MMM
04-21-2006, 11:46 AM
During an Easter visit to Rome, I went to visit a music shop (Cherubini) and found a large selection of brand new Grassi saxes. A bit puzzled I asked if these were old stock, I was then told that Grassi have restarted production however they are now made in Taiwan/China "under strict supervision of Italian Grassi engineers".
The finishes are varied and the saxes look good and well built, HOWEVER I had no time to playtest as I was busy keeping the children away from a v.expensive marimba (before someone would kick us out of the shop!).
I can add that all the saxes are stamped (confusingly) Prestige (same Grassi logo on the bell) and the prices for the tenor was 1100 euros and for the sop 700 (altos probably somewhere in between).
Now, the reason for posting this is to make you aware of this new (when did they start?) production, but also to warn any buyers (I can foresee some of these ending up on eBay) that these MAY not be of the same quality as the original Grassi Prestige Made in Italy. So if it's not stamped Made in Italy (with all its patents engraved by the thumbhook)it's a new Chinese model.
I would like to invite any Italian sax fanatic to try these out and see how they compare to the original Prestige model...maybe someone from Rome who lives in via Tiburtina?
Cheers, MMM
The finishes are varied and the saxes look good and well built, HOWEVER I had no time to playtest as I was busy keeping the children away from a v.expensive marimba (before someone would kick us out of the shop!).
I can add that all the saxes are stamped (confusingly) Prestige (same Grassi logo on the bell) and the prices for the tenor was 1100 euros and for the sop 700 (altos probably somewhere in between).
Now, the reason for posting this is to make you aware of this new (when did they start?) production, but also to warn any buyers (I can foresee some of these ending up on eBay) that these MAY not be of the same quality as the original Grassi Prestige Made in Italy. So if it's not stamped Made in Italy (with all its patents engraved by the thumbhook)it's a new Chinese model.
I would like to invite any Italian sax fanatic to try these out and see how they compare to the original Prestige model...maybe someone from Rome who lives in via Tiburtina?
Cheers, MMM