saxophones.co.uk

[Pete Thomas]

I had a very pleasant vist there last week, met the nachoman in person and got completely "saxophoned out" after about 2.5 hours. I was mainly interested in trying altos - what I found was quite surprising.

(NB this is of course very subjective)

P. Mauriats = nice horns and very pretty.
Trevor James = didn't suit me (even the flash custom ones)
Yamaha = yamaha. No surprises, good horns
Selmer ref54 = slightly disappointing but not bad
Sakkusu - very good for the money
Selmer Prelude = also not bad
Keilwerth= no.
Yanagisawa = hmmm, OK but uninspiring
Selmer series III = not really my cup of tea
saxophones.co.uk cup of tea = Not bad

The best altos for me?

Strangely, a Rampone and Cazzoli which blew very nicely, and the most surprising, one of the Selmer Series II (a black one).

Tenors:

Didn't get much time to try as many, but one of the P.Mauriats was nice (Nickel silver one - nachoman will have to remind me of the model. I didn't think the larger bore one was as good.

Well worth a visit, not just for the friendly reception. I didn't buy anything, but I keep wondering about the Rampale and Cazzoni and maybe the Selmer II. Thing is neither beat the the pants off my old Buescher TH & C which I had for comparison.

 

[Bobby G]

Did you try any bari's Pete? I blew on two or three when I was down there, couldn't really tell the difference as I was a bari virgin, all it did was make me want one!

Cheers, Bob

 

[Pete Thomas]

Yes, but by the time i tried tham, I was completely saxophoned out. And all the sopranos seemed the same.

 

[Rogerb]

Going by the 'reputation' of 'Asian saxes' (excl Yam & Yan!), Pete, you were, I believe, quite surprised by the Hansons and the Walstein?

So you shouldn't, IMO, be too surprised to be surprised by liking the Rampone ? 🙂

I think the message, for us all, once again, is "Try for yourself, make up your own mind"..... and, of course, that every individual saxophone is unique, some of the same make & Mk being significantly better than others.

The best makers manage to minimise these differences, but they do, it appears, still exist.

And we all have different ears, likes and dislikes, so all opinions are to some degree subjective.

 

[frankb]

Must admit, I'm looking forward to my visit on Monday! 8)

Nachoman, PLEASE don't let me try any saxes! Especially not the Yam 62's...! :?

 

[greg_strange]

All I can say to that - is I envy you people in the UK with shops like saxophones..co.uk.
I think the best horn shop in NZ would be lucky if they had 30 saxes in stock - let alone 300! And the selection in the UK stores is outstanding with so many brands available.
Green with envy,
Greg Strange.

P.S. Pete, what was wrong with the Keilwerth? Not those dreaded tone holes again?

 

[greg_strange]

Sorry - removed duplicated post.
Regards,
Greg Strange.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Greg Strange wrote:
P.S. Pete, what was wrong with the Keilwerth? Not those dreaded tone holes again?

Proabably, it seemed unresponsive. All the saxophones in the shop have been checked over by their tech (right Jules?), but as he said, as people try them they can of course go out of adjustment. maybe the keilwerths just go out of whack quite quickly, which would be a symptom of warped tone holes or misaligned pads.

 

[old_git]

Greg Strange wrote:
All I can say to that - is I envy you people in the UK with shops like saxophones..co.uk.
I think the best horn shop in NZ would be lucky if they had 30 saxes in stock - let alone 300! And the selection in the UK stores is outstanding with so many brands available.
Green with envy,
Greg Strange.

P.S. Pete, what was wrong with the Keilwerth? Not those dreaded tone holes again?

At least you've got a Rugby Team in compensation.
Come on Wales! 🙂
Go home Wales. :cry:
New coach Wales? :S

 

[Rogerb]

Unless you are as experienced as Pete, I'd bet you'd reach 'sax selection overload point' fairly soon.... a bit like a wine-tasting where you don't spit-out 😀

Great fun, though..... I guess you'd need at least 2 visits, the first to make a short-list.

Interesting that your TH&C still holds its own, Pete..... is that 'subjective familiarity' at all, do you think?

 

[Pete Thomas]

Rogerb wrote:
Interesting that your TH&C still holds its own, Pete..... is that 'subjective familiarity' at all, do you think?

I don't think so, I'm always ready to improve things, if I found something better I'd get it. I was surprised I liked the Series II so much as I hated them before. But only that one particular Series II was nice I thought.

 

[jonf]

[No message]

 

[greg_strange]

old git wrote:
At least you've got a Rugby Team in compensation.
Come on Wales! 🙂
Go home Wales. :cry:
New coach Wales? :S


Hi Old Git,
Actually the current All Black coach Graham Henry use to coach the Welsh Rugby Team.
When I was playing rugby many years ago as a first five eight my father always said use the great Welsh player Barry John as a role model. The Welsh 30 years ago had a great team but nowdays...ah, well.
It's a bit of shame considering I have Welsh ancestry myself.
Take heart, the Welsh fans are better singers than the All Blacks fans, and the Welsh team can only get better.
Regards,
Greg Strange.

 

[jambo]

Ive always been interested abou the R&C's.

Pete, what were the main positives you found about that horn?

 

[Pete Thomas]

Just the way it felt to play, entirely subjective. I didn't give it a thorough scruitiny to see how the build quality was, the finish was very pretty (plating and engraving), but with a few minor rough areas to the cosmetic finishes - a bit like an Italian car.

Intonation good, alstissimo good, and it just felt repsonsive and had a nice resonant feel.

 

[Jules]

To me, R&Cs always felt like playing a vintage instrument- there's something quite old fashioned about their tone, feel and appearance. Pete's a vintage horns man- I'm guessing that's why he felt immediately at home with the alto

 

[sharon]

Greg Strange wrote:

Actually the current All Black coach Graham Henry use to coach the Welsh Rugby Team.
Regards,
Greg Strange.

Odd that when he coached our team we were rubbish then as well 😱 Maybe it's something to do with the team rather than the coach. Musn't grumble though the All Black's are known in our house as "THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD" We enjoy watching them play far more than our own team ( I'm ashamed to say). Really looking forward to Sat. match

 

[peter_fitton]

Interesting stuff, Pete. Glad you liked the Selmer Prelude (I have the Prelude alto and like it a lot 🙂 ).

What was it about the TJJs that you feel didn't suit you?

Peter

 

[Pete Thomas]

Peter Fitton wrote:
What was it about the TJJs that you feel didn't suit you?

I tried a couple of custom TJs, which are supposed to be factory set up (ie assembeled and set up in the UK). The keys were way too high, so much so that it was affecting intonation.

I few years ago I tried a TJ signature, which I thought was good, though I don't think it would compare fvourably to a Mauriat, Hanson or Walstein.

 

[peter_fitton]

I have to admit my TJJ Classic tenor does play consistently sharp. In fact I'm taking it in tomorrow to have the neck re-corked (currently the mpc is only air-tight when it's almost right at the neck end of the cork...I'd assumed this was the cause of the problem but maybe it's the height of the keys?).

Thinking about it...if the keys are too high would that not tend to flatten the note?

Anyway, I'll see what the repair guy advises.

Cheers

Peter