Antigua straight soprano.

[Bobby G]

Has anyone heard of a brand called Antigua? It's a new one on me. I've just seen a straight sop made by Antigua for a stupid low price and I am thinking about it...

Thanks for any help, Bob

 

[Pete Thomas]

Maybe something useful here:

http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=39844

(although SOTW apears to be down at the mo)

 

[spike]

lovely thread that, sotw, makes very entertaining reading, nuff sed.
have talked to quite a few fellas who've indulged in an Antigua Sop. and all have been more than satisfied, although sceptical before buying. I've only handled the alto and found the ergonomics a no no for my crippled, arthritic old grippers, but the handwork on 'em is very good. It's quite remarkable how the prices are tumbling like the rocks off the Gothard in recent times. Globalisation, is that what it's called? There's definitely something happening here and you don't know what it is, do you spike? Now when I was young everything was different and a sax was a selmer and that was it.

 

[Bobby G]

I am now the proud owner of an Antigua straight sax, seen and bought at Cash Generator in Luton (oh yes!) for less than 100 quid, reduced from 140 after the guy in the shop realised I had a little (not a lot!) of knowledge as I was examining it quite carefully. He beat me down on the price!!

The spring on the crook octave key was badly bent so it wouldn't close, and it sounded awful below bottom F, but I was quite sure I could see what the problem was i.e. badly seated pads. I thought it was a good price just for a project, but after an hour of adjusting screws, pads, springs etc I have a very playable horn, with good intonation. The only thing I need to do now, it seems, is to fit a cork to the foot of the Eb key as the metal is contacting the body.

It's very plain, the only engraving is the Antigua logo and a serial number. Ergonomically it fits my small, bent, wizened but non-arthritic grippers very much better than it might Spike's, and has a smooth, mellowish sound from the indeterminate (plastic or hr) mouthpiece and Rico Royal 2.5 reeds.

My curly sop has the 'small sax' sound I like with the Yamaha 4c mpc, but I'd like to try and get the more archetypal 'reedy' or 'oboe-y' keening sort of sound out of the Antigua - any suggestions for mpc/reed combination? I'd probably settle for a Yam 4c mpc, as I tried the one I use on the Artemis and it was closer to the sound I'd like to get, so I probably just need to try different reeds.

Cheers, Bob

 

[saxismyaxe]

"lovely thread that, sotw, makes very entertaining reading, nuff sed."
Hmmm, I'll bite my lip. l.l
Bob, I'm glad to hear you are a happy, fellow owner. As I've written ad nauseum on "other" forums, I think that the newer model Antigua Sopranos are a fantastic deal on a very good horn for little money. Most will concur that it is worth twice the amount being asked. I understand that it is not widely available in the U.K yet, however.
Short of the Antigua, for the same amount of money the next option would be a nice vintage Conn NW or Buescher TT.
Saxismyaxe
Moderator staff:
SOTW

 

[Bobby G]

Hi Michael. I'm not exactly sure what I've bought, there are some significant differences between this and the model reviewed by Steve Howard. His is silver, mine is lacquered brass throughout, mine has high F# but no high G like Steve's, there is no engraving on mine apart from the Antigua logo and a serial number, and the crook seems to be an integral part of the horn, unlike the review model which has a removeable crook. It shows some signs of wear, so it may be an older, earlier model of the one that Steve reviewed, or a more basic model. Whatever it is, I'm happy with it, especially as I was able to make it work (it really feels like mine now I've tinkered with it) and I got it at a knockdown price.

Any ideas what I have bought?

Cheers, Bob

 

[saxismyaxe]

Hi Bob,
The Antigua 582LQ is a straight soprano with an integral neck and no High G key within the new range of 582/590 horns. All of these DO have Selmer style floral engraving on what are essentially CAD copies of Yani horns, however.

The clincher question regarding this is:
does your horn's serial number start with the letters YS? If not, I think that you may have purchased one of the older generation horns which are not Yani copies and apparently don't have the stable intonation/nifty key work of the newest horns among other things (from what I understand, many of the retailers in the U.K. are selling these older stocks/models of Antigua horns).
If you are unable to determine for certain what you have, take some pictures of the horn and send them to me at:
Saxismyaxe<<at>>gmail.com and I'll help you identify it.

At the end of the day,
provided it plays well for you and for little cash outlay, it's still a good find even if it is the earlier series.

 

[Bobby G]

I'd guess it's an older model, as the serial no is 0110350 (no YS). Couldn't say for sure whether it's a Yani copy as I'm not familiar with the Yani sop, but if it is one of the older ones I must be good at getting them to play in tune (smiley), as the intonation is fine.

Oh, and it has an adjustable brass r.h. thumb rest....

 

[saxismyaxe]

Indeed, it appears you have an earlier model. As I said, all that matters is what you can nurture/reap from the horn personally, and that you are happy. Glad you got a deal on it too, that's always a great feeling!

 

[Bobby G]

I have a problem with the sling for this sop, it's a wider 'webbing' style and rubs against or snags my left thumb on the octave key. I wonder if there's any way round this? It's as if the mounting ring for the strap needs to be bigger in some way in order to hold the strap clip further away from the body of the horn, if that's possible. Or would a 'string' type sling, like the BG sling I use on my curved sop, improve the situation? Or should the horn be light and well-balanced enough not to need a sling?

Cheers, Bob

 

[Pete Thomas]

I prefer a straight sop without a strap

 

[Bobby G]

Thanks Michael and Pete for earlier posts about my Antigua.

I'm now playing it without a sling, and I've put a 4c mpc on it. I'm experimenting a bit with reeds, and the Vandoren jaZZ and Plasticovers seem to have that reedy sound I'm after, although I like the smoother sound from the Rico Royals as well.

Despite being, as I suspect from Michael's posts, an older horn, the keywork is fine, and noticeabky faster and lighter than on my curved sop. Also, the intonation is good, I can get notes and intervals pretty cleanly through the range. One thing I have noticed is the amount of pitch bend I can get - is this normal for a soprano? If so, is this why some sopranos are difficult to play in tune, or is it just an inherent problem in some sopranos?

Whatever, I am really enjoying playing this horn (to the detriment of my alto and tenor) and would recommend it to anyone! Roll on the next Val's Jam Night....

 

[saxismyaxe]

"One thing I have noticed is the amount of pitch bend I can get - is this normal for a soprano? If so, is this why some sopranos are difficult to play in tune, or is it just an inherent problem in some sopranos?"

Hi Bob,
The answer is, ABSOLUTELY. The higher pitched the horn, the more subtle the changes needed to drastically effect the pitch, bending effects etc (try a sopranino sometime...whew!). This means that one must fix one's embouchure much more solidly than for a Baritone for example.
Because of this, any intonation problems a Soprano has inherently (beyond the norm, no horn is perfect) become glaringly obvious uncorrected (if it is correctable). If you have played your horn against a digital tuner, and the entire range seems to be close to spot on give or take a few cents here and there, you, your horn and your setup can live in harmony!😀