Vito Curved Soprano

[Rick Green]

I have been following this forum for a while now and I would first like to say that this is a great forum. I am in the market for a soprano and prefer the curved. I wish that the Yanagisawa SC901 was in my range but it isn't. What I am really soliciting is information/opinions on curved sopranos outside of the yanis. Has anyone had any experience with the new Vito 7136 curved soprano? thanks

[Morry]

I just bought a black nickel curved Taiwanese brand called Musica (probably from same factories as Jupiter, Antigua Winds, etc.). Seems very well built. Intonation is very good, and I'm not even a real soprano player. Until I have some real soprano chops developed, and buy an SC-902, the $700 price tag was just what I was looking for.

[Gaijin-san]

Morry... where'd you pick one of these up? I saw a used straight one listed at 1000 bucks.

[DC]

Hello All,

If you're interested, I'd check out the "Woodwind" version curved sop, it's a stencil Prestini, as are some of the following: Antigua Winds, LA Sax, Hermes, and many, many others. If you open the Woodwind catalogue, you'll see page after page of some slight difference in all of these instruments. This is not to say a bad horn is offered, it's relatively inexpensive, fairly in tune, and a good place to start for a curved sop before hitting the Yanagisawas and vintage horns. A friend passed one of his on to me, and it's really a fun horn. I've had Yamahas, Selmer VI's, etc., and also currently have a Yanagisawa "Elimona", a very nice horn. I mess about with the curved Woodwind/Prestini from time to time, and really enjoy it. Have not played it on a gig, however, gotta pick up the Yanagisawa at that time......

cheers, DC

[Jerry K.]

DC, with all due respect I don't agree with your following statement:

"I'd check out the "Woodwind" version curved sop, it's a stencil Prestini, as are some of the following: Antigua Winds, LA Sax, Hermes, and many, many others."

As a Prestni dealer, I can tell you that they are themselves a stencil if what you mean is that they don't make their own horns. In my opinion Prestini's intermediate level and professional level horns are in the upper echelon of Taiwanese made saxes which includes the likes of Antigua Winds, Unison, Cannonball, not necessarily in that order, and several others. I can not say what plant in Taiwan makes what brands, only that Prestini does not make the brands that you mentioned or their own horns for that matter. They may very well provide the pads for some of the brands mentioned but I don't know that to be the case.

[Dave Dolson]

DC: I'm glad you like your Woodwind curvy. Mine was so sharp on the low notes that I couldn't play it with other instruments. It had an interesting tone, but the scale was too far out. I traded it off for an old Conn alto (with full disclosure) and never looked back.

The Yanas are the only way to go (I have two) - rather than spend $700 or so now, then buy a Yana later on, save the $700.00 and just do the right thing the first time.

I compared my SC902 to a Cannonball a year or so ago. The Cannonball would play, but there really was no comparison to be made. DAVE

[singlereed]

The Elkhart curvy sop is not at all bad; this is a Taiwanese clone offered in the UK by Vincent Bach, the same people who sell Selmers here. It goes for about £400 UK pounds, it would be about 1.5 times that in US$, bearing in mind you don't pay the VAT for an export. Several of the UK online retailers sell it, we got ours from starland.co.uk. My daughter did her first few exams on it, we eventually got a Yan SC901 but the elkhart was well made and its intonation, whilst not as good as the Yani, was OK. The standard mouthpiece is unsurprisingly rubbish.

[DC]

Yup, Prestini is the originator for all the previous horns. I agree that the Pristini issued horns can be more consistent than the other stencils. I repair in Minneapolis, see these horns aaaaaaaall the time. My Woodwind/Prestini curved is also sharp on the bell keys, scale is ok-ish, and as I said, I got it for $300 from a friend for yuks. My Yanagisawa is a marvelous horn, and I had previously said, it's what I play when working, wouldn't dream of trying the Prestini on a gig. Funny, Jupiter had asserted they had their own factory for years, and had to finally sheepishly disclose that it was indeed associated with Prestini in Taiwan.... Please know, I'm not denigrating Prestini, I'd just like it to be clear that literally dozens of "brands" are being stamped at the Prestini factory, some seem better than others, "high end" options (engraving, lacquer choices, etc.) are available, and I knew someone would have issue with this. All those Cannonballs are Prestinis, and fankly, I don't give a hoot that they are, what do I care? They're just saxophones, a relatively harmless machine, unless you base you're income & life on one... :shock: LOL, I'll step up to a curved Yanni some time, and keep my double neck 991 as well.

[Jerry K.]

DC, though Prestini has a close relationship with the Taiwanese manufacturer that makes their horns, I have never been told by anyone at Prestini that they own the factory. If you have it on good authority that this is not the case please share your sources. Just saying it's so doesn't make it so! I do have direct dealings with Prestini as a dealer and unless you have a similar relationship with them, I am left wondering where you "heard" that Prestini stencils the brands you mentioned. :?:

[Stencilman]

DC, Cannonballs are made by Prestini???? Where did you hear this? The Cannonball folks claim that they own the factory in Taiwan where saxes are made exclusively for Cannonball. It would be interesting to know the whole scoop.

Also, I've found nothing to indicate that Prestini has a factory in Taiwan. I was under the impression that Prestini purchased these from a Taiwanese company. Where did you get this information? Inquiring minds want to know :-) Thanks!

[Dave Dolson]

On a related issues, I was discussing the emergence of Taiwanese saxophones the other day with my repair-tech (who I will not name here but is well known in L.A. - and who I've named in other posts). He told me that both Yamaha and Yangisawa are either planning or already have subbed out some work to Taiwanese companies and may even be building some if not all of their parts in Taiwan. One reason for their moves to Taiwan is because Japan is SO crowded that expansion is impractical unless they go off shore.

He also claimed that the Taiwanese manufacturers are rapidly approaching high-quality and will soon be a force to be reckoned with in the saxophone manufacturing world.

I'm just the messenger here . . . DO NOT shoot the messenger!! DAVE

[Mike Ruhl]

He also claimed that the Taiwanese manufacturers are rapidly approaching high-quality and will soon be a force to be reckoned with in the saxophone manufacturing world.

I'm just the messenger here . . . DO NOT shoot the messenger!! DAVEYou're not the first to express that thought here. People have been saying that for 2 or 3 years now.

[DC]

Hello all,

My last post here... By "originate" I meant that the first of these Taiwanese saxes we began seeing at the repair shop were stamped Prestini, then Jupiter, then.... It's my understanding that Prestini had them made for them in Taiwan, just like all the rest of the name brands mentioned previously. I may have worded my previous posts incorrectly, I did not mean that Prestini owned the factory, issued the other "stencils" under other names, etc. I simply meant that Prestini was the first wave of what we saw at our repair shop (again...only) of these horns. Because of this, we have just fallen into the habit of refering to them all as "Prestinis" (we use and adore Prestini pads in the shop, be the way)... So, apologies to all if I wasn't clear in my writing. I also assert if you put these horns side by side by side, you'll see that they are damned near identical, in construction, feel, sound, etc. Yes, some differences are apparent, and again, I repeat, I don't dislike the horns entirely, they are just fine, they are what they are. I really don't like the new Selmers! There, maybe that will deflect this into a different direction. I own/play VI's, Yanagisawas, old Conn's, H. Couf bari, blah, blah, blah. I also own a Taiwanese, "Woodwind" stamped Prestini-ish/appearing, etc., curved soprano that I enjoy playing now & again. The quality is what it is for a $600 horn, I ain't complaining! I'd recommend any of them before I'd recommend a new student model Selmer (new ones are comfirmed to be manufactured in Taiwan by area rep...), or the pitiful offerings from UMI!
If Yamaha & Yanagisawa start manufacturing in Taiwan, so be it. Hell, Selmer should go there too, it'd be a step up for their Serie & Ref models, massive solder bleed, bad intonation, poor lacquer, lousy feel, etc. I'll not utter a peep here again. cheers, DC

[super20dan]

dave i am with you .the yani curved is the only way to go.i havent touched my conn curved since i got this gem .and for 800$!!!

[Bootman]

Obviously you guys must have found a good Yani, the 4 I have checked out have all fallen well short of 1921 Conn curved. The Conn is 3x's louder, has a bigger sound and is in tune. It is also a separate palm key model, not the inline system. The lack of a front F key is fine and the palm key F works very well on this horn. Altissimo is easy too, using alternative the palm Key F as the vent key.

[Bill08690]

I just snagged a Prestini Sop off Ebay for $200.00 in like new condition. I fixed two minor leaks and several sticky pads. My friend who plays regularly sounds like Grover Washington Jr on this horn while I sound like a duck, LOL. [player counts for a lot] This horn is built very well using good quality metal and pads, of course. There are adjustments for all the critically connected keys too. I am very satisfied with the product. The point is that these low cost horns give many of us a chance to try the instrument with minimal investment.

Finally, we must remember that the big 4 are looking at big costs for retail markup, R&D, advertisment, and employee benefits. A Selmer horn probably costs a small portion of the final selling price due to these extra expenses.

[Dave Dolson]

Bootman: I know you love your Conn curvy, and if yours plays for you, that's a good thing. But I'm not without Conn-curved experience, having owned one years ago. True, yours and mine are but two examples of a maker's product. But while your experience was good, mine was not. And my other Conn saxophones over the years have been okay, but nothing to shout about.

My two Yanas were purchased sight-unseen, but were so good I kept both. In comparison to the one Conn curved I owned and other Conn sopranos I've owned and played, all of my Yanas are far superior to my Conns.

Again, this is not statistically significant, of course - just my experiences. DAVE

[super20dan]

yes boot -my yani is indeed a keeper! while my conn is an exceptional example (same vintage as yours and is in like new cond) , my yani gets the call for every gig these days. part of is it is i dont want to bring the pristine conn to bar gigs. trust me the yani is plenty loud with dukoff mpc.

[Bootman]

Dave,
You need to check out a well set-up 1921 Conn Curved, this is all I'm saying. The Yani's I have played have been ok but they lack something in the sound that my Conn has. I have the same problems with the straights against my Buescher too.

Dan,
I here you which is why my Conn lives in the case between sets and is never placed on a stand.


The current new model Sop that I really like is the Saxello styled horn out of Taiwan, intonation is good, sound is excellent and projection is exceptional. I have found a better one than the Cannonball, although I am certain that they are produced in similar factories as many of the features are the same except that the bore is larger, the finishing is better and the keywork/springs problems have been fixed. I am eagerly awaiting a non high F# Saxello to come in, these instruments have had there design, key placement and several other features altered by John Lehner and play exceptionally. I'll do the rave, pictures and record some samples etc thing when it gets here.

[Dave Dolson]

Bootman: I'm willing to try a good Conn curvy, but quite frankly, they are hard to find . . . ANY Conn curvy, let alone one that is properly set -up.

The one I owned I found hanging by the upper octave-key ring on the wall of a pawn shop that had just been robbed. I was first on the scene, put out a suspect-description on the radio, arranged for responding officers to complete a crime report, then later contacted the store owner to buy the horn. I paid all of $25.00 for it (in the early '70's). I had it overhauled by a competent repair-tech, but alas, it would not play well for me. It could take a lifetime to locate a good one, then have it properly set up. I don't have that kind of time OR energy these days. That's why I like the Yanas - they are every bit as good as any vintage curved sop - and no hassles. Enjoy yours! DAVE

[TerryD]

I noticed no one has addressed Ricks intial question on this thread... "how good are the Vito Curved Sopranos?" Are they yani stencils? Where are they made? How do they sound? How do they compare to the SC901? Are they essentially the same horn? Thanks for the info.