Saxophones NEW RAW BRASS SIGNATURE CUSTOM TENOR SAXOPHONE PROTOTYPE FROM TREVOR JjAMES

[griff136]

Yesterday morning I got a call from Andy brush asking me if I would be in the workshop when he visited Jonathan Myall music with a prototype sax he wanted me to give the once over.

As it was a Trevor James - I didnt get too excited but when he turned up and I gave it a blow I was extremely impressed - this sax blows and sounds way better than my beloved SA80 series II which I had with me to compare at the time. It had a full bodied tone that was rich and fat down the bottom and the altissimo was really effortless to achieve which was a very pleasant surprise.

This sax has got a large bell and non rolled toneholes, the right hand side keys were snug in the palm and I noticed straight away that their position was different from anything else Ive seen but in a far better position. likewise for the left hand palm keys. ergonomically this sax "felt right" and was a joy to play.

A lot of thought has gone into this sax and with the exception of a few very very minor personal niggles I thought the it was very well made, and outblew my sa80 ii tenor and I think its a far better horn that the Mauriat 66rul which I also love.

There seems to be a stigma about TJ horns - I dont know why but there just seems to be - this horn is a pro level unit and anyone wishing to try one should get down to Johnny Myalls once they're in stock, you wont be dissapointed folks

The shop have ordered an alto and a tenor from the first batch and I cant wait to get my hands on them!! I'm very very tempted to buy the tenor version

 

[Pete Thomas]

So Andy is no longer a P.Mauriat endorser I presume? I am obviously behind the times.

I don't know about any TJ stigma (great name for a horn!), I used to like the Signature when it first came out, but that was before any of the other Taiwanese brands were in regular circulation. I tried quite a few Signature Customs at Frankfurt the year before last and was not impressed, so maybe they have improved. I think SH mentioned something about that.

 

[griff136]

Hi Pete,

TJ (worldwind) are the Mauriat distibutors in the UK since sax.co.uk gave it up. As for Andy not being an endorsee any longer I wouldnt Know. I do know that this "Raw" tenor with the big bell is worth every penny and I think it comes in just the other side of £2K

I for one loved the one I played.

 

[Saxlicker]

Hi Pete,

TJ (worldwind) are the Mauriat distibutors in the UK since sax.co.uk gave it up. As for Andy not being an endorsee any longer I wouldnt Know. I do know that this "Raw" tenor with the big bell is worth every penny and I think it comes in just the other side of £2K

I for one loved the one I played.

Hi Griff,
I tried the alto a couple of months ago and was very impressed.
I did enquire about the tenor too but there were none around and anyway I have really don't need another sax...
yes I do...
no I don't...
yes i do....
The argument goes on and on but needless to say I am not suprised you like it.
In fact when Pete was posting for guesses on his new horn I had to have a stab at the TJ raw because I thought the tenor would be at least as good as the alto.

 

[thomsax]

TJ Horn website?

 

[Sunray]

TJ Horn website?

Here you go mate ... [Link]

 

[thomsax]

Here you go mate ... [Link]

Thank you.

I guess the TJ saxes are made in Taiwan? The "Raw" saxes seems to be interesting. No rolled tonholes. I've just seen a few TJ saxes here in Sweden.

Thomas

 

[TomMapfumo]

I notice that www.sax.co.uk and www.johnpacker.co.uk are both stocking them. I originally thought of a TJ horn but did not purchase, then BW appeared on the scene which seemed to undercut them all for a while, and get rave reviews, along with the Hansons. Someone once commented about smaller bore size in a way which seemed questioning and I have gone to pastures new - such as System 54 saxes, which can be purchased for £400 - £500 cheaper than the new TJ.

Agree though that it sounds a good horn.

Tom

 

[jonf]

I guess the TJ saxes are made in Taiwan?

Most are, but the Signature Custom range are made (assembled?) in England.

 

[Lupifaro]

Not tried the TJ horns but i do know that these latest horns from Taiwan are superb,i have two sample tenors in one a Cadeson rolled tone hole large bell and one other a Parker non rolled large bell and they are fantastic horns but difficult to market with so many brands now available.I still have professional players coming to me to change horns, last week a local pro part exed his 1984 series 1 Selmer Alto for a System 54 rolled tone hole power bell, i have had players sell their Mauriats and Yanagisawas to get System 54 Tenors.Bobby Wellins is now playing a BW M2L and Tony Kofi loves the new M2-E earth series tenor again from BW.The Taiwanese horns it seems are here to stay, i for one love to have choice and shall be getting a TJ sig UL to try for myself.

 

[milandro]

the unstoppable forward march of the Taiwanese saxophone in a position of dominance within the medium high market segment is only limited by the fact that the companies are all acting in a rather conservative way and tend to come up with a similar mainstream (although exceptionally well made) products. Products which are all in line with the other products already on the market rather than being promoting some radical improvement with their introduction (even the Antigua PRO-one is just a window-dressed horn) . So this will be, yet again, another outstanding product (I had a look at the TJ booth in FRankfurt and briefly tried some instruments but I can't remember if I tried these) which will occupy, yet again, this increasingly crowded market segment.

P.Mauriat, Cannonball are definitely the leaders here but obviously brands such as TJ want to capitalise on their superior distribution network and longstanding tradition and name in the business. The same is happening for a number of other brands such as Brancher, Aizen or Phil Barone which capitalise on their good name built on mouthpieces and hope to extend that to saxophones too. Of course there are the aggressive Bauhaus Walstein M2 too.......

The fact of the matter is that good though they might be , and they are, the consumer gets very confused by the increasingly crowded marketplace with many brands bringing out great products without an outspoken concepts and that are difficult to tell apart form one another because most borrow on a common identity.

 

[Andrew Sanders]

Sounds like with all these excellent horns vying for our dosh we could be in for a bit of discounting.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Sounds like with all these excellent horns vying for our dosh we could be in for a bit of discounting.

The owners of the Big Issue are looking for a new direction............................

 

[milandro]

Actually I seriously doubt that there is much room for discounted prices because of the increase of competition. I rather think that this will be a knock out game and that since many of the players are not the real players (because they don't make anything but just have it made under their own name) the number of participants is growing but the real brands involved are not really that many. Some of the Taiwanese makers are already competing against themselves by proxy and at a certain times someone will see how unproductive this way of selling is.

 

[Lupifaro]

Spoke to my mate Andy Brush last night i asked him what the TJ Custom sig Raw Brass tenor was like and he said "Killin Horn" as i suspected these along with many other taiwanese horns are very good and i have one coming in shortly to include in my shoot out range..