Everything you wrote is absolutely true, Marija and it doesn’t apply only to wooden instruments or only to instruments that are made entirely by hand. First, let’s establish that we are talking about high quality instruments since that is what musicians like the ones we consider here play.
As I wrote previously the simple answer is, yes, even brass instruments (and woodwinds, including flutes and saxophones) of the same brand and series all sound different to some degree. Why? Many reasons:
All quality instruments, including brass, are “hand made” to some extent. They are often assembled and finished by hand. The brass (especially the “bell”) is “burnished” with hand tools in order to give the metal the appropriate “ring”. It is true that with more and more automation used in the process, less hand finishing is done with modern instruments; however, it is still done. This is one of the reasons that the vintage saxophones are often preferred by professionals. Fact: Back in the ‘60s when churches stopped using real bells and instead started using electronic bell sounds, guess where a lot of those old Italian craftsmen bell makers found work....with brass and saxophone manufacturers where they made the “bells” for the instruments. They were masters of working and burnishing the brass. Sadly that is a dying art and there is now more reliance on machines. However, there is still a considerable amount of hand work that goes into the assembly and finishing of the instruments. Why does the assembly matter?:
Think about how the various pieces of brass tubing toast make up a trumpet are held together. Some are soldered together and some are pressure fitted. Two pieces of brass tubing held together by a band of brass around the outside applies pressure to the metal. The amount of pressure is never exactly the same for two different instruments. The amount of pressure affects the resonance of the metal, how the instrument will vibrate. Too much pressure kills the resonance. There are many points along the total length of the tubing where that is a factor.
There is also the issue of the composition of the metal alloy. It varies; even within the same series by the same manufacturer. The Selmer MK6 series saxophones manufactured during the 40s-60s are considered by many pros the Gold Standard. That is what the majority of players discussed here played and play today. They are generally fantastic instruments, but even within that series there are certain serial # “sub-series” that are particularly great; especially the earlier ones. Why? Well, it turns out that in the late 40’s-early 50’s Selmer used a brass alloy formulation that had more copper than other times. Why? They used spent artillery shells from the wars and which are technically bronze (more copper) and melted them. True story. Those horns are fantastic.
Then, you have the issue of the internal acoustical properties of the instruments. Even today with all the computer modeling used to design brass instruments, no two instruments will have internal dimensions that are exactly the same. That is a huge factor. Internal dimensions greatly affect resonance and sound.
Then there is the lacquer applied to the brass for that shiny look that never corrodes. Sometimes the instrument is silver or gold plated. Big difference.
I could go on, but I hope you get the idea. Most important of all, and as you point out, all this affects the way the instrument feels to the player.
I’ve posted this at least once before. Among many other interesting things, the great Phil Woods talks about going to the Selmer factory in France to try saxophones and find “the one” and the reasons that he switched to another brand late in his career.
https://youtu.be/6SJxmCzYpoo
Compare his tone in that video to his tone in the early days when he played on “the one”:
https://youtu.be/3ZTQ0IeYgh4
As I wrote previously the simple answer is, yes, even brass instruments (and woodwinds, including flutes and saxophones) of the same brand and series all sound different to some degree. Why? Many reasons:
All quality instruments, including brass, are “hand made” to some extent. They are often assembled and finished by hand. The brass (especially the “bell”) is “burnished” with hand tools in order to give the metal the appropriate “ring”. It is true that with more and more automation used in the process, less hand finishing is done with modern instruments; however, it is still done. This is one of the reasons that the vintage saxophones are often preferred by professionals. Fact: Back in the ‘60s when churches stopped using real bells and instead started using electronic bell sounds, guess where a lot of those old Italian craftsmen bell makers found work....with brass and saxophone manufacturers where they made the “bells” for the instruments. They were masters of working and burnishing the brass. Sadly that is a dying art and there is now more reliance on machines. However, there is still a considerable amount of hand work that goes into the assembly and finishing of the instruments. Why does the assembly matter?:
Think about how the various pieces of brass tubing toast make up a trumpet are held together. Some are soldered together and some are pressure fitted. Two pieces of brass tubing held together by a band of brass around the outside applies pressure to the metal. The amount of pressure is never exactly the same for two different instruments. The amount of pressure affects the resonance of the metal, how the instrument will vibrate. Too much pressure kills the resonance. There are many points along the total length of the tubing where that is a factor.
There is also the issue of the composition of the metal alloy. It varies; even within the same series by the same manufacturer. The Selmer MK6 series saxophones manufactured during the 40s-60s are considered by many pros the Gold Standard. That is what the majority of players discussed here played and play today. They are generally fantastic instruments, but even within that series there are certain serial # “sub-series” that are particularly great; especially the earlier ones. Why? Well, it turns out that in the late 40’s-early 50’s Selmer used a brass alloy formulation that had more copper than other times. Why? They used spent artillery shells from the wars and which are technically bronze (more copper) and melted them. True story. Those horns are fantastic.
Then, you have the issue of the internal acoustical properties of the instruments. Even today with all the computer modeling used to design brass instruments, no two instruments will have internal dimensions that are exactly the same. That is a huge factor. Internal dimensions greatly affect resonance and sound.
Then there is the lacquer applied to the brass for that shiny look that never corrodes. Sometimes the instrument is silver or gold plated. Big difference.
I could go on, but I hope you get the idea. Most important of all, and as you point out, all this affects the way the instrument feels to the player.
I’ve posted this at least once before. Among many other interesting things, the great Phil Woods talks about going to the Selmer factory in France to try saxophones and find “the one” and the reasons that he switched to another brand late in his career.
https://youtu.be/6SJxmCzYpoo
Compare his tone in that video to his tone in the early days when he played on “the one”:
https://youtu.be/3ZTQ0IeYgh4