Is the Unison brand dead?

[bradshawm]

I am curious if the Unison Brand is dead, or what. I searched for Unison on the web and can find nothing. Unison Saxes, though very good, seem to have no value on E-bay. There have been almost no posts on this particular thread either for several months. I know there are players out there, but there seems to be little to no chatter or interest in them. Did they kill themselves through there bad marketing practices?

[Randall]

I think Unison has morphed into "Hollywood Winds".

[Morry]

I think Unison has morphed into "Hollywood Winds".

It looks like they are the U.S. distributor for Unison now, although the horns advertised there don't seem to have the Unison name on them. Pretty cheap marketing ploy on their part - they call their horns SX30, SX40, etc. Obviously, trying to dupe some yahoo into thinking they are somehow equivalent to a Keilwerth.

[MikeCa]

The Unison brand as we knew it is dead. The Hollywoodwinds brand is a a pairing of the people that used to be Unison with Rheuben Allen (SP?) who is a rather well known repair tech in southern Ca. That's how it was explained to me but they have been very vague about where the horns are coming from and I've yet to see any. I really miss them! We were a dealer for quite a few years but it's just been kind of weird the past few months. The last few horns I got that were Unisons seemed even better than before. I've heard lots of rumours about the prior Unison co. not paying people and such but I'm not too sure if there was any validity to it? They always treated us right and from what I understand they have morphed into Hollywoodwinds but aren't quite there yet (Not sure if there is any product yet available. I'm pretty sure they've changed factories but don't know that for sure either (all just conjecture and the feeling I got having talked to some of the people that work for the co. that was Unison). The design team for them with the addition of Mr. Allen if anything would be even stronger and it was really good before!

They also make some really great inexpensive reeds called PHAT which for the price are amazing (they are really cheap!) but play pretty well, not at all like other cheap reeds I've tried. They also have Hollywoodwinds reeds which might be the same thing but I haven't tried them out yet.

I expect a lot to happen in the future but right now it appears to all be on hold accept for accessories which they have some really unique ones and some very cool padsavers in particular which come with a rag attached in order for it to function as a swab and a pad saver in one which works incredibly well!

Hope that helps a bit!

[saxmanglen]

Hiere's a link to the "Hollywood" site:

http://www.hollywoodwinds.com/index.htm

Lot's of info and puffery but nothing on "Unison". Suppose SG sunk the Unison ship? Bloop, bloop, bloop.................................:|

[Pete]

Must ... not ... be ... snarky .... Is ... very ... difficult ....

Mr. G has publically commented approximately the same as what MikeCa mentions above, FWIW. I can definitely say that a) www.unisonsaxophone.com now redirects to www.hollywoodwinds.com and b) see this quote:

Shun Hwa Chang: for the past 13 years Shun Hwa have been the importer for the UNISON Saxophones. for the past three years Shun Hwa have been working along with Rheuben Allen on developing the HollywoodWinds line of accessories. This line have been received very well by both dealers and musicians. In order to make all our products have the same name we have changed the name UNISON to HollywoodWinds. All our saxophones and accessories from now on will simply say HollywoodWinds.

Regarding calling the models "SX" or whatever, Amati cals their horns things like "ATS61" (paralleling Yamaha's model numbers), so the practice isn't exactly unheard of.

IMO, I liked the UNISON name better.

[saxmanglen]

IMO (http://www.IMO), I liked the UNISON name better.

Ditto on my part. Hollywoodwinds definately sounds a little LA Saxish to me. I thought Unison was becoming a better horn and more well known.

[Bill Mecca]

it is a bit more "unified" that Hollywood winds, or is it Holly....woodwinds, ? :twisted:

[Mike Ruhl]

Must ... not ... be ... snarky .... Is ... very ... difficult ....
http://f.screensavers.com/migration/wp/dilbert_fist_of_death_215.gif

[Pete]

"Please do not unleash the unhygenic fist of death!"
"The 'Foot of Death' really isn't all that menacing."

I luvs Dilbert. I particularly enjoyed the Scott Adams quote where he said that he "Generally [has] Alice kill at least one person a year."

Oh. Like the avatar, too. Prarie Dog with a bazooka? Nice.

[Mike Ruhl]

"Please do not unleash the unhygenic fist of death!"
"The 'Foot of Death' really isn't all that menacing."

I luvs Dilbert. I particularly enjoyed the Scott Adams quote where he said that he "Generally [has] Alice kill at least one person a year."

Oh. Like the avatar, too. Prarie Dog with a bazooka? Nice.Thanks. Inspired by Martysax. He's my hero, you know. Him and Cash. :D

Super 20 players rule!

[Pete]

Mmmm. I may have been wrong about HollyWoodWinds. See http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=208411&postcount=15

I can say, tho, that I remember seeing the name "Shun Hwa Chang" as being the President and/or founder of Unison, so I'm a little cofnused.

Not that it's that big of a deal. There doesn't seem to be anyplace that is selling new Unison-branded instruments, that I can find.

HollyWoodWinds is also not that good on making their website "updated". You can still access most of the info about the "old" Unison models by going to, say, http://www.unisonsaxophone.com/featured_dealer.html, and just not clicking ion the Home Page link.

Curious.

[DaveKessler]

Wow,

I think there needs to be some clarification here.

C&L Music is now Hollywoodwinds. C&L Music (Shun Hwa) served as a Distributor for Unison here in the US. The actual Unison company has NOTHING to do with the Hollywoodwinds products (according to Gregory Lai, the Owner of the Unison name and the Unison factory in Taiwan).

Unison is still very much alive and is setting up new distributors and for awhile, was looking to sell direct. I met the new distributor (as well as Mr Lai) again at the NAMM show. I will not be dealing through the distributor because of price. They are simply charging too much (especially since I know what the direct import prices are).

They are re-establishing everything.

Their website is http://www.unisonsax.com/

Their new Unison 2000 alto and tenor is dynamite. We are still deliberating selling it but only if we will still be able to directly import if from Taiwan ourselves.

I do not know what factory is now making the Hollywoodwinds instruments. I did not bother to stop by their booth at the NAMM show.

- disclaimer - All of this information was given to me by Gregory Lai of Unison/Narita Industrial Co., Ltd.
No. 17 Lane 2140 South, Kuang Hsing Road
Taiping City, Taichung Hsien Taiwan

[MikeCa]

I got to play these two horns (alto and tenor) at the namm show. They were beyond impressive! Especially with the solid silver necks. They had quite a few necks for each one. WOW! I really, really liked them! As for distribution the guys in the booth didn't seem to know any english at all and just gave me a card for the US distributor. I have my misgivings about the distribution setup but the horns were truly dynamite! I didn't play anything at the show I liked better with the exception of the reference 54 alto (and it was close) and there was a black Keilwerth Alto SX90 with rolled tone holes that was it for me! The Unisons at any sizable discount (which they would be, regardless of distributor) would be a huge, huge value and I'd be comfortable using them in any situation!

I was also impressed by the Hollywoodwinds horns but not as much as the Unisons. I think give time the Hollywoodwinds will be very, very good as well. When I spoke with them thay had unfortunately gotten them right out of the boxes so they weren't set up (and I know Rhuben Allen does good work). One had also fallen off a shelf, so three or four of them were noticeably and obiviously in need of help (so impossible to judge). The Hollywoodwinds have some very cool innovations like adjustment screws everywhere. A redesigned bow that really opens the tone. A nicely redesigned key placement for the front F that I've never seen before (and also adjustable to the individual reliably and easily). Just all in all the tone wasn't as full as the Unison (and that's all that really matters to me).
I played the Cannonballs and again don't really get what the big deal is on those, they play about like Jupiters which are fine but... not my sound.
Jupiter has a new horn coming out in the summer as well which they seemed really excited about but dind't have a sample.
I think both of these companies aren't quite there yet but maybe by summer ... watch out.

[Jerry K.]

I played the Cannonballs and again don't really get what the big deal is on those, they play about like Jupiters which are fine but... not my sound. I'm not sure what the hype is about either. Late in December I played their newest and supposedly hottest horn, The Raven, and it did absolutely nothing for me. I played it alongside a Unison that had a gold satin finish and bright gold on the body and keys, and it played and sounded a lot better in my opinion. This has been my experience with several Cannonball encounters. Others seem to love them so it must be me.

[MikeCa]

Others seem to love them so it must be me.

That's exactly it for me as well! I know some very good players that think they are amazing though a few have ended up selling the Cannonballs after having had them for a year or two.