Got my raven tenor :-)

[rsteuart]

Finally sold my custom Z and got the raven tenor. I played both side by side for quite a while, and the cannonball just sounds and feels better to me. I already had a raven alto which I love. Now I have a tenor I love too. I'm a very happy fella! :toothy8:

[newking70]

What, in your opinion makes it a better horn?

[rsteuart]

I didn't say it is a better horn. It is better for me. I was never happy with the way the yamaha played or sounded. It doesn't have the depth and resonance. The key action was not to my liking (never have liked yamaha for that), and it felt stuffy.

The Cannonball has a bigger sound when I play it. It might be different for other players, and setups. It is definitely a bigger bore, and much more free blowing. It may have something to do with my airstream, as I used to play a lot of lead trumpet. I really don't know. The Yamaha is an excellent horn, and a lot of folks really like it. I had no trouble selling it for nearly the price I paid. The guy that bought it thought it was the best horn he had ever played. But he and others have heard me on both and like me on the Cannonball too.

BTW, I am using a Berg 100/0 for jazz with #3 ZZ reeds and a C* with blue box #3.5 for classical.

[Joe Jazz]

Congrats Rick! I recently (briefly) tried out a Z tenor and thought it was kind of wimpy, but that's just my opinion(I'm spoiled by Keilwerths)......ran into another sax player(Jim M.)in our area that recently got a CB black nickel alto and curved soprano and he's happy too! Heard him at Della's and he sounded great on the alto(didn't bring his sop)! I recently bought a Raven curved soprano and have been very impressed. This is starting to remind me of that dating advertisement on the radio.."there are a lot of happy husbands out there thanks to datingblahblah.com". Did you buy yours in St. Pete?

[rsteuart]

I bought it at Bringe. Thanks for the reply. I couldn't be happier with the tenor. My sop is a Cannonball crown royal curved, and it is a fine horn, though I would like to try out the raven. I understand that they have improved greatly since the late 90's horns, though that horn is pretty good. Eventually I will probably replace it and my bari with ravens if they are as good as the alto and tenor.

[newking70]

I would love to try the Raven Bari, it looks like a MONSTER BARI :headbang:

[Super 20 Player]

Our local retailer here in Greenville, SC, has a couple of Cannonball Ravens in stock right now: a tenor and a curved soprano. I tried out the soprano the other day for about 45 minutes. It was easily one of the best sopranos I've ever played. I carefully checked the intonation against the baby grand piano in the store's "recital room", and it was very, very good across the range of the horn. The only glitch I noticed was that the middle C was noticeably stuffy with the normal left-hand-2 fingering. My 9-year-old son noticed it as soon as I did: "That note doesn't sound right, Daddy." It was much clearer with the B-with-side-key alternate fingering. Other than that, it was a great little soprano with a nice tight feel and a big sound.

Come to think of it, they had that Raven soprano marked down to $1299, I think. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

www.pecknelmusic.com for more info. You won't see the horn listed on the site. But there will be a phone number for the Greenville, SC store. No, I'm not an employee. Just thought I'd pass along the info.

[Joe Jazz]

No such problem on mine, but I paid a couple hundred more than that for it......would be fun to check out the bari! Rick, Bringe wanted $200 more than I paid at Scimonetti's.......and they gave me free shipping+a box of my favorite reeds, ZZ's of course!

[Hulluporo]

Anyone have a Gerald Albright Series Tenor? Cannonball says they don't do anything different to them from their "Pro" horns - other than cosmetic. I don't personally need "Big Bell" engraved on the horn to tell me it's a big bell, so I like the aesthetics of the look better without the bell engraving.

I never see anything on the GAS CB's on the forum. Who's got one and how does it play?

Thanks!

[Bodhi]

Who's got one and how does it play? I've had the Raven Tenor for four months now and its working out great. I wasn't really looking to sell a former Selmer Mark VII, but when I was offer much more than I paid for it, I decided to check out the Cannonballs, again. I played the Mark VII against Balanced Action and the Raven. The VII was slightly bigger in tone but I've always compensated for the sharp upper register so it came down to the Balanced Action and Raven. I felt the tone was very close so the ergonomics on the Raven won out over the BA. I gig with it alot and its been preforming GREAT. I like the Mag Meg for its devoid of lacquer but been there before and the Raven is 8-) enough. Otto Link 7* NY STM and Vandoren 2 1/2 Java's. www.bluemarblebeat.com

[Hulluporo]

Bodhi,

Thanks, my GAS is enroute (with full return rights), and I guess I'll be the first to post on the GAS tenor. Besides the stock mpc, I have a 60's vintage Berg 110/3 M that used to work out pretty well, and a Brilhart White Tonalin 4* that used to work, too. I found with my Ref. 54 alto that my older mpc's didn't fair too well and I'm also considering the Link NY for the new tenor. I play a Link 6* metal on my sop and a Rouseau 6* metal on my alto. Eddie Daniels ligs for all. ZZ's on the reeds

I never was a fan of the Mark VII alto (had two Mark VI's that were good, but like the Ref 54 much better). Never played the VII tenor, just the VI.

Glad to hear you're having good luck with your Raven. I almost got the sop in that , but went for the YNSC-991 instead. I guess I'll find out pretty soon for myself on the tenor. I appreciate your post - thanks again.