Modern Rampone and Cazzani

[pete]

I suspect a Rampone curvy will cost you the same (or more) than a Yanagisawa. The Rampones don't come cheap. DAVE

A Yani SC-991 lacquer costs $2800 at USA Horn. A R&C curved R1 is approximately $3400 at sax.co.uk (just the first hit I came across).

A Weymann stencil of a Buescher TT is $1700 at Vintagesax.com. You could then pick up that straight Buescher for $1250. So, for slightly more than the SC-991, you could get two horns. Or, for the same amount as the SC-991, you could pick up that Weymann and the Conn C soprano at junkdude.com. IIRC, both dealers have a "try it before you buy it" policy, too.

 

[Dave Dolson]

Pete: That's kinda what I thought about the pricing but figured Steen would find it - if he was serious about buying. After all, all he asked about was if anyone was familiar with the curved Rampone sopranos - and we've taken it to the next level. No harm in that, though. Makes for some discussion, eh?

Of all my sopranos (and the one's I've owned, like a VI, etc.), one '28 TT straight among my two '28 TT's, is my favorite. DAVE

 

[Ed]

There's a lot to be said about the vintage Buescher sopranos.

 

[pete]

There's a lot to be said about the vintage Buescher sopranos.

Buescher: The Choice of Dave and Ed.

The main reason why Buescher is picked as the "best" vintage soprano is because of its intonation. In my opinion, however, the relatively uncommon Evette & Schaeffer Buffet-Crampon horns have a better sound and just about as good intonation -- plus interesting keywork. However, if you want inexpensive, professional quality, good tone, decent intonation -- and you can live with some of the keywork awkwardness, I can't see any reason why not to buy a Buescher True Tone, unless you've found a Yanigisawa someplace that's on incredible sale.

I've played a couple of vintage HN White horns -- not sopranos -- and I've been less than overwhelmed with their intonation. I just don't like vintage Conns that aren't 30Ms and they don't like me (plus, Conn did some major changes in their soprano design, so something was obviously not quite right). All the Martins I've played have had bad springs, decent tone (and the Committee tenor I played in HS had some intonation issues). Buescher has been the most consistent. For me. It's unfortunate that there really aren't newer designs after, say (off the top of my head), the mid-1930s.

Again, I'm not a soprano player. I'm just sharing my experiences. I think no one would fault any modern pro-level horn, but the Yani is known as having the best intonation of modern instruments and Buescher for pre-1935 instruments. For that great of a difference in price, I'd look at one of the vintage horns.

 

[Dave Dolson]

I've had (and have) some pretty spendy sopranos. For instance, I bought a new silver-plated Selmer Serie III a few years ago but sold it when I bought a new Yanagisawa S992 and played them side-by-side. Sorry, Selmer fans - the S992 was superior in every measure.

I still have the S992, and if I didn't have my 1928 TrueTone, I'd probably be playing the S992 regularly for serious work (well, just HOW serious can early jazz be?).

I also bought a new gold-plated Rampone tipped-bell, Yanagisawa S902 and S901, and before those, a new Yanagisawa "Elimona" which I recall was probably an 880 model (or close to it). I'm sure I've left some out.

But my one '28 Buescher straight TT ([HASHTAG]#237XXX[/HASHTAG], I have another one from 1928 that is just slightly less resonant - it is [HASHTAG]#233XXX[/HASHTAG] and has snap-ins) is the best I've ever owned. It isn't the intonation, although it is good enough (it makes me work a bit at it), it is the tone and the touch, plus its authentic look for the kind of music I play.

I've had sopranos with poor intonation (SO poor that I couldn't overcome it . . . Conns and a King Saxello, plus a MKVI come to mind). Both Buescher are much superior to those.

I've played vintage curvies that weren't so hot, too. All around, I'd vote for Yanagisawa in the curved soprano department - excellent scales, great voices, and responsive top to bottom. DAVE