About a year and a half ago I got a Cannonball Big bell alto. Best sax I've ever played. But recently i've been having sound problems.

When I first bought the sax I had a nice, full, warm tone (when I wanted one, that is). But lately I've been getting an airy sound. I've tried buying a new mouthpiece, but that didn't work. The shop says there's no leaks or anything. What could be wrong?

Is it maybe easily fixable?

Cannonball saxes are junk. I've had two students who had those and I had both sell them and get a decent horn. They sound horrible.

Suggestion, trade it in for a decent upper line horn. You won't get jack as a trade in but take what you can get.

Dewey is a horn snob.
I've played sax since 1961 and currently own about 20 horns. Newer Cannonballs are decent horns. I tried a Big Bell Global Series SLS against all the new Yamaha pro horns and a vintage SML at the instigation of the owner of the biggest local music store. I preferred the Cannonball over all the Yamahas. The SML is another story. As for resale, Dewey doesn't follow the market very carefully. A horn very similar to the one I described above just finished on ebay for 1500+, within a few hundred of what the horn sells for new from a competitive dealer
Your problem could be from your setup, you, or the horn. There isn't any more than maybe one in twenty techs that is worth what they charge. If you can determine that the problem is not your mouthpiece, reed or an embouchure issue, find another tech and have them check the horn.
Be wary of people who dismiss what you are playing as junk. If you like the horn and it makes you want to play, that's a good horn for you. Best regards and play on.

Ebay is quite a different story from what I was talking about. I said trade in. You aren't going to get much for the cb if you trade it in on another horn. If you like these that's fine, but the tone and intonation on these are not even close to good pro horns.

I like his term horn snob. Not really insulting, kindof funny really. yeah, this post is kindof pointless

wtf is a cannonball...im pretty sure its pretty crappy. why do you think none of the pros use these brands?like kenny garrett...one of the best jazz alto players alive. he uses a mark VI. i personally own a selmer series III. Ive tried professional yamahas such as the custom Z and they are nothing compared to the selmers.

by the way...the airy sound is probably caused by your reed. airy sounds arent from your sax or mouthpieces...change a reed and itll probably go away.

first off cannonballs are excellant horns. by no means are they pro, top of the line saxs, but they are very good. I've had mine for over 2 years and i have no clue what you mean by this airy tone. Perhaps the guy at the shop was wrong.

i have a cannonball tenor and it is awsome. i moved up in reed size and it sounded a little airy at first but as i got used to my reed it went away. don't worry, it probably is your reed.