Kessler v Antigua WindsTenors

[madmonk]

Hi,
Does anyone have any thoughts on the comparative merits of these two ranges?
Apart from cosmetics within the Antiguas range are there any engineering/playing diffences Antigua to Antigua?
Dave Kessler seems to have stated that within his own range, there are only cosmetic differences apart from the metal in his red brass model.
Thanks

[Canadiain]

I seem to recall the more expensive Antiguas have annealed bells and ribbed construction vs the cheaper ones...you can sort of figure it out from their website. The "top of the line" ones are certainly decent intermediate level horns at worst.

Kessler vs Antigua would be harder to quantify. Not sure which way I would jump on that without playing them. The better Antiguas are more expensive than the kesslers arent they? I have a 520 alto and an older Antigua tenor that were nice horns for the (used) money...I've decided to keep them as my backups after going all german last year, as frankly they are worth more to me as backups than the pitiful resale value I would have raised on them. My tenor is an older one and is not quite to the same standard as the newer alto.

My personal preference is to spend what they would cost new on a better used horn.

[madmonk]

Thanks Canadiain for your trouble and input. Some things to ponder there.

[jrvinson45]

A very few years ago, Dave Kessler used to promote the Antigua Winds as the "most bang for the buck" horn, but then their prices started to rise and he ventured into the custom horn arena to keep providing his customers a similar type of pricing to that Antigua had before the increases. His solution was to cut out the middle man and go straight from the manufacturers in Taiwan to his store. IMHO they aren't terribly different in quality, but Dave's line has some really nice finishes, and he has attempted to offer up increasing reliability through the ribbed design offerings and by offering more ornate models with more engraving... his prices still seem to be competetive with AW, although he sells both. Now we're seeing more competition in "custom" horns from throughout the Taiwanese market including the PM horns and the Phil Barone horns. Cannonball continues to move ahead innovatively, but (BUT!)... Dave Kessler has always tried to give customers the option of more bang per buck and will be more than willing to tell you which of the horns he sells provide it.

[madmonk]

Thank you Jr. I sort of thought the scenario was something like you said.