Hello group,
I'm posting here, as the largest Sax group in Yahoo! groups, in hopes 
of an answer or redirection, if necessary.

I am a sax player (though not a very active one), and I recently 
purchased, but have not yet received, a "Pocket Sax", 
a.k.a. "Xaphoon".  Has anyone here had any experience with this 
instrument, and if so, can you give me some tips/tricks/fingerings, 
etc.?

Thanks in Advance,
Chris

OK, so I'm responding to my own post, mostly for the sake of Rev.
Avery who responded personally to my post:

Hi Rev. (are you really a Rev?),

I just received my instrument yesterday, and was able to play a C
scale right out of the box.  It comes with a Rico 2 1/2 tenor reed,
attached to the instrument via a ligature.  Note, this is a one piece
instrument, and is not tunable by changing the length of the tube like
most "real" instruments.  However, the pitch bending via embouchure is
*extreme*.  Notes in the lower octave can be bent down a full minor
third!  A couple of initial comments:  

First, the mouthpiece has a significantly different feel from a
standard sax mouthpiece.  Where the profile of a sax mouthpiece is
"pointed", this one is more "blunt", which makes it feel kind of
strange in the mouth, but I think I'll get over it quickly.

If you're not used to an open-holed instrument, this will take some
getting used to.  The way the holes are cut makes it necessary to hold
the instrument in a very specific way, or the holes are not completely
covered.  This again will take some getting used to, but for me it's
not too bad, seeing as I am also a fifer, so I know how to cover holes
using the pads of my fingers.

The fingering is a little weird.  Most is as you'd expect, but some
bizarre things are as follows:  The left thumb hole is not an octave
hole like a recorder, it is just the second hole on the instrument. 
The note "A", which on almost every wind instrument I know how to
play,  is obtained using the first 3 fingers of the left hand, so it
feels like a "G".  This is going to mess me up for a long time.

For a fingering chart for the instrument, see 
http://www.xaphoon.com/Fingeringchart.html
which also has a pdf version of the book that comes with the instrument.

The upper octave F# *does not exist* as a "real" fingering on this
instrument.  The only way to get this note is to bend the G down. 
This is probably the biggest flaw with the design, and I expect to
spend a great deal of time trying to figure out how to half-hole or
get used to bending so I can play in G, D and A (very common keys for
the type of music I like to play - folk/celtic).

These are just my initial impressions, mind you, and I expect to have
a better feel for the instrument within a couple of weeks.  

General assessment, it is indeed a real instrument, not a toy.  There
are a full two octaves, and I expect to get more by experimenting with
overtones.

I recommend buying one if you are brave, and have some time to climb
the learning curve.  I bought mine on ebay, using the "Buy Now"
option, from seller bellfountemusic for $40 plus $8 shipping.  If you
buy it from the manufacturer (at xaphoon.com) it will cost you $55
plus shipping.

Good luck!
-Chris 

> 
> From: RevAvery@...
> Date: 2004/01/08 Thu PM 03:57:14 EST
> To: chrismyers@...
> Subject: Re: Pocket Sax
> 
> In a message dated 1/8/04 3:53:43 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> chrismyers@... writes:
> 
> 
> > I bought the plastic one, just to try it out.  I'm not ready to
invest in 
> > the bamboo one yet, until I convince myself that it is indeed a
"real" 
> > instrument, as opposed to a toy or a novelty item.
> > 
> > I'll try to remember to post my impressions once I receive it.
> 
> Thanks for writing back.  Yes, that was my concern too - a toy or an 
> instrument.  If you do think of it, let us know what you think when
you get it.
> 
> Rev. Avery
> <A
HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/revavery/myhomepage/collection.html">My
ABB/GAB/DBB/MTB/SRV CDR Trading Page</A>
> <A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/revavery/myhomepage/fan.html">My
Bluegrass CDR Trading Page</A>
> <A HREF="http://www.mountainocarinas.com/">Mountain Ocarinas</A> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, chrismyers@c... wrote:
> Hello group,
> I'm posting here, as the largest Sax group in Yahoo! groups, in hopes 
> of an answer or redirection, if necessary.
> 
> I am a sax player (though not a very active one), and I recently 
> purchased, but have not yet received, a "Pocket Sax", 
> a.k.a. "Xaphoon".  Has anyone here had any experience with this 
> instrument, and if so, can you give me some tips/tricks/fingerings, 
> etc.?
> 
> Thanks in Advance,
> Chris

chris, i just got one of these this week.  it's my first reed instrument, and i am 
having a blast.  the low notes are great, but i'm still working on the higher 
notes, which really require good lip technique.  from this instrument i may go 
on to buying an old c melody sax.