that's new!
TJ (Trevor James) have been around a fair few
years now and back in the day they quickly gained a reputation as
being a producer of solid and dependable student-quality saxes that
competed well with the likes of Jupiter. This was obviously good
news for them, but in recent years they've pushed the boat out a
bit further with regard to innovation. This led to the development
and production of a very successful range of professional horns
(Signature Custom) as well as a bespoke range (Andy Sheppard) -
and from there they've trickled that innovation down into their
more wallet-friendly models. It's a good business model; it costs
a lot of money to do research and development on a high-end horn,
so it makes sense take the things you've learned during the process
and adapt them to suit your budget models. Everybody wins.
There's also been some innovation behind the scenes in terms of
production - and sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that this model
is made in China rather than TJ's own Taiwanese factories. I'll
admit that when I first heard about this I had some reservations.
I've seen first-hand just how variable the output can be from Chinese
factories - which is why the number of brands available back in
the heyday of Ultra-Cheap horns has dropped from dozens in the UK
to barely a handful. Retailers just got fed up of having to deal
with inconsistent (or even non-existent) quality control. It soon
became clear that strategies had to be put in place to ensure consistency
and integrity, whether that be through having your own personnel
on the shop floor...or owning the factories outright.
It's not a new idea, to be sure, but TJ's considerable experience
of working within the region perhaps gives them an edge over the
competition. It all sounds very grand but, for me, it all boils
down to what turns up on the workbench. I've seen similar claims
from other companies down the years and yet somehow it seldom translates
into anything that withstands the attention of a screwdriver, a
leaklight and a critical eye.
And so we have the new Evo.
It's a horn that has a lot to live up to. It has to be at least
as well-built as their previous Taiwanese-built student/intermediate
horns, and at the asking price it has to deliver something that
raises it above the entry-level models. And on top of all that it
has to compete effectively in quite a challenging marketplace. It's
a tough call - but given that TJ seem to have a knack for delivering
'bang for bucks' at all levels it'll be interesting to see just
how well this horn stands up to scrutiny.
So let's pop it up on the bench and see what's what.
The construction is semi-ribbed. Sort of. In fact
it sits somewhere inbetween fully ribbed (whereby most of the pillars
are fitted to long straps, which are then fitted to the body) and
semi-ribbed (shorter straps are used, with space between them).
The Evo mixes it up a little, and combines both modes of construction
with the usual collection of plates (for individual or smaller groups
of keys) and a few standalone pillars - which have very generously-sized
bases. The toneholes are all plain drawn, nicely finished and perhaps
just a touch more level than usual. There's an adjustable metal
thumb hook and a large very slightly domed thumb rest along with
a usefully-sized 17.5/11 sling ring. You also get adjustable bumper
felts and a triple-point bell brace along with a detachable bell.
My overall impression of the body is that it's
quite sturdily-built. The pillar bases, the guard stays - they're
all just that little bit beefier than the norm. And it's neatly
put together too - no sloppy soldering or wobbly fittings.
TJ say that the bell is fully handmade, hammered and voiced for
maximum sound quality. Handmade is nice, but I doubt it brings any
tonal benefits. Ditto a hammered bell - and as for 'voiced for maximum
sound quality' I have absolutely no idea what this entails...or
even means. To be fair all the manufacturers push out this sort
of stuff; it looks good on paper but the real proof of the pudding
is in how the horn sounds. We'll find out how it fares later...
This model is finished in a deep gold lacquer
but it also comes in a variety of finishes, including a frosted
black, silver or gold and a black body with gold keys. There's a
nice bit of engraving on the bell and bottom bow for those of you
who like that sort of thing.
While it's true to say that body tweaks are largely
subjective, the keywork is an entirely different kettle of fish.
It's something you can (quite literally) put your finger on. It
was immediately clear (to me, at least) that quite some thought
had gone into the design. For example, you get a full set of concave
proper mother of pearl finger touches on the main stack action along
with a slightly domed Bis Bb pearl (very nice) - and while the side/chromatic
F# and G# touchpieces are plain brass ovals, they've been very slightly
dished. Now that's a nice feature - it gives you just a little more
of a positive feel under the fingers.
Another
nice feature is the captive fork and pin connectors on the side
Bb and C keys. If you've read a number of my reviews you'll know
that I'm a big fan of 'F&P' connectors because they're simple,
they're reliable and they're rugged. Making them captive changes
absolutely nothing about they way they work, it just means they
look a bit nicer - and from a practical point of view you're less
likely to catch your clothing on them.
Another nice touch is that they've wrapped synthetic felt around
the inside of the fork to keep the mechanism quiet (side key connectors
are often a cause of rattles). This isn't an afterthought - someone's
designed that fork to be large enough to accommodate the thickness
of the felt. I like that, it shows that someone's been thinking
about the design.
There's
a full set of regulation adjusters on both the upper and the lower
stacks keys, which makes adjusting the horn so much easier for repairers
and brave/skilled home tweakers. You also get the usual trio of
adjusters for the G#, Bis Bb and the low C#. There's a comfy teardrop
touchpiece for the front top F, the usual tilting bell key table
and swivelling octave key mechanism with a wraparound touchpiece
and double cup arms on the low C and C# keys.
I quite like this arrangement. It's more common to see double arms
on the low C, B and Bb - and while having them on the low C is a
no-brainer I tend to feel that they're less useful on the low B/Bb
than they are on the low C# because I often have to bend a low C#
key cup back into place after it's copped a knock. Of course, it's
nice to see double cup arms on all the bell keys - but for a horn
pitched at this price-point in the market it makes sense to concentrate
on beefing up the vulnerable keys.
And speaking of points we're onto my favourite
bugbear - the point screws.
These presented me with the biggest surprise because they're proper
point screws - with a taper and everything! Absolutely brilliant!
It means that the point screw action can be adjusted to take up
any wear and tear down the years - which also means these keys stay
smooth and responsive down the years, and you don't have to spend
out quite so much on having the action tightened. It's a killer
feature.
But
what about the rod screw action? Well, I had a good poke and a prod
around the keywork and found just two very slightly wobbly keys.
And when I say very slightly I mean very - certainly not enough
to bother with tweaking. This is impressive. Coupled with the proper
point screws the action on this horn is nice and tight. I've seen
sloppier actions on many a much more expensive instrument - and
not many at this price point that can match what's on this horn.
Top marks there, and them some.
I'm gonna grab some back for the pads though.
Not perhaps the pads themselves. These are TJ branded pads - possibly
made in-house(?) - and as they don't really have as much 'history'
as, say, a Pisoni pad it's kind of hard to say how good they are.
They look the part though and seem to be of medium-firm density.
However, they've skimped a bit on the ol' glue (hot melt glue in
this instance). There's a bit more in the key cups than I've seen
on some other horns but still not quite enough.
Here's
the low Eb pad, and you can see that the glue is concentrated in
the centre of the pad. This means the pad is unlikely to fall out,
but there's little or no support around the edge of the pad. It
won't be a huge problem...for a while - but once the pads have gone
for a year or so of wetting and drying out there's a good chance
that one or two of them will need resetting. Without any glue around
the edges of the pads, any adjustments made are less likely to hold
up over time.
It could be better.
I had a feeling that this would be remedied once TJ got wind of
the review, but I thought I'd drop them a line because I wanted
to ask about the pads. And yep, sure enough, they'd already sussed
out and sorted the glue issue - and added that the pads are made
in-house to a slightly better spec than their original pads along
with neater reflectors/resonators than on this example. They also
have plans to make pad sets available, which'll be handy.
The corkwork is neat and tidy. Actually, there
are very few corks on this horn - most of the buffers are synthetic
felt, which is a definite step-up at the asking price. It means
the action runs a little quieter without sacrificing precision over
time. I've no complaints about that.
The blurb says the horn sports "Redesigned
blued steel springs'. I had a good look at the springs but failed
to spot anything that had been redesigned. Let's face it, they're
called needle springs because they look like needles. What's to
redesign? I suspect what this means is that the length (and perhaps
the diameter) of the spring has been changed - and this would have
a marked affect on how the action felt and performed.
The whole outfit comes in the usual semi-soft
shaped case, complete with the usual zippers. There's space in the
case for the crook and the mouthpiece (separate slots), a double
accessory pocket on one side and a backpack strap pocket on the
other. It's not a bad case in terms of the inner protection it affords,
but I just don't like zips (call me old-fashioned).
Under
the fingers the action feels smooth and responsive. It has to be
said, the setup was really rather good - about the only thing I
tweaked on this horn was the tension of the low C key spring. It
ran a little stiff for my liking. But that's it. Not bad for a factory
setup...not bad at all.
I blew this horn when it came in, fully expecting
it to perform in much the same fashion as any other horn in this
price bracket - and indeed much the same as all the other Evos I've
worked on in the past.
I got three notes in and then stopped dead out of complete surprise.
And then I said "What a little beauty!" I blew it a bit
more, stopped, looked at it and raised my eyebrows. I never expected
this.
At the £1300 price-point pretty much any new horn you pick
up is going to sound broadly the same as any other. You can expect
a moderately bright presentation (which makes the horn feel lively,
but not too bright) and a reasonably-balanced midrange (which gives
it a bit of oomph). You won't quite get the subtleties that a more
expensive horn brings but the tone will be 'juicer' than bottom-end
budget horns. What you tend not to get at this price-point is anything
very distinctive - it's all 'Just OK'. Unless you have one of these
horns.
Tonewise it presents itself as an alto that takes
a noticeable step towards the warmth and breadth of a tenor - and
what's surprising about this is that it's a feature that only tends
to crop up on very expensive horns (Borgani, Keilwerth) and vintage
ones (Holton 666 etc.). Finding it on a modern intermediate horn
is quite a surprise. Quite a nice surprise at that. I'm told that
TJ did a fair bit of work on the design of the crook, so I would
think that this is where most of the depth of tone comes from along
with a few tweaks to the body tube.
It's
actually quite hard to describe the presentation. It's definitely
not naturally bright (like the Yamaha) but neither is it stuffy.
It's not brittle, but neither is it woolly. It's...solid, meaty,
sturdy. It's got a well-defined core to it which just seems to hang
on there no matter which way you push it.
It really is a lot of fun to play.
It's been decades since I retailed horns but I
can still recall the times that players would come into the shop
to try a few horns, assisted by friends or parents who'd act as
a second pair of ears. When it came down to the line someone would
always say "I think you sounded better on that horn".
I reckon this is where the Evo will clean up.
I also feel it'll clean up on versatility because
it's often easier to brighten up a dark-toned horn (should you so
wish to) than it is to mellow out a bright one. So if you want to
knock out some sultry jazz licks - it'll do that...and if you want
to go head-to-head with a rock guitar solo, it'll do that too. And
here's another interesting angle. If you're a player who hankers
after more of a vintage tonal approach, but don't want to deal with
the associated complications and costs then this might be a horn
that's worth trying.
The tuning's fine too. It's a modern horn. I don't think anyone
gets it wrong these days.
The price-point on this model is competitive.
You have the stalwart Yamaha 280 and the Buffet 400 at around a
grand - but beyond that there's really not much else (other than
yet more TJ horns) until you reach £1500. Going up against
the Yamaha takes some doing; you have to at least match the build
quality...and then offer something else on top. On the first point
the Evo does so comfortably - and on the second it has a whole assortment
of features that the Yamaha lacks. And then there's the tone. Now,
I love the presentation of the Yamaha. It's bright and punchy -
just what I like from an alto. But that's me, and plenty of other
players prefer their altos to be rather more richly-toned. If that's
your preference then the Yamaha is pretty much dead in the water,
and I think you'll be hard put to find a horn that squares up tonally
with the Evo for less than a couple of grand.
So we have a delightfully distinctive alto with a solid build quality
and some very nice design features, all backed by a very reputable
company. It sets a new standard at the price...and it's a winner
- no two ways about it.
|