Saxophones Mystery Soprano

Mack

Member
547
Devon
I recently bought an unbranded soprano on ebay because it came with some mouthpieces which made it worthwhile. When it arrived I was surprised by how good it was - no problems with intonation and a really good tone. I assumed it was a cheap Chinese copy of a Yani but then the seller surprised me by telling me it dates back to the early 80s - he had kept in mint and oiled condition and had only recently stopped playing due to arthritis. It didn't come in its original case and has no identifying marks. One detachable straight neck, presumably there was another curved neck at some point. It looks like a copy of a Yanagisawa S880. Is it possible that it is a sax which was exported for stencilling but for some reason was not engraved by the selling shop (Rushworth's...?) in England? I didn't think that the Chinese started doing copies of Yanis etc until recently - so what could it be? If I can work out how to upload a photo I will, but it just looks like an S880.
 
Was anyone doing detachable necks on sops in the early 80s? The Yanags I can remember, the S6 and the Elimona, were one piece.
 
Yanagisawa model 2200SS had two necks and they reached the market c -86. The Tawain (ROC) saxophone makers made lots of stencils in the 80's. I have not seen any chinese (RPC) sopranos from the early 80's with detachable necks.
 
According to the Yanagisawa official website sometime between 1978-1985 the first soprano with detachable neck - the S880 - is announced.
 
image.jpg
 
Doesn't seem right, sn is too low, no lyre mark. Plastic pearls. Are you sure it's as old as claimed? Hopefully someone recognises it.
Chap who sold it to me didn't make any claim that it was anything special - just soprano sax with some mouthpieces. Only after the sale and positive feedback did I ask him more about it (I bought it for the mouthpieces with a view to reselling the horn). He said he had had it for years and there had been one owner before him, who bought it late 70s or 1980. He has never tried to suggest it is even a Yani copy - it's me that spotted the similarity. I agree the pearls are plastic and there is no lyre screw. Also the two oval pearls are not cut 100% accurately, so unless Yani did cheap versions for export and stencil, it's just a good copy of an S880. Still, for £215 with a S80 mouthpiece I'm not complaining. Good sound - I think I prefer it to my Bauhaus.
 
From what I can find the yani didn't have a detachable neck on the straight sop. Also had very different lh table non-articulated. Looks too good for its age and the plastic pearls make me think it's a reasonably new Chinese jobbie. Doesn't mean it's rubbish though.
 
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What Kev meant by Lyre mark wasn't the screw for the music rest - Yani Stencils have a stamp on the body in the shape of a Lyre to identify them as Yanis - it`s their trademark
 
Hi Mack,
+1 on Kev's comment -the cheap plastic pearls are a giveaway that this not a Yanni.
+1 on Ads comment re the lyre logo.
here's a picture of the logo on a silver alto.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Saxophone-2232/2009/11/yanagisawa-alto-vintage.htm
 
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and a c -75 Corton Deluxe alto (Yanagisawa stencil)
http://s297.photobucket.com/user/thomsax/media/cortondeluxeyanalogo.jpg.html?sort=3&o=19
 
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Hi Mack,
+1 on Kev's comment -the cheap plastic pearls are a giveaway that this not a Yanni.
+1 on Ads comment re the lyre logo.
here's a picture of the logo on a silver alto.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Saxophone-2232/2009/11/yanagisawa-alto-vintage.htm
Remember my Astro branded A6 stencil, Griff? Has the lyre on the back, on the bell brace, and also has nice mother of pearls. Plays great. In fact, I'm off to play it now.
 
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