Cannonball Sopranos?

[Saxaholic]

Are the Cannonball soprano saxes any good? I know there are a number of models available. Anyone have any insight or experience with these horns? How do they compare up to the Yani's or Selmers?

I've heard Bootman compliment the CB Arc series soprano in silver. Anyone have any comments, thoughts, or opinions to add? Thanks again.

[SaxHack]

I have a Big Bell straight soprano in silver-plate. I bought it about a year ago on eBay in virtually new condition for under $800 and consider it a great bargain. For me, it responds evenly and plays well in tune. The plam keys are somewhat sharp, but I'm willing to blame that on operator error. The bottom 2 octaves are very stable. I find the keywork very comfortable.

I use it regularly on jazz gigs and in show pits and have no intention to soprano shop in the near future; it does the job for me just fine. At least until my G.A.S. relapses.

I have not compared it with the other brands you mention. One of my students has the same horn in black and it seems to work well for her. My experience with Cannonballs (soprano, alto, and tenor) has been positive. They seem to play well and are durable.

I'll likely never own another silver horn as it is hard to keep shined up, but that is not the fault of Cannonball.

Hope this helps.

[CashSax]

I bought a CB Royal Crown straight Sop a couple yrs back for 9 bills on Ebay.. brand-new, silverplate, factory hand-engraved (pre-lazer) I guess.. actually very favorable comparison to my silver seriesIII sop..no, it's no Selmer tone or feel, but IMHO still a very solid horn for sure..

[saxshooter]

Was in Sam Ash on 48th street in NYC yesterday and did a side by side comparison with the Yani SC901 and Canonball curved soprano "big bell" -- it was the black one.

The Yani was to be expected. Great intonation, mechanics. I played the Canonball second, and immediately I was surprised with the "big sound" that it had. The action wasn't as smooth as the Yani, but certainly workable. The intonation was pretty good too. I suspect the horn wasn't set up (it is Sam Ash, after all) and the low C# wasn't opening up all the way, but I assume that it is easily adjustable.

But all in all, I was surprised at how good it was.

My setup was a Bari 64 hard rubber with Hemke 3 1/2 reeds. Everything was good from low Bflat all the way up to high F#.

[michaelbaird]

I bought a CB royal crown new. Several of the pads fell out, the corks fell off, and I was constantly bending the keys. The silver plate tsarted coming off almost immediately. I also forgot to mention that it didn't play in tune. The octave key on the curved neck had to be resoldered. I'll never own another Cannonball.

[Saxaholic]

Michael: Try a new Big Bell. They're totally different beasts than the earlier models and are of MUCH higher quality. They're really fantastic horns.

[CashSax]

Hmmm, my CB royal crown sounds like a different horn.. After over a year of hard playing I find all the the corks and pads in place and fully intact. The silver has tarnished slightly in places where I can't wipe it down, but overall the horn still looks and plays like new.. And *bent* keys??...well they certainly don't bend themselves.. but then doggone it.. the RC doesn't play in tune by itself either.. LOL :twisted:... oh yeah watch that neck key, I usually wrap a thick cloth or towel around mine to distribute pressure and then easily and gently remove it so nothing bends or breaks..oh yeah, a little oil or cork grease wiped on a dry neck tenon goes a long ways to keep things in one piece.. 8)

[michaelbaird]

Cash Sax: could you get 2 different distinct pitches for D3? I could consistently get 2 diffent pitches 1/4 step apart on the soprano. I used to always carry a cigarette lighter with me in case one of the pads fell out so I could reseat it quickly. Several of the mother of pearls came off. The straight neck held up better than the curved (the octave key fell off). I'm a really abusive player and in live situations with the hype going I can really start squeezing the keys hard. I also paid $1700 for the horn and was lucky to get $600 for it, from the store I bought it from. The black nickle and silver plate finishes deteriorated.

The alto was the same. I use Dukoffs and got a very tinny sound on the alto. I traded it for $600.00 and got an old beat up Selmer USA SA110 for $800.00 and then got a $350.00 pad job with domed resonators and I'm very happy with the way it plays. So much so that I probably wont get another alto until later. Nashville Used Music stopped selling the CBs and went to the Bird horns which look identical and I would be shocked if the were assembled in Nashville with the necks 'hand tuned by a professional." I can assemble a saxophone. :P Why can't we make good pro horns in the USA that are the best for the money? We can drive remote control cars on Mars! I'm just skeptical when it comes to the Asian horns and don't think they are worth the money, not when you can find an old Kohlert or a Buescher trutone on E-bay for a third of the cost. I traded the CB soprano for a 1923 Buescher trutone soprano, and ran out of the store as fast as I could, praising Jesus!. It plays in tune with metal Dukoff M7. They have yet to sell my CB 98 Knight alto I traded last year which they want $1295.00 for. I have recently apologized to them for that trade.

I wipe butts and deal with death and dying professionally in an SICU at a tertiary care teaching hospital. I don't stomach sales hype well. I did enjoy playing the soprano though. It had great action but so does the Buescher. By the way, my repairman refuses to work on Birds.

[cannonballska]

While I don't own a cannonball soprano I must say that the only c-ball I was ever disappointed with when I demoed it was the soprano. I, however, have always found the soprano to sound a bit to nasaly for my purposes, but for one reason or another the soprano I tried in 2000 (I think) sounded terrible to my ears. I have heard a local player playing through one of the big bells mentioned above who sounded spectacular.

[Dr G]

Why can't we make good pro horns in the USA that are the best for the money? We can drive remote control cars on Mars!

Hmmm, perhaps the NASA budget is larger? Maybe you should write a grant proposal for producing good pro horns in the good ol' USA (although I'm not sure what agency would fund it). 8)

[Stacey]

Why, it would be funded by NASA, of course! You might have forgotten that not only is there a NASA that sends things into space, there is also the North American Saxophone Alliance! We just need to find a way to redirect the budget from Space NASA to Sax NASA...

I suppose our NASA probably isn't Federally funded, but I wish it were - I would feel a little less grumpy about paying my taxes every year!

[katysax]

I'm not the biggest Cannonball fan on the planet, but I have to say that I've played a few Cannonball altos that were very very nice horns. I've been less impressed by the tenors I've tried, and frankly I've found every straight soprano that I've tried (of the Cannonballs) to be very disappointing. I did like a curved one that I tried though.

[nateissaxy]

Yeah, what about the curved ones? i have heard that the key work is not very friendly feeling to the hands. Fact or Fiction???

[Minatar12]

I really like Cannonball Big Bells for Alto and Tenor (I own an Big Bell Alto) but I really don't care for their sopranos. I found the response and keywork frankly less than what my Alto is, and I found I was fighting the soprano for a decent tone...not the tone I wanted, just a decent tone. Its not that they were bad horns necessarily, (I may have just been having a bad day) but I really think there are better sopranos on the market.