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Saxophones One more Taiwan-made horn

aldevis

aldevis

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I found a guy (thanks to someone on this forum) that makes his own design in Taiwan and assembles them in Italy. I was expecting the usual decent horn I do not really need.

Actually it is amazing! No decent infos on the internet about it, just a few posts, but all of them played great.
Kind of Keilwerth/Super20 feel, beautifully set up (It didn't look like he did a special job for me)
I need a tenor, but his alto and soprano are wonderful too. for about €1700 (£1300). some 11 horns checked today.

I will try to have some horns on approval in London, if sax.co.uk or Howarth's might be interested.

Hopefully in the next week I will know something more about availability in the UK and let you all know.
 
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These horns sound VERY interesting. zizizi.gif
 
Update: fingers crossed, sax.co.uk might have some shortly (I am trying to convince them).
I know it sound like I am an endorser, but I am not. I really like those horns (didn't have time do make a decision about which one I wanted); I went for a tenor and I fell in love with a soprano too.

Mostly, the guy has the worst marketing ever, and I sort of like it: I feel I will just pay for the horn and not for the marketing department.
 
tzadik said:
Which tenor model did you bring at home?
Click to expand...

None: I could not decide. booster, bare brass and lacquered were all good with differences. At the end will probably go for the bare brass.

But that bare brass soprano.... mouthwatering (yesterday I tried Selmer SIII, YSS82z....)


daveysaxboy said:
So what they called,any pics for us
Click to expand...

Here is the only decent website, a slovenian shop
http://www.vincero.si/en/saksofoni/

To give you an idea about marketing, my favourite model is called "lemon"
 
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Ah yes, I've had a few "lemons" in my time!!!

There is at least one youtube clip with an excellent italian tenor player (don't remember the name) who demonstrates one of the Sequoia tenors, worth listening to!
There are other italo-taiwanese makes (G.M. - L.A. Ripamonti) which also get great reviews, it would be great to be able to compare these side by side: would they be any different from a Mauriat or Cannonball or Barone or HL Sax or System 54 or Grassi Jazzy Line or (the list goes on...)? Am I sounding negative?
 
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@aldevis: Try the "bare brass" with the silver plated neck or the nickel silver neck: you won't be disappointed. ;)
I quote for the "bare brass" soprano.

@MMM: they are different, they are not based on Albest stencils, "stencil" like the Mauriat 66R o System 76 neck/body/bell.
The alto and the tenor are more Keilwerth oriented... not Selmer Mark VI ""copies"".
Big deal if you consider most of Taiwan horns should sound like a Mark VI.
Altos and tenors feature seamless necks and also seamless body.
Other important feature: all the keywork is made in nickel silver and not in brass... this for a better stability and durability.

The soprano is more Yanagisawa oriented.
The bari is more Selmer oriented but without the typical nasal/duck component in the sound (which classical guys tend to look for) and with a far better intonation.

Another online shop for Sequoia saxophones: http://www.saxedintorni.it/webshop/index.php?lang=en
Sequoia saxophones appreciation page/group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/194956483876817/
Thread about Sequoia saxophones on SOTW: http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?126957-Sequoia
 
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MMM said:
Ah yes, I've had a few "lemons" in my time!!!

There is at least one youtube clip with an excellent italian tenor player (don't remember the name) who demonstrates one of the Sequoia tenors, worth listening to!
There are other italo-taiwanese makes (G.M. - L.A. Ripamonti) which also get great reviews, it would be great to be able to compare these side by side: would they be any different from a Mauriat or Cannonball or Barone or HL Sax or System 54 or Grassi Jazzy Line or (the list goes on...). Sorry didn't want to sound negative!
Click to expand...

I love negative attitude: we are in this valley of tears and there is no reason to deny it...

Apparently they come from different factories and they have different designs. I could only try a few Mauriat (the one in the same price range is blown away, the top one is in the same league)

Apparently the two owners (one is German and one is Italian) go personally to the factory to do the extrusion process themselves.
I tried more than 10 horns and the quality seems consistent.

By the way, I wrote few enquiries about Ripamonti clarinets in the past and they never got back to me.
 
aldevis said:
I love negative attitude: we are in this valley of tears and there is no reason to deny it...

Apparently they come from different factories and they have different designs. I could only try a few Mauriat (the one in the same price range is blown away, the top one is in the same league)

Apparently the two owners (one is German and one is Italian) go personally to the factory to do the extrusion process themselves.
I tried more than 10 horns and the quality seems consistent.

By the way, I wrote few enquiries about Ripamonti clarinets in the past and they never got back to me.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong: hats off to anyone who has the courage to start such an enterprise (and I really mean that!) and in these times, unfortunately the only way to do it is to shift manufacturing to a country that provides cheap(er) labour.
I just feel sceptical about how many variables can there be in saxophone making, if they all come from the same factories from the same part of the world (if not town!)? But maybe mine is just an old fashion way of thinking about manufacture in general! and I'm seriously off topic, ouch!
Ciao,
M.
 
MMM said:
I just feel sceptical about how many variables can there be in saxophone making, if they all come from the same factories from the same part of the world (if not town!)? But maybe mine is just an old fashion way of thinking about manufacture in general! and I'm seriously off topic, ouch!
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you: nowadays saxophones usually come with an acceptable standard. I was after a different sound, in the direction of Keilwerth or R&C (I guess deriving more from the super20 than from the MkVI). These sequoia horns give me the feeling of being in that direction for a fraction of the price. Plus the owner is a technician (he makes his living as a repairer), is in Europe (no custom duties), has a good CV (Keilwerth and Buffet factories) and loves his job.

Above all, when I blew in that tenor (basic model) I couldn't believe how good it sounded.
 
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The Sequoia saxophone designer is been in Taiwan many times (about 30)... then he's one of the best saxophone technicians in Europe.

He took a small assembling factory in Taiwan and taught them how to assemble the horns.

Being sceptical is a good thing, absolutely.
A trial is the best way to get an idea of the horn.


As owner of a Sequoia soprano horn... I can say I'm very happy with my instrument: probably the best sopranos I tried, otherwise I didn't buy it. :D
 
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MMM said:
Don't get me wrong: hats off to anyone who has the courage to start such an enterprise (and I really mean that!) and in these times, unfortunately the only way to do it is to shift manufacturing to a country that provides cheap(er) labour.
Click to expand...

Since this is a topic I care about...
Beside of being cheaper, there is a concentration of small enterprises doing part of the final work. Small family run workshops can make i.e. Eb keys for half of the tenors produced in Taiwan.

If you buy some very cool Ray-Ban glasses they are made exactly in the same way, but in northern Italy (except some screws, maybe) where labour is quite expensive.
 
aldevis said:
Since this is a topic I care about...
Beside of being cheaper, there is a concentration of small enterprises doing part of the final work. Small family run workshops can make i.e. Eb keys for half of the tenors produced in Taiwan.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should've said "cheaper but skilled", I do not doubt Taiwan has incredibly skilled technicians, I have seen some of their output!
PS.: can we switch to Italian now, since it's only the three of us talking about this topic :) ?
 

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