Saxophones Elkhart 300 soprano or Jericho J6 sop

[TonyP23]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone here has played both of these sopranos. Which is the best?
I can buy a mint used Elkhart 300 for £250 with a years guarantee or a new Jericho J6 for £350 with 3 years guarantee.

Many thanks for any help.
Tony

 

[Jeanette]

Welcome to the café 🙂

Do introduce yourself in the doorbell section

Jx

 

[Ads]

I`d get the Elkhart . I had the Curved one and It`s a very high quality Taiwanese made instrument with amazingly slick action, it`d have taken a Yanagisawa to have driven me to upgrade and the only reason I sold it was because I wasn`t playing sop and it was going to waste ...

The (Chinese made) Jericho altos are excellent for the money but there`s no guarantee the sops are as good, sops are harder to make well .

of course the Elkhart will keep its price better in case you don`t keep up the soprano, I got £220 for mine here on the cafe-sax Yardsale but it was the Curved one which has quite a reputation for excellence. I`ve never tried a straight 300 model, I can`t see why it`d be bad , the Elkhart deluxe bronze straight was almost as good as the 300 curved for action but being bronze was heavy.

 

[TonyP23]

I'm going for the curved Ads. I tried an Elkhart 100 straight sop a couple of months ago but took it back. Do you know if the 300 series is better quality?

 

[TonyP23]

Welcome to the café 🙂

Do introduce yourself in the doorbell section

Jx

Done...Cheers

 

[Ads]

The 100 is a cheap generic Chinese horn, the 300 is in a totally different league, I had both the 300 series curved and the Deluxe bronze straight at the same time and the 300 curved was even better made with a more refined action , as I said it`d have taken a Yani to have been a worthy upgrade .

 

[TonyP23]

The 100 is a cheap generic Chinese horn, the 300 is in a totally different league, I had both the 300 series curved and the Deluxe bronze straight at the same time and the 300 curved was even better made with a more refined action , as I said it`d have taken a Yani to have been a worthy upgrade .

Just what I needed to hear. Thanks for your help Ads.

 

[TonyP23]

Well one of the Elkharts was already sold and the other seller has disappeared.

Ended up at a local woodwind shop in Liverpool and bought a really nice and as new Trevor James Revolution 11 Curved Soprano. Cost me £350 and came with a Yamaha 6c and BG 14 standard ligature. New sling and as new original case. It's a really nice copper colour with brass. Seems solid and reminds me a bit of the Bauhaus sax's. Gorgeous looking instrument. Feels and looks great with excellent build quality. Just the look I like and although I'm a complete beginner, I could keep nice steady notes up the first 2 octaves. Is that ok? I need to get some lessons. On the Elkhart 100 I tried a few weeks ago, I could hardly make a sound.

Went out for a drive and parked up to practice in a nice spot. Trying to get some peace and forget about my neighbours as I live in a flat and with playing my alto, though only for 1 hour a day, I've been expecting a letter from the department of the environment.
The little soprano is very comfortable to play in the car, with lots of room and I can totally relax.

 

[kevgermany]

Curly Woodwind?

Sop is great for the car, you get some strange looks from passers-by though. Sounds like you're doing well. The high notes can be tricky, so give them time.

 

[ellinas]

I play under a bridge near the highway. Lots of insporation over there. And lots of puff needed to play. It has worked wonders to my embouchoure and tone. Living in a block of houses and having two kids one of them being a baby i quickly became the master of subtoning feeling im loosing my abilities for dynamics control.
Playing in the car though could be dangerous for your ears in the long term. You dont want to know how tinnitus sounds like (all the time) Playing outside the car in all different weather conditions is such a thrill... I feel my self completely free and creative.

The funniest moment of all is when i pump up the volume and leave the car doors open and play listening to a backing track. I wish i could do this with my hammond organ .........

Not sure if its an urban legend or not, i read somewhere that sonny rollins was practicing outside as well....

 

[Ads]

The TJ rev-II is a quality Taiwanese made horn too, it was replaced in the range by the slightly more upmarket SR (Alto and Tenor) , I`ve never seen a curved soprano Rev-II only the straight ones, they DO tend to go for more than Elkharts because the TJ name has gained kudos after the famous Signature custom range put them on the map - the Elkhart 300 and deluxe remain hidden gems , the TJ rev a well known Gem ...

The most hidden gem is the "Tick-logo" Sakkusu Alto - Hiding under the Sax.co.uk banner, the Alto at least was a re-badged late model Elkhart Deluxe, top level Taiwanese up TJ SR standards of quality, an used SR Alto will stand you £800 , a near mint Sak Tick logo not much more than £200 !! . Sax.co had them made in China later on as they couldn`t afford to have the Elkhart factory make them and keep the price down , the Chinese ones are as good as a basic Bauhaus but the old Tick logo TW made ones are in a different league .

 

[TonyP23]

Curly Woodwind?

Sop is great for the car, you get some strange looks from passers-by though. Sounds like you're doing well. The high notes can be tricky, so give them time.

Richard Brehrend in Greenbank Road Kev..

I play under a bridge near the highway. Lots of insporation over there. And lots of puff needed to play. It has worked wonders to my embouchoure and tone.
Playing in the car though could be dangerous for your ears in the long term. You dont want to know how tinnitus sounds like (all the time) Playing outside the car in all different weather conditions is such a thrill... I feel my self completely free and creative.
Not sure if its an urban legend or not, i read somewhere that sonny rollins was practicing outside as well....

Thanks for the tinnitus tip ellinas. Especially with the curve facing me. Might try some foam earplugs.

 

[TonyP23]

The TJ rev-II is a quality Taiwanese made horn too, it was replaced in the range by the slightly more upmarket SR (Alto and Tenor) , I`ve never seen a curved soprano Rev-II only the straight ones, they DO tend to go for more than Elkharts because the TJ name has gained kudos after the famous Signature custom range put them on the map - the Elkhart 300 and deluxe remain hidden gems , the TJ rev a well known Gem ...

The most hidden gem is the "Tick-logo" Sakkusu Alto - Hiding under the Sax.co.uk banner, the Alto at least was a re-badged late model Elkhart Deluxe, top level Taiwanese up TJ SR standards of quality, an used SR Alto will stand you £800 , a near mint Sak Tick logo not much more than £200 !! . Sax.co had them made in China later on as they couldn`t afford to have the Elkhart factory make them and keep the price down , the Chinese ones are as good as a basic Bauhaus but the old Tick logo TW made ones are in a different league .

Great info again Ads. I'll take some pics and put a link here as soon as I can, but it looks about as impressive as the Bauhaus pics on the www.woodwindandbrass.co.uk site. Similar colour body to the soprano too. Just the right weight. Feels substantial.

 

[Ads]

The TJ rev-II is a step up from a Bauhaus, it` s a proper Taiwanese horn, the Bauhaus models are Chinese apart from the Earth series Pro models ..

 

[TonyP23]

The TJ rev-II is a step up from a Bauhaus, it` s a proper Taiwanese horn, the Bauhaus models are Chinese apart from the Earth series Pro models ..

I didn't realise that. It was an impulse buy so I was lucky.
Here are some pics....Hope the link is ok. You can magnify the pics using the menu and you maybe able to see more detail in some of the photos.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Poe64/library/?sort=4&page=1

 

[Ads]

you seem to have a accidental knack for choosing gem saxes - few know about the Elkhart 300 curved though the TJ Rev2 is a pretty well known quantity , though as I said, I didn`t even know there was a curved one

it looks like an excellent buy !!. in good shape too

 

[TonyP23]

Thanks for that Ads.

 

[ProfJames]

The TJ rev-II is a step up from a Bauhaus, it` s a proper Taiwanese horn, the Bauhaus models are Chinese apart from the Earth series Pro models ..

Do you prefer Taiwanese food to Chinese as well?

 

[Ads]

About the same actually .... I prefer Indian food to Italian by a massive margin but you wouldn`t catch me choosing an Indian SSO over an R&C R1-Jazz 😛

 

[ProfJames]

Not all Chinese is bad!!!!!!