Steve Goodson Curved Soprano Evaluation

[William Bua]

Hello all,
The goodson curvie I ordered came in today. I will be reviewing all aspects of the transaction as well as the playability of the instrument. My tech will also put it through the meat grinder as well.

Ordering: I ordered the horn on Christmas eve and it was sent out on December 27th. Leave it to UPS to slow the process of delivery down to 8 days from texas to california. It arrived in great condition. The box was near perfect. I opened the first box and found a 4 inch bed of foam peanuts on all sides. Inside that was another box protecting the case, which was bubble wrapped. It was boxed up the way it is supposed to be done, A+.


When I opened the case, I found a pristine horn with corks closing all the keys. After un-corking came the first play test. It plays great right out of the case. I am taking it to my tech in the morning for fit and finish evaluation and a quick minor regulation. I played it for a couple of hours today and the horn has a really nice voice with much better intonation than any other Taiwanese curvie I have ever played and equal to the Yanagisawa sc-901. I think the tone is a bit brighter than the Yani, probably due the the noyek reso's . The action feels nice and light unlike the yani curvie. The metal key touches feel good and the thumb rest moved left of center really adds better feel to the horn along with the goodson thumb rest. The three ring strap hook set up seems to work well also. The engraving and finish make this a very sweet looking horn to the eye. This horn was sold as a demo, but I couldn't find as much as a scratch on the horn. I think this is a new horn and goodson is just letting these go to put them out there so to speak. The one thing that really stands out in the construction of the horn is the bell keys being placed on the player's right and a fully articulated left pinky table. This horn feels like a modern saxophone. Also, the angle of the neck curve is really nice. It is not as radical as the Yanagisawa SC-991, but has more of a curve than the SC-901. It is very comfortable to play.


I have found two things that I would improve though. First, there is a needle spring that looks unstable and badly designed under the middle c upper stack that my tech will have to address at some point. Second, the key guards are a bit thin and seem a bit flimsy upon first inspection. I'm sure they will hold up ok, but I prefer more thickness there and smoother edges too.

Case, mouthpiece, assesories: All JUNK in my humble opinion. The case is a generic box case identical to the case for a Unison S-200 inside and out. The mouthpiece, though I didn't try it looks like a stock jupiter piece that is not anything like the great mouthpieces provided by Yamaha and Yanagisawa when you buy their horns. I don't care about the stock assessories though because I have my own mouthpiece, strap and swab, but it should be mentioned.

My overall impression of the horn is very favorable. The sound is better than my Unison by a mile and better than a couple of Yani's I have owned. The Goodson is also heads and shoulders above the Kessler custom curved soprano I owned. Tommorrow, I will take it to my tech and do a side by side comparison with a SC-992 bronze Yani curved soprano. I will post part 2 then, but so far so good. Cheers.

[LateNiteSax]

Hello all,
The goodson curvie I ordered came in today. I will be reviewing all aspects of the transaction as well as the playability of the instrument. My tech will also put it through the meat grinder as well.


My overall impression of the horn is very favorable. The sound is better than my Unison by a mile and better than a couple of Yani's I have owned. The Goodson is also heads and shoulders above the Kessler custom curved soprano I owned. Tommorrow, I will take it to my tech and do a side by side comparison with a SC-992 bronze Yani curved soprano. I will post part 2 then, but so far so good. Cheers.


Looking foraward to reading it.

[William Bua]

Hello all,
for about the last hour, I have given the horn a microscopic inspection to look at key fit, construction characteristics, solder flaws and anything else I missed. I found that the horn does have a couple of small issues. I don't like the screws used on the key guards and as stated earlier, the key guards themselves could use a little more thickness and better final edge smoothing. The same can be said for one of the left palm keys. These minor problems are easily solved at the factory during final assembly. The screws are not the grade I would expect on a upper end horn. Again, easily fixed during assembly. Two small pieces of cork also needed a dab of glue.

The construction of the instrument is impressive, with ribbed posts on the upper and lower stacks and left palm keys with mini ribs elsewhere. The left pinky table is anchored to the body in two places and seems very stable. The neck bore is between a Unison S-200 and a Yanagisawa SC-901. The weight on my Hodge silk swab got through, though it was a tight fit. The neck to body fit is fine. The soldering seems stable and I see no flashing slop or flux or overheated areas.

Since I am no expert regarding key stiffness and since I don't have a way to check whether the tone holes are level or not, I will defer to my tech, who is none other than Scott Mandeville, who was the prez of nimbirt and does the best work I have seen first hand. He will do the light test and check the tone holes and hinge rods and give me a painfully honest assessment. I'll post the rest later, cheers.

[Mark5047]

Thanks for the review! You mention it has better intonation than other horns from Taiwan. I have a question for you - is there a marking on the horn that says it came from Taiwan or just an assumption on your part? Its hard to sound non-confrontational in writing, but trust me when I say this is an honest questions. I am a huge fan of Taiwanese instruments for their value, but I imagine at some point the horns in China will come up to par. Also I think there may be other countries up and coming that no manufacture wants to talk about yet since they have a negative stigma attached.
Thanks!

[William Bua]

Hey Mark,
I can't find any identification markings on this horn anywhere, no made in taiwan or R.O.C. or anything else. I assume taiwan though. My tech will check the hardness of the key structure later this morning, and that will be the best indicator of quality and will probably answer the question for us. I don't like the fact that country of orgin is not clearly marked. Bill

[jbtsax]

I will defer to my tech, who is none other than Scott Mandeville, who was the prez of nimbirt and does the best work I have seen first hand. He will do the light test and check the tone holes and hinge rods and give me a painfully honest assessment. I'll post the rest later, cheers.
Is that organization anything like NAPBIRT (http://www.napbirt.org/)? :? I agree that Scott Mandeville is one of the best repairmen around. He is also an excellent teacher as well.

John

[William Bua]

Hello all,
excuse the typo on napbirt or whatever the organization is called, I can't read Scott's card, its too small.

I have more to report and the news isn't good, at least for me. The horn has pad and key fit issues. noteworthymusic is doing the right thing and sending me another one and I don't have to send this one back yet. On the demo horn I bought, the $120.00 roo pad set was glued in with low temp hot glue and not shallac. Noteworthy said that was an oversight. The next one should get here by the weekend and I will report back to this thread. With the pad issues and all, the horn plays in tune and feels great, but glueing pads in is like spray painting a a sports car. They are trying to correct the problem and that is all you can ask for from a seller. It would have been nice though to have no problems at all. I'll post again after the new one arrives, Cheers

[SactoPete]

Thanks for the update, Bill - let me know when you get the replacement sax. Pretty cool of Noteworthy to do that, I must say. Did Scott give you any comments on the key stiffness, material hardness/durability, tone hole levelness, key fit, etc? Let us know the full verdict from Scott when the new one comes in.

Is the horn at Scott's shop now? My VI is in there right now, probably ready for pickup, and I'd love to get a look at that curvy....

Pete

[Mark5047]

I have purchased several horns from Noteworthy. They have been very decent to deal with. I am glad they are making it right for you

Mark

[gary]

The sound is better than my Unison by a mile and better than a couple of Yani's I have owned...(and) heads and shoulders above the Kessler custom curved soprano I owned.
..the $120.00 roo pad set was glued in with low temp hot glue and not shallac.
William, a couple of questions:
- The sound being "better" than on the Unison and Yana's...were these curved or straight? I ask because when I played a curved soprano recently (my first) it "sounded" better but I wondered if it wasn't because I was hearing it differently because of its shape vs straight soprano.

- Generally, what is the price difference between the SG and the other saxes you mentioned?

- glue vs shellac; are the SGs imported and the pads put in "locally" or is this done at the factory? Because if it's at the factory, then this is more than just a simple mistake.

Thanks.

[Lairmon]

Heres my thoughts on this; I am a "Pro" level Tenor and Alto player, but have only been playing Soprano since last Spring.

I can give some input about the Goodson Curved Soprano as I picked up one last October. I was looking for a curved Soprano because the Couf Superba 1 I had was giving my right arm problems (because of a past injury). I had really liked pretty much everything about the Couf, in particular its sound, but because of arm probs I starting hunting for a Curved. I was thinking Yanagasawa, but just couldn't get myself to shell out the money for a new one. I then noticed the sale of the Goodson Curved Sopranos and the price they were selling at. Retail was supposed to be $2,500.00, but they were selling for about $2,000.00. When I was looking for a Curved Sop I noticed Noteworthy Music was selling there "demo" models for about xxxxxx, like William, my horn seemed to be brand new when it arrived.

I had recently played a number of Sopranos, Selmer II, Kielwerth, Jupiters, and another Tawain made Sop. The Goodson was selling for less than even the Jupiters and Other Tawain Sop (Stephenhauser?) so I decided to take the gamble thinking that it would at least be an intermediate level instrument. It seemed to have all the "right" features one would look for.

From a players point of view it is great fun to play. It feels very much like my MKVI alto, except even better. I love the layout and light key action. I think the tone quality is good, though I have only compared it directly to another musicians 1920s Curved Conn Soprano. The Conn was darker and stuffier by comparision, the Goodson sounded brighter and more "open" sounding.

Bear in mind although I am a "pro" level player I am fairly new to the Soprano. I'm not sure if its intonation is up there with a good Yama, or Yani because I have only been playing it sporadically since October, and putting much more time on my Tenor, flute, and Alto. I think its intonation is comparable with my Couf that I had sold...

I've been using a Selmer Super Session (i) with either Lavoz or Alexander reeds. I also have a Baron HR which blows darker and more controlled than the SS.

[Saxaholic]

I've held and played one of these silver curved sopranos. I thought it felt great and had a very good sound. Brighter, but still rich and I had no problems throughout the range. I didn't test it extensively, but I thought it was quite an enjoyable horn to play and the owner was also very pleased with it. There were no intonation problems to be found on this horn.

Saxaholic

[Dave Dolson]

[QUOTE=William Bua]

On the demo horn I bought, the $120.00 roo pad set was glued in with low temp hot glue and not shallac. Noteworthy said that was an oversight.


An OVERSIGHT? Like when a mechanic puts syrup in the crankcase instead of oil? Or uses fake disc-brake pads made out of cardboard? Yeah, right. Unbelievable. DAVE

[Joe Jazz]

I have to agree with Dave here. I have the feeling that it was only an oversight because it was detected and complained about. Pull the pads out of a few other saxes in the store when they aren't looking and see how many other oversights there are, will you please?:D

[Dr G]

Yes, that's what I was thinking. When I worked as quality control in a production environment (SCUBA equipment), I was always watching for people that would bring hot glue guns from home to use on the job. Not!

The "oversight" was that your tech caught it. Good for him.

Even if they had used shellac, there is a good chance that it would either be dripping over the edges of the key cup or there would not be enough. I might prefer the former.

Bottom line on many horns, these days, is that it is worth having your tech go through a "new" horn to ensure that it is playing at optimum condition.

For these inexpensive horns, I have to wonder what is fair to expect. The pads are probably easier to add on as upgrades than training their employees to install them. (Yes, my company bought parts from Asia and there was a considerable learning curve until things were made right.)

[William Bua]

Hello all,
All of you have some very good questions I will answer as many as possible. The soprano saxophones I have owned thus far that I have compared to the goodson are as follows.
Yamaha YSS-62. The best, but the thumb can't take any straight soprano anymore.
Yanagisawa sc-900
Unison S-200 curved sop
Yanagisawa SC-991. A better horn without a doubt than any curvie I have played, but I had to sell to pay for a major car repair, bummer.
Unison straigt sop, jupiter straight sop, Buffet sda straight sop, great horn. Antigua 582-lq.

The Yani sc-991 and the Yamaha yss-62 are simply the best horns I have had the pleasure to play and own. If my thumb didn't kill me to play the straight sop, I never would have sold that one.

The sc-900 yani stencil I owned didn't play with as big a tone as the goodson and the goodson intonation is better too.

The Unison S-200 curvie is a great horn, but the goodson plays with better intonation.
The Buffet sda needed a complete mechanical restoration and wasn't in playing shape, so I won't judge the one I had, but the notes that played were just perfect.
I forgotthe Kessler curvie, A GREAT HORN FOR THE MONEY
The unison straight, and the antigua were ok, but not great.

The prices of these horns are as follows;
Yamaha YSS-62. $1200.00 new in 1981. Yanagisawa SC-991 2k on ebay $2500.00 list. Yani sc-900 stencil $1200.00, Kessler custom curvie $795.00.
Unison S-200 curvie $400.00 ebay, $1900.00 list. Buffet sda $700.00 craigslist steal. Antigua 582-lq craigslist $200.00, Unison straight $175.00 Craigslist.

So far, if the goodson checks out mechanically, it would compare to all the other east asian/ taiwan horns and the price is right in the same ballpark. The features on the goodson are only outdone by the horn which it copies, theYani SC-991. Scott M, will check it out and I'll let all of you know, cheers.

[William Bua]

Here's the dope,


I'm the dope. The goodson horn turned out to be a complete and utter waste of time. The roo pads are glued in as I stated before. Noteworthymusic, an ebay seller, sent me a second horn that their tech had "gone through" Well, he removed the pads alright, but not the hot glue, while adding shellac to the hot glue for that custom job, NOT. I will say this though, noteworthymusic went out of their way to try to help. They gave me a refund for the horn and I still have both horns in my possession. ups will pick them up in the morning. I know many of you will not be alarmed my these developments. The goodson horn is a very well built horn with horrible pad installation and set-up. These horns can be very good one day if they have their factory use shellac to install the roo pads. Using cheaper pads in this case would have been better because you can fluff them up to seal leaks, where the hardness and flatness of the roo pads make that impossible and the shellac would allow a tech to seat them by moving them as needed. I would hold off from buying one of these horns from any seller. Again, don't hesitate to buy from noteworthymusic, because at least they tried and they did honor the guarantee and they paid for shipping in both directions with no questions asked. Again, I cannot stress enough that these horns would be real contenders if someone who knew what they were doing assembled them the right way because the build quality is there and so are all the right features, but right now, as with most east Asian curved sopranos, they just need more time to evolve and have bugs worked out. If you are after a curved soprano, save your duckets and buy a Yanagisawa. I just snagged one off ebay, a SC-901 for $1350.00, which is only 300 bucks more than the goodson. If you don't end up liking the curved soprano saxophone, the yani will have much better re-sale value than any east Asian import. I hope this helps someone make an informed decision in the future. Cheers

[LateNiteSax]

i think these setup issues are epidemic in the industry. Thats on reason why Cannonball is have so much success, they are selling saxes that are setup to the max. The new Selmers I've seen often come with roughly finished tone holes and 2 tiny drops of shellac holding the pad in. Those pads need to be replaced or properly reinstalled, the tone holes need to be leveled and finished and the springs adjusted, for starters, THEN you may have a real pro horn.

[Harri Rautiainen]

Thanks for a thorough review, William.

I am sure that SOTW members and readers will find it useful.
I am also glad that you did not suffer financially in the process and ended up with a soprano that will suit your needs.

- Harri

[Dave Dolson]

I tried a curved silver Saxgourmet soprano at NAMM last Saturday. It played but wasn't anything to write home about. I sure wouldn't consider replacing my SC902 with the Saxgourmet model. I agree with the advice to go for a Yanagisawa curved sop over others regardless of price. DAVE

[William Bua]

late night is right,

It seems that the mighty selmer horns are indeed suffering these exact same issues, which is pathetic coming with their price tags. The goodson horn is not an isolated event, not by a long shot. The cannonball needs better quality pads, but those horns are set up much better than most. The Unison saxophones are set up well, or at least were 5 years ago. I have no idea whether hollywood winds is doing as well. The yanagisawa products are put together well, but need spring lightening. L.A. Sax, or whoever made that goodson horn proved that you can put a nice thumb hook and a three ring neckstrap hook and roo pads in a crappy horn and you still have a crappy horn. My tech's exact words were " I can make it a really nice horn with a complete mechanical restoration" A nice shell, but who wants to spend another 1k on a 1k horn? Harri, Thanks for your kind words. I only lost 30 bucks of paypal money, so I am not wounded in the wallet which is great. NOW FOR MY RANT


Save your money and buy a quality horn the first time. I was hoping for a cannonball-esk set-up, nice horn for a grand, NOT. Buy a clean used yani or yamaha or selmer series II or whatever your preference, but buy the real pro horns that are proven. Check this forum and if you know horns and have a good eye, check ebay and research the horn and make sure the seller has a good feedback rating. When buying an ebay horn, expect the horn to require work to be done to make it play correctly and don't over-bid.
If you buy from your local shop, you will pay more, but you will buy service after the sale which is a day dream on the internet but again, SAVE YOUR DOUGH AND BUY THE BEST, PERIOD. Cheers, Bill

[slobberchops]

SAVE YOUR DOUGH AND BUY THE BEST, PERIOD. Cheers, Bill


Yup. From an electronics textbook I once read: "buy the cheapest tools you can't afford".

Sean

[Lairmon]

Hmmm...how did a horn that felt great to play, had good sound and intonation, out blew almost all Sopranos you've played, turn into a "crappy" horn. I'm not happy about the idea of the pads being glued in either, but I think the pad issue has suddenly twisted your evaluation out of proportion.

The horn feels and plays great, and does this at a third the price of a Yani up where I live. I suppose when its overhaul time I'll have my tech use real Shellac (yes they should have done this in the first place) and perhaps use other pads.

I have only had the horn for 3 months. Possibly leaks and such will develop and I'll rue the day I got this horn. Not sure yet....perhaps I should do updates for the good of SOTW to let you guys know how it holds up?

I don't think you should shut the door on this horn just yet.

[Joe Jazz]

Kind of odd to me too. I'm expecting my sub $1,000 Phil Barone saxes to come with glued in pads. Am I going to say they're crappy because of that? No way. If it were that important to me I would have just kept my big 4 saxes.........:?

[Jorns Bergenson]

Folks, I don't think that the use of hot glue is necessarily an indication of a poorly setup horn. I know plenty of technicians that do use different types of hot melt adhesive with excellent results.

The pro's and con's of using hot melt adhesive have been discussed many times before. I think most techs would agree that common quick melt (low temp) hot glue is not suitable for pad installation, but several high temp adhesives are quite suitable. If the toneholes are flat and the key cups are level with the tonehole, it's the technique of installing pads that counts, not so much what adhesive is used.

While I generally use shellac on saxes, I sometimes choose to use hot melt adhesives since they come in a variety of viscosities and "open times". None of the types I use are the garden variety clear sticks that you can purchase from the hardware store, but I believe that that stuff could probably be used with good results. It might not be any fun though, due to it's elasticity when hot (stringiness) and shrinkage that occurs as it cools.

Sorry for getting off-topic.

[jbtsax]

I would be interested to know how much in shipping charges had to be paid to return the saxes. The much touted "best warranty in the industry" doesn't mean much if a customer has to pay the shipping on an alto or tenor to and from San Antonio from most parts of the country. The cost of shipping both ways could easily equal or exceed the price of a play condition repair done locally, not to mention the longer turnaround time and the time lost in transit.

John

[William Bua]

Hey Guys,
I see a lot of good questions and comments I will answer. First, The saxophone blew very well until it came completely out of adjustment because of slop in the keys and bad pad installation. It only took a couple of hours before it started leaking in 5 different places and I am not talking about small leaks either, I am talking about leaks measuring 45 degrees of the tone hole. My tech said it needed to be swedged right out of the case. The second one sent was better as far as key fit, but the pads were badly set up and you can't get away with bad set ups on roo pads because they are so hard. The shipping on both horns was taken care of both directions by noteworthymusic. No expense to me whatsoever. They refunded my money and though paypal nailed me for $31.00, that is a small hit. The horns cost me $31.00 of my money and about 3 weeks of wasted time, still a much better outcome than most would expect on ebay or anywhere else for that matter. Noteworthymusic deserves a lot of credit for their customer service, though their goodson line is clearly not ready for prime time. I ended up buying a used Yanagisawa on ebay and it will be delivered tuesday. I know it was more expensive by $315.00, but I'm sure most of you will agree that the yani is a much better horn. The moral of the story is goodson horns bad, noteworthymusic good, Yanagisawa much better.

[Lairmon]

William,

Well......as I mentioned previously, I have had a silver plated Goodson Curved Soprano for about 3 months and have had no problems. I think it might be helpful to those on the site if I occasionally update to let them know its performance over time.

I agree that Noteworthy does seem to go the extra mile in customer service.

Is it possible your tech or Noteworthys tech messed up your horn in terms of changing the glue/shellac?

I gather you want to let this topic die based off your experiences with the horn(s). You imply that your evaluation should shut the door to the Goodson horn "worthiness" for everyone.:shock:

I just thought SOTW folks should know that my experience with them has been very good so far. Goodson horn good...(it is in the name after all...:)
Larry

[Lairmon]

So far we only seem to have two people's opinions on the Goodson Curved Sopranos. Does anyone else out there own and play one? Your comments and experiences would be appreciated.

[William Bua]

Hello all,
I would think the Goodson horn would be a real contender if the factory set them up better. The key fit needs to improve as well. The finish and features are awesome, but again, they require much better set up. I don't want to be the end all answer here. My experience with this horn, though unfortunate, was just one guys perspective. I still say, buy the best horn you can afford and save a month longer to get a horn that won't be outgrown in a year. If you don't believe me, check all the for sale horns on our forum. Many players have a condition called gas around here. While I don't think their is such a thing as a perfect one size fits all saxophone for everyone, you get what you pay for when it comes to saxophones. Many of us,can't afford the big name horns and are looking for a horn that will do the job for less. In my humble opinion, the goodson soprano has not arrived yet. I think in time they might get it right, but not now, not yet. It took antigua a while and early cannonballs were not nearly as good as the new ones are. The Asisn market is catching up fast and in a short time will be up there with the major brands for far less money. I remember the yanagisawa horns of the 70's and many thought they were junk. Look how far yanagisawa has come. They are considered some of the best horns made. Time will tell how good or bad these horns turn out to be.

[Lairmon]

Hopefully some other SOTWers will come forth to tell us of their experiences with these horns. My horn has been problem free, and meets the check list for a pro horn. I'm still amazed that you can get this horn for around a $1,000.00.

Because of the problems William seems to have had with them, I will report back if there are any problems that I notice that are beyond "normal" wear and tear.

[semipro]

I have one on trial that I am using to play a show. Although I don't feel as qualified as most on this site, i will let you know my experiences.

[Henry D]

In the spirit of keeping right on target.... I recently acquired the Goodson baritone sax. Pads (same black roo/ zippy resonators) glued vice shellacked- but they're all properly emplaced, seat well, and I have no personal preference for one system over the other. The overall fit is good, the engraving gaudy more than particularly artistic but that's all down to personal taste. Keywork design is very comfortable and the low "A" is particularly solid and easy to finger with just the thumb lever. There are two substantial bell braces and a beefy upper curlycue brace set. Neck tenon fit (tenon, not cork) was a bit loose for my taste (though playable) but easily tightened up. The included mouthpiece (with lig/cap in a matching "black nickel" finish to match the sax) is handmade but clearly demonstrates that merely being handmade doesn't equate to being skillfully handmade. The rail is wildly narrower in width on one side and the baffle chamber area looks like what I'd get if I drank up a 12 pack and broke out the Dremel. Still, I view it as a throwaway and the lig is (what's to do wrong ) fine. The case is nice in design, with wheels built in. Unfortunately the foam in the case under the fabric is "Walmart cooler" styrofoam as in the old Yamaha 61 cases. It disintegrates over time in my experience. The foam is carefully shaped for all the thumb-rests, guards, and posts to suit the horn. Regrettably, the cut out for the anti rod flex cap was slightly off causing that fixture to very slightly bend in to the stack- easily remedied for me but not something that should have been required and not something that everyone would feel free to do (or be competent to do) themselves. The push was minor enough that most might not be bothered by it or notice it of course. Neckstrap was another throwaway; a football tackle might use it but it cut into my neck in a big way. The three ring "Zephyresque" sling ring system was zippy in appearance- appears to be at least OK in quality of attachment to the stack- but given the size of a bari the distance between the three rings makes very little difference. The same three on an alto or tenor might be helpful. The point screws are bullet shaped vice fully pointy but were all well set up as delivered.

For me, the horn plays quite well. It supplants a Buescher True Tone. The Buescher had a palpably fuller bottom but in every other aspect the eighty odd years of progress shows- especially in the keywork. Its not particularly thrifty- many Taiwanese horns from known manufacturers are cheaper. Overall it plays very well- I'm happier with it than the mid fifties Conn 12m or the admittedly whipped Selmer VI baritone I compared it against (clunkier keywork be d*&^%$ I preferred the TT to both those) and it sports that fancy finish. You can't play the shine though and there are a lot of fish in the baritone sea- if possible you'd wnat to see what- for you- the extra dough brings for the Y's or the Selmer (not much beyond status really IMHO) or what you give up in going for the thriftier Jupiter ETC (not much again) .

There was an indication of place of manufacture on only one thing. The included cork grease came from an importer who uses Vietnamese plants. Feel free to play Sherlock Holmes with that- my take is the horn is what it is regardless of where it originated.

[Lairmon]

I had mentioned in some earlier posts that I would report back about the Goodson Curved Soprano every once in a while...so here goes!

I've had the horn for over 4 months now and its playing great. I'm not logging 6 hours a day on it though, as Tenor and alto are my first axes, but so far so good.

I'm not a tech, so I'm just coming from a players perspective in terms of my enjoyment of the horn. Check out my earlier posts for my impressions of this silver curved Soprano.

If you get a chance, try one out, a great bang for the buck.

[semipro]

Well,

I just finished my second show (Chicago, The Music Man) with this horn and I sent the check off on Friday. This curved sop. does everything I need it to do. It plays very well in tune and has a very nice dark tone. I have only had it for a month though, so I am still curious about how it will hold up over time. I am actually lamenting the fact that my next two shows do not call for soprano. (I used to dread it because to play in tune I had to hold my straight sop out so far, my right shoulder would ache)

[Lairmon]

Hey I've done that show a couple of times! "We've got trouble with a capital T !"

I was doing an english show "Blood Brothers" last Fall which used a lot of Soprano. I had a Couf Superba 1 at the time. I had liked that Sop. but had problems with my right arm because of a past injury; thats what led me on a curved Soprano hunt and ending up with the Goodson Curved Soprano.

I'm really happy with it too and have been using it on recent gigs. I haven't done a musical since the fall though.

I really think its a great bang for the buck; very responsive, great ergos, just a lot of fun to play. I can rip on this baby!