Antigua Soprano Advice

[keilwerth14]

Hi,
In an earlier post I found that many people are playing on Antigua horns and enjoying them. I'm in the market for a soprano. If anyone has any experience with Antigua or any advice on them I would love to know it. Are they a quality horn? Thanks a lot, appreciate it. JOHN

[xuanvu]

There are hundreds of posts in this particular sub-forum that we discuss the Antigua, all you have to do is go to Search, type in Antigua and you'll see advices, comments, pros., cons (if any), where to buy, what to buy, etc...

[JMac]

Actually, the search function has not been working too well since the last forum outage. But scanning the topics in this sub-forum (Bb Soprano) and the Antigua Subforum under 'Makes and Models' will tell you all you need to know.

John- The short story is yes - they are a very high quality horn - particularly for the money. I own an Antigua Sop and an Alto - love 'em both. The sop is a copy of the Yanagisawa and the alto is a copy of the Selmer SA-80. If money is no object - buy the originals. If not - it is definitely worth your while to search out the previous posts. So much has been covered ther that it is impossible to recap it all here - again.

Best of luck - Jeff

[keilwerth14]

Thanks a lot Jeff, appreciate it. JD

[goodsax]

I've owned an Antigua Winds A582LQ single-piece straight sop and now have Kenny's "old" A590LQ 2-neck straight sop. Both of these are solidly built, look great and have excellent tone (I choose not to attempt use of the many adjectives to describe tone because I'm not sure what some of them really mean.). One characteristic I value highly is intonation and these horns are unequalled in that department. I've also owned a vintage Conn and a Kohlert, but my preference is the Antigua for performance and ergonomics.

[jazaddict]

I've done the search, read the threads, read other site articles/threads and I'm buying an A590-LQ probably this week.

...and yes, I'm blue in the face from reading ;)

[goodsax]

Good choice! I think you'll find the A590LQ meets or exceeds your expectations and would even if it cost $100's more.

[jazaddict]

Good to hear. That seems to be the prevailing attitude. I wish $$$ was no factor, but, alas, it is. So all things considered the Antigua seems the best bang for the buck.

Tell me GoodSax (I see you play the A590), is the high G in tune?

[xuanvu]

Goodsax's Antigua was used to be mine, and yes, the high G is in tune. Some mpc will bring the high G out better, I find that with the SR Tech. Pro, high G pops out easily, while with the Morgan C, it's more difficult.

Kenny.

[jazaddict]

Well if thats not kismit, I don't know what is:

I've been agonizing over the Sop choice for weeks.....

....guess what MPC I had previously (a year ago) chosen among probably 10 others that is currently sitting on my shelf awaiting a mate?

Yep, Sr Tech Pro.

Heh heh...I'm ordering today 8-)

[mikebourg]

In a nutshell - YES I love mine. I've had it for about a month and I like it more everytime I play it. I got my 590LQ from Kessler and they treated me very well.

[sorelip]

Wish the news about these horns would spread to the UK - I'm struggling to find a dealer that is prepared to sell me one! The new horns seem to be tainted by the bad reputation that some of the early horns had over here - at least thats the message I've got from two "supposed" Antigua dealers.

If anyone can recommend any Antigua dealers in the UK please let me know

Thanks

[xuanvu]

jazaddict,
Don't know if you've ordered a SR Tech Pro yet or not, if not, I'm selling mine now since it's not a match with my R1 Jazz curvie... Contact me @ nguyenxuanvu@yahoo.com if you're interested.

Thanks,
Kenny.

[pknight]

If anyone can recommend any Antigua dealers in the UK please let me know

The only UK dealer listed on the Antigua web site is:


Stentor Music Co. Ltd.
Albert Road North
Reigate, Surrey RH2 9EZ

Ph. 44-1737-240226

http://www.stentor-music.com/

However, I don't see any reference to Antigua, or any wind instruments for that matter, on the Stentor web site.

[sorelip]

pknight

Many thanks - seems the new models are very hard to come by over here so have tried Kessler's

[Paul Coats]

I played their A590 prototype at a show and had to have one. I got one of the A590-LQ's from their first shipment, and have been very happy with it.

[Jbroad572]

Well if thats not kismit, I don't know what is:

I've been agonizing over the Sop choice for weeks.....

....guess what MPC I had previously (a year ago) chosen among probably 10 others that is currently sitting on my shelf awaiting a mate?

Yep, Sr Tech Pro.

Heh heh...I'm ordering today 8-)
Do you have the SR Tech Pro? How does it match up with your Antigua?
Give me the skinny on the mpc... I got one on the way.
Thanks!

[mayho]

I purchased an Antigua Winds Soprano from Kesslers. They shipped it to New Orleans where i was caring for my ill father, (diabetes sucks). The packaging was so great I doubted for a minute that anything was in the box. I purchased the Morgan mouthpiece that is spoken of on this site.
I was so excited I bit my lower lip! After a few days off I was back at it.

Once I got back to California I decided to make the road trip to Vegas To purchase a few items, and to my surprise my wife was all for it! (She loves Vegas).

I got to meet Dave and Chuck. Beautiful people man. Great service Chuck sanded the cork down on both necks, went thru the horn again, gave me a few items, sold me a few items, and talked me OUT of buying a few other items that would have cost between $50-$100 dollars.

I'm sharing this because he was more concerned that I had what I needed than with making a buck. So when I buy a Tenor next year, where do you think I'll go first?

Dave put his mp on the Antigua and kills it. All the while trying to convince the wife and me that he's not a player. All I can say is I hope to not be able to play like that one day. As I left I remarked to them that its nice to be able to give a report about the service I received and not have to lie.

I left that extra $100 he saved me at the Palm's. Better luck next time. Thanks Guys.

[Dave Dolson]

Tom: Congrats on the new horn. And, you are spot-on about the service at Kessler's. Hope your Dad is okay. DAVE

[mayho]

I'm getting a big "airy" sound on the middle D out of the Morgan protone mp that I purchased with the Antigua winds 586bc. From my alto playing I know this note needs good air support, and I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. I am also confident that it is not the sax. I never even tried the stock mp that came with the sax due to the many bad reviews on this site.
Imagine my shock when I tried the stock mp and the middle D came right out nice and clear! The tone is noticeably thinner on the stock mp but it is much easier for me to play than the Morgan. I hate to go mp hunting, and I'm not happy with either stock ligature. But I don't want to fight my setup while trying to learn the soprano.
So I'm thinking I should just go buy a selmer lig, solid and dependable, and go try a couple of different pieces to see if that's the cause, or hunker down and practice, practice, practice. I welcome your suggestions.

[Windswept]

Sorelip wrote:If anyone can recommend any Antigua dealers in the UK please let me know

I found one reference to Antigua sopranos on the Stentor site

http://www.stentor-music.com/catalogue/html%20general/B80A.html

[sorelip]

Thanks windswept

I spoke to Stentor - they are the distributor (i.e will only sell to dealers) and will have none of the newer models in until July.

Given I did not want to wait until then and being reluctant to buy from the US without trying one I instead tried the Jupiter and the YSS475, ending up choosing to go for the Yamaha. No regrets so far - though my bank manager may agree to differ!

[Russ]

pknight

Many thanks - seems the new models are very hard to come by over here so have tried Kessler's


Absolutely not !!

There are many Antigua sellers in the UK.
ASK STENTOR where your local dealer is..... As for the web link to their horns, the Sop to fuss over is the UK named model 4590S, LQ or BC.

Honestly, I feel like writing to Antigua myself!! I could do a better job promoting / selling their horns in the UK than Stentor. It is criminal that UK buyers seem to get the rough end of the stick when purchasing new horns. If they are not paying over the top with VAT on the big 4, they can't get hold of the decent cheaper horns !

If you are finding it difficult to find an Antigua horn in the UK, it goes to show what a crap job Stentor are doing !!

[sorelip]

Russ

I phoned Stentor and they told me categorically that they would not have any more of the newer models available to dealers until July at the earliest.

Prior to that phone call I had contacted two well regarded UK dealers whose website lists them as stocking Antigua - both tried to convince me that Antigua sops were junk and I should buy Jupiter instead (and yes I did explain I was after the 586/590 models neither had seen or tried them).

So, in my opinion ,Antigua needs to sort out its marketing, distribution and dealer network if they are going to get anywhere in the UK.. rant over.

At any event I'm more than happy with my YSS475

[Russ]

Hi Sorelip.

Agreed....it was just the beer talking last night. :oops:

However, with the growing rep of these horns, both Stentor AND Antigua should have seen this coming.

Who knows..Maybe Antigua can't knock them out quick enough.

I spoke to my local stockist today and apparently he can still get LQ horns but not Silver plate or Black. I might have to ask him to put his money where his mouth is.

Regards.