Argomento estremamente interessante, ed assai complesso, segnalo questo link:
http://sax.mpostma.nl/EN/index.html
Sarebbe utile, riparlare dopo aver letto attentamente, le tante info contenute nel sito citato ........
Una altra fonte, che sinteticamente riporto, sostiene che:
Geometry
This factor is the most important one affecting a saxophone's sound. The neck, body, bow and bell form a conical tube. The rapid opening and closing of the reed as it vibrates creates pressure pulses which cause the air column in the tube to resonate at a particular fundamental frequency. This is the origin of the sound we hear.

At the same time, the air column also resonates at frequencies corresponding to fractions of the air column (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 etc..) These produce some of the harmonic content in the sound we hear, not as distinct notes, but as coloration to the fundamental note. The basic contribution of the tube to the sound will vary based on the tone hole locations, sizes and the geometry (shape) and volume of the tube. Small bore saxophones (e.g. Selmer Serie III, all Yanagisawa, all Yamaha) have a distinctly brighter sound. Large bore saxophones (Keilwerth SX-90(R) and Rampone & Cazzani R1 and R1 Jazz and the bottom of Selmer Référence saxophones) have a more powerful fundamental component in their sound and they are warmer sounding. In soprano saxophones, curved designs have a darker, throatier, more saxophone-like sound when compared to straight designs which are more pure sounding.