Amati 73PQ - Alto

[Billyfish]

Forum Friends,

I'ver decided to give this horn a swing. I'm an advancing intermediate, returning adult player. I have been playing a very admired 1954 Buescher Aristocrat alto.

Initial impressions are very good. Intonation is excellent as is ergos / playability, although it will take some time to get used to the new finger positionings, especially the slightly intrusive front F teardrop key.
It'll play as close as I've ever seen on my Yamaha TD-1 tuner bottom (Bb1) to top (C#4), yes, altissimo is easy. A lot of altissimo is the relationship between player / mpc / reed .. but a good horn doesn't hurt.

Good looks, Two tone / silver (looking) neck and bell are cool. Maybe not quite a head turning as the black lacquer.

The voicing is very accepteable. More on this later as I have several mpc. / reed combinations to try. After all, intonation and voicing are the musical center of a saxophone.

WW&BW incented me with a FREE Bamber Jazz mpc. I'm gonna give a real run for it's money, better said my money.

If anyone else has any experiances with this horn, please do a follow-on post.

[Billyfish]

P.S.

I will be testing the Amait 73PQ against a Yamaha 475 and 62II .. Which I can test at a local music store.

I have also ordered a Kessler Custom NYSS Mpc. After hearing Keith Ridenhours' MP3 clip.

I will post my impressions as the tests progress.

Stay Smooth

[cymru97]

Sounds good so far. I'm interested to hear more about your experience. I'd also like to hear from people that have objectively played the new Amati bari's.

I've played two (older) Amati altos and have been VERY pleasantly suprised. Both were bought used and had SPOT-ON intonation right out of the case.

I'm not sure why people dismiss them so quickly, maybe there have been some bad experience with durability? I treat my horns as best I can so I rarely have these types of problems, maybe they can't stand up to abusive students?

Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the horn and do keep us up-to-date! I might have to drive up to WWBW to try one out too.

[Canadiain]

I learned on an Amati (Corton Super) and it took no end of abuse with no problems. Cant speak for the newer post communism ones, but my impression of the older ones was that quality was a bit variable (there were a lot around in the UK, where it was the main non Yamaha student horn at a good entry level price point). Having said that my horn had a few intonation foibles that are not present on my Newer Antigua 520 Alto, but nothing that couldnt be worked around.

The two tone silver neck &bell / laquer body horns do look Purdy though dont they :)

[cymru97]

Actually, the first Amati I encountered was the Corton. Really seemed like a tank and it really suprised me that it spoke so well and with good intonation. My friends son is playing it now and it's serving him well.

The other is an AAS 31, I think? Anyway, it's lacquer and w/nickel keys and high F#. It's got great intonation.

I need to try out some newer Amati's, if they stack up to my previous experiences I'd sure buy one!

Keep us posted!

[Billyfish]

OK Folks, Here we go...

The Amati has intonation EQUAL to a Yamaha 62II (brass and silver) a Z horn and an EX horn. I tried out 4 horns and the Amati one day, I used a Yamaha TD-1 tuner for all tests. From Bb1 to C#4.

Key work was slightly diffferent between the brands. The Yamahas seemed to be all laid out the same. The right hand keys / placement between Amati and Yamaha was (to me) no different. The Left hand is another story. The Yamahas are marginally better, but not significantly better to justify the cost difference. The Amati has an elongated, raised front F key where as the Yamaha has a lower, flatter key. "My" Amati has been slightly modified so that the front F key so that it does not pinch my index finger as it did before.
The Amati left hand stack keys are laid out almost exactly as the Yamahas.
The bis key is slightly lowered and has a rounded key top. The Buescher's stack was spread out a bit more.

The Lt hand table keys are about the same as the Yamaha, with the exception of the Z and the EX, the ultra premium horns. The Amati is resonable in compairison. I perviously played a 1954 Buescher Aristocrat with different table key arrangement. So there's a definate learning curve here.

In general, the action is quick and fast. The voice is slightly brighter, but pleasingly different from the Buescher. Status quo with the Yamahas. I can tell you It's more expressive and articulate, but I cannot put my finger on exactly why, at this time. It does seen to play altissimo easier, and respond faster in all registers. I used Meyer-esque mpc and a Fibercell for all tests.

Durability, fit and finish.. Time will tell on the durability, the Two Tone does have eye appeal. Fit and finish seem very nice. No hatchet work, parts seem well made and well finished.

I bought the horn thru WW&BW and got a Jazz Bamber mpc.as well. Good tone etc. Nice folks to deal with. Smooth transaction.

So, I'm sold. If you have any questions etc. please leave 'um here on the web

[cymru97]

Thanks for the update, sounds like a winner! Did you do the comparison at WWBW? I'm thinking about driving up for a bari play test later this summer, maybe I can try out the 73PQ while I'm there. I just have to make sure I don't come home with too much (always a problem when I visit there).

You did a great job on the description! I can't think of a whole lot more to ask at the moment... Intonation equal to the yamaha, huh? That's amazing... Well, now I'm getting myself all excited about this horn. I'll definitely give it a shot!

-Andy

[Billyfish]

Andy and Forum Friends,

Please remember that you should definately draw your own conclusions from your own tests, especially when it come to voicing and intonation.

The Yamahas I tested are at a local shop here in the Atlanta Ga. area.
The Shop is "Ken Stanton Muisc". Very nice people. I had already ordered the Amati from WW&BW.

Like your self, I'm afraid to actually visit WW&BW as I might have to buy a bigger car to haul everthing.