EDIT: this was a post from me regarding the differences between the sopranino and straight soprano 6, 800, and 880 models. I've updated it and posted it on my blog.
Last edited by a moderator:
Pete's Yani Page Rebuild #2: Write-Ups
- Thread starter pete
- Start date
I own two B-6 Low A's. One is from 1969 and the other from 1972.
I have played exactly one T-6. It was o.k. I would prefer a 8xx or 9xx series tenor over it.
I have a number of catalogs that are scanned. Ping me and I'll get you a link to them for your reference.
I have played exactly one T-6. It was o.k. I would prefer a 8xx or 9xx series tenor over it.
I have a number of catalogs that are scanned. Ping me and I'll get you a link to them for your reference.
Pinged. Thank you.
=========
Another comment on the 880 Series: from what I've seen so far, all the 880s are stamped with "880." That makes my life a lot easier. I don't know about the 88 Series version. I have heard of A-88s and T-88s, but I haven't seen any pictures.
Also, note that I haven't done any real feature comparison, yet. I want a good way to tell the difference between the 6, 500, 800, and 880, first.
=========
Another comment on the 880 Series: from what I've seen so far, all the 880s are stamped with "880." That makes my life a lot easier. I don't know about the 88 Series version. I have heard of A-88s and T-88s, but I haven't seen any pictures.
Also, note that I haven't done any real feature comparison, yet. I want a good way to tell the difference between the 6, 500, 800, and 880, first.
EDIT: this was a post from me regarding the differences between the alto and tenor 500, 800, and 880 models. I've updated it and posted it on my blog.
Last edited by a moderator:
EDIT: this was a post from me regarding the differences between the baritone 6, 800, and 880 models. I've updated it and posted it on my blog.
Last edited by a moderator:
EDIT: this was a post from me regarding the differences between the curved soprano 800, and 880 models. I've updated it and posted it on my blog.
Last edited by a moderator:
Ever get the feeling you were talking to yourself. ;-) 
People are reading, but no one is saying anything.
No Yani lovers out there? Not being one I have nothing to contribute. I can count on 1 hand the number of Yanis that I have played (2), both happen to have been baris.
Sorry my friend, and here I thought some of the horns I've written about were unpopular.
People are reading, but no one is saying anything. No Yani lovers out there? Not being one I have nothing to contribute. I can count on 1 hand the number of Yanis that I have played (2), both happen to have been baris.
Sorry my friend, and here I thought some of the horns I've written about were unpopular.
Thanks, Helen. A question regarding your bari experience: did you play B-6 models or something newer? The reason I ask is because my experience with Yani has been with three Vito B-6 baris -- different places and times, of course -- but I thought all were terrible.
As far as comments vs. views, I don't mind. I've also been doing some commentary at SOTW and I've gotten a couple of e-mails, so I know there's a lot of interest. I've also mentioned, above, that I've kinda fallen in love with the Yani curved sopranos.
The thing I found the most odd about Yanagisawas is that people don't know how to tell one model from another. That's not from just your casual eBay'er (i.e., "I found this in the attic and I think it's a saxafone. I'm listing this at $2.3 million. No reserve.") but also respected dealers, thus my comment about people calling a horn an "Elimona" (which is essentially the engraving style) or a "800/880" (which is just giving up on trying to find out what model it is). In a way, it's not necessarily bad: it makes a potential buyer have to go and try the horn to see if he likes it, which is what you should do. Also, if you're unaware that the 500 is supposed to be an "intermediate" horn, you might pick it up, play it and call it as good as your high-dollar pro horn. Which is also something you probably should do. Hey, there's nothing that says that your pro model horn has to be better than my intermediate one.
Even before I started any research, I've mentioned that I'd really like to try one of the "Silver-Sonic" Yani baris sometime. Now that I've spent some time looking at how Yani horns are constructed, I really want to try a "Silver-Sonic" bari.
The other nice thing I've seen so far with Yani is that, except for their first model, they've evolved their horns, rather than scrap all their previous ideas and start over from scratch. Of course, you can argue that all they're doing is copying Selmer ....
As far as comments vs. views, I don't mind. I've also been doing some commentary at SOTW and I've gotten a couple of e-mails, so I know there's a lot of interest. I've also mentioned, above, that I've kinda fallen in love with the Yani curved sopranos.
The thing I found the most odd about Yanagisawas is that people don't know how to tell one model from another. That's not from just your casual eBay'er (i.e., "I found this in the attic and I think it's a saxafone. I'm listing this at $2.3 million. No reserve.") but also respected dealers, thus my comment about people calling a horn an "Elimona" (which is essentially the engraving style) or a "800/880" (which is just giving up on trying to find out what model it is). In a way, it's not necessarily bad: it makes a potential buyer have to go and try the horn to see if he likes it, which is what you should do. Also, if you're unaware that the 500 is supposed to be an "intermediate" horn, you might pick it up, play it and call it as good as your high-dollar pro horn. Which is also something you probably should do. Hey, there's nothing that says that your pro model horn has to be better than my intermediate one.
Even before I started any research, I've mentioned that I'd really like to try one of the "Silver-Sonic" Yani baris sometime. Now that I've spent some time looking at how Yani horns are constructed, I really want to try a "Silver-Sonic" bari.
The other nice thing I've seen so far with Yani is that, except for their first model, they've evolved their horns, rather than scrap all their previous ideas and start over from scratch. Of course, you can argue that all they're doing is copying Selmer ....
The one I'm most familiar with was a stencil horn. It belonged to my buddy Ray Myers, whose R&B band I played in when I first moved back to BC in '04. The horn was stencilled with the name "King". I had featured it on my blog as for sale when Ray decided to sell it. (Pics in the link.) IIRC, it was Ed who ATT ID'd it as a stencil of B-800.
It was a solid horn, and I liked it, but it was nowhere what my Mark VI is. I never did play it head to head against my B&S Medusa, so I can't compare those two. But if IIRC, the Yani was a more solidly-constructed horn than the B&S. The B&S baris were more like their DDR counterparts than the altos and tenors were. B&S seemed to not have evolved the design nearly as much (at all?) of the baritone saxophones, but I digress...
That said, as much as I might have liked Ray's bari, I liked the other one I played much better. It was Gandalfe's. I think he has a 991 baritone.
BTB, yes, I would make the argument that almost all modern horns are copies of Selmers. The exception: Eppelsheim horns. No one could claim that Benedikt is copying a Selmer design, could they?
It was a solid horn, and I liked it, but it was nowhere what my Mark VI is. I never did play it head to head against my B&S Medusa, so I can't compare those two. But if IIRC, the Yani was a more solidly-constructed horn than the B&S. The B&S baris were more like their DDR counterparts than the altos and tenors were. B&S seemed to not have evolved the design nearly as much (at all?) of the baritone saxophones, but I digress...
That said, as much as I might have liked Ray's bari, I liked the other one I played much better. It was Gandalfe's. I think he has a 991 baritone.
BTB, yes, I would make the argument that almost all modern horns are copies of Selmers. The exception: Eppelsheim horns. No one could claim that Benedikt is copying a Selmer design, could they?
I like my B-6's. One has nylon resonators and the other has brass. The brass resonators seemed to give the horn more balls. Before the change the two horns played pretty much the same. My main complaint is that the B-6's share some of the annoying aspects of the Mark VI when it comes to intonation of certain notes on the horn. It's perfectly easy to get around just like the VI. I will also say that I think the the B991 and B992 are better horns as much as I enjoy my lowly B-6.
I was updating the "how to tell if you have a 6, 500, 800, or 880" stuff to my blog and I noticed something about the 6 Series baritones. Take a look at the low B, Bb and A keycups on this 1976 bari. There are little "helper" arms on the right edge of each keycup (probably the best picture to illustrate is this one). That's significantly different than on a much newer B-6, like this one. (I took a screen cap of a close up. It's attached to this post.) I had considered that this might be a mis-identified 800, but a) the 800 looks even more different and b) no double-arm low C, not an 800.
I don't know if this design change makes a fundamental difference in how the horn feels, but I'm assuming it does. I also wonder if this was a change made to all B-6s after 1980 or if this was some sort of custom job. Hey, I have noticed that the keywork on two B-880s that are just two years apart was significant, but this is an even bigger change.
I don't know if this design change makes a fundamental difference in how the horn feels, but I'm assuming it does. I also wonder if this was a change made to all B-6s after 1980 or if this was some sort of custom job. Hey, I have noticed that the keywork on two B-880s that are just two years apart was significant, but this is an even bigger change.
Attachments
Tonight's light work: I uploaded the early 1980s catalog I mentioned on a different thread, a 2007 catalog, and pictures of a 990 low Bb baritone to my Yani pic gallery. There's also the low Bb 880b in the 1980s catalog ...
So, I'm starting breakdowns. Here's a simple HTML page with engraving breakdowns. I haven't included the 2 Series; that's the reduced-keywork horn that's easy enough to recognize. I don't have any good pictures of a 4 Series alto. I also don't have any Yanagisawa-branded 600 Series alto pics -- and, considering there were only 50, I doubt if I'll find one. I intentionally didn't include the 88xx, 902, 99xx, or high-end WO horns, because they're just variations on the "standard" pro models. I *might* extend the page to other pitches, but that might be after I do the rest of the break-downs: left and right sides and necks, then a chart to point out specific differences.
I'm happy that this topic is holding my interest so far.
I'm happy that this topic is holding my interest so far.
Holding my interest, but driving me nuts.
AFAIK, there is one "style" of 3 Series horn. There are at least four versions of the 4 Series horns. Today I learned that there are at least two versions of the 5 Series horns and three or four versions of the 500 Series horns. The 500s are supposed to be the intermediate models. Another way of looking at it is that a 1980 A-500 might be considered a watered down A-6, but a 1992 A-500 is a watered down A-6 with some A-800 mojo thrown in.
I earlier mentioned that two of the easiest ways to determine if a horn is an A/T-800 or an A/T-880 is that the 880 has a kinda funky G# cluster and an underslung octave key. One of the places I've glommed pics from made the mistake of calling 880s 800s ... about a half dozen times. The 880 is a better horn, spec-wise. Six people got better horns than what they paid for.
==============
One other thing that I've found quite odd is that I haven't been able to find many A-6 horns. I've got more 3s, 4s , and 5s than 6s.
AFAIK, there is one "style" of 3 Series horn. There are at least four versions of the 4 Series horns. Today I learned that there are at least two versions of the 5 Series horns and three or four versions of the 500 Series horns. The 500s are supposed to be the intermediate models. Another way of looking at it is that a 1980 A-500 might be considered a watered down A-6, but a 1992 A-500 is a watered down A-6 with some A-800 mojo thrown in.
I earlier mentioned that two of the easiest ways to determine if a horn is an A/T-800 or an A/T-880 is that the 880 has a kinda funky G# cluster and an underslung octave key. One of the places I've glommed pics from made the mistake of calling 880s 800s ... about a half dozen times. The 880 is a better horn, spec-wise. Six people got better horns than what they paid for.
==============
One other thing that I've found quite odd is that I haven't been able to find many A-6 horns. I've got more 3s, 4s , and 5s than 6s.