Antiqua Alto sax

[Jbroad572]

I was just told today after church a member in my church family is blessing me with an Antigua alto sax. It's silver with gold keys. I'm guessing it's the 520 or 530 model. He said it needs a good cleaning, so I'm not sure how old it is. I am extremely happy about this. As I have been believing God for an alto sax to add to my setup. Now, that came true and a lot less $$$ than expected (free... praise be to God for that).

Anyways, I have an Antigua soprano and know it gets nice reviews. I wanted to know how the alto's play. If anyone has any experience with this altos please tell me. I won't get it until next week. The gentleman who will be giving me this sax is going to get a Cannonball. I am hoping to buy him a nice $200-300 mpc for it, once I find out his style of play. I've been so excited since he told me.
I am going to start searching for a mouthpiece for it as well.

[Mark5047]

HEY!!! Congrats on the blessing of an alto!! Until recently I played an Antigua 520 in church and community band and it was a nice solid horn. I ended up getting one of those burnished brass LA saxes to use instead and I am considering hanging on to the 520 just because it is such a solid horn and its nice to have a backup. It was very mouthpiece friendly - I played a runyon 22 and a bionix on it when I needed to kick it up a bit, also had good luck with a meyer 5m.

As far as doing something nice for the guy who gave it to you, why dont you consider just taking it for what it is - a blessing from God! I gave a sax recently to a young man in our church and the joy I got from giving it would have been diminished if I took something in return from them. Way greater than the 200 or 300 bucks I could have gotten by selling it. Just my 2 cents.
Let us know when you get the horn and how you like it!!!!!!

[Jbroad572]

As far as doing something nice for the guy who gave it to you, why dont you consider just taking it for what it is - a blessing from God! I gave a sax recently to a young man in our church and the joy I got from giving it would have been diminished if I took something in return from them. Way greater than the 200 or 300 bucks I could have gotten by selling it. Just my 2 cents.
Let us know when you get the horn and how you like it!!!!!!
Yea, I know that's what I probably should do and will. It's just hard accepting it without giving something back. I've never really been given something real nice and I'm usually on the giving end. So, as you can imagine it's kind of different receiving. I will hold off on buying a mouthpiece for him. Can you tell me anything more about the 520? What finish did you have? Intonation? Darker or lighter sounding?
Thanks for the reply.

[Canadiain]

There is a little discussion on them in the Antigua area, hidden among the soprano posts. I wouldnt go too far out to town to buy a reciprocal gift if you feel you must, Antiguas, although good horns, really dont seem to fetch too much when sold in the used market. I got my used 520LQ (laquer) for only $200, although I imagine the 530 you are lucky to recieve would be a bit more.

Tone is so subjective...mine is fairly bright (I think!), but has a lot of core I wouldnt have expected at the price, frankly its a steal. Its a lot more even over the whole register than I am used to, and intonation is spot on. I play mainly classical / band stuff (any Jazz is purely by accident :shock: ), and the tone with my mouthpieces is just what I'm looking for. But it seems pretty flexible though, which is a big plus, I want people to hear me, not have the sax be the limiting factor in what I can sound like.

It seems someone is watching over you, and I hope you enjoy your Antigua as much as I am mine. :D

[goodsax]

Although you don't see his posts much any more, Paul Coats played a 530SG alto and I remember him giving it high marks in every department. It was his reported experience that motivated me to buy my first 520LQ, and my main concern was for excellent intonation. I wasn't disappointed.

[Mark5047]

I guess if it leans one way or another it is towards the bright side, but the 520 takes well to the Runyon I was using as a classical piece. It could also light up the house when I used a Bionix mouthpiece and would cut through pretty well. Intonation is good, it is a solid horn with decent keywork.