Kessler Custom Deluxe

[chrishtx]

I haven't played since school, but with my daughter getting involved with music, I've been thinking about getting a saprano to play around the house. I've narrowed it down to the KCS2 or the Deluxe. I basically have two questions:


Is performance with the Deluxe different enough to justify spending the extra money.
I love the look of the Deluxe Black, but I also like the idea that the RedBrass having 85% copper. Is the tone difference very noticable between the 2 models?


Thanks.

[ratracer]

chrishtx, welcome to SoTW!

If you do an advanced search on Kessler you'll easily have several hours of reading to bone up about members experience with them. Do a search on kessler & soprano and you'll cut the reading time down considerably.

I've not played the Kessler sopranos. (I have the custom deluxe tenor.) There are a couple of members who have and maybe they can pipe in.

Fwiw, give the Kesslers a call. Talk to Chuck or Dave. Chuck is the sax player and Dave's dad. My experience with them was outstanding and mirrors that of practically everyone who's dealt with them. They've gained their reputation a customer at a time and this can be a pretty hard crowd to please.

I bought mine before the red brass was available. But the black finish is also very nice. Tough choice if you ask me.

Good luck & Cheers!

[DixieSax]

I have a Kessler Custom alto and tenor. Great horns. A lot of bang for the buck. I'd love to have a soprano as well, but I have some other things that need tended to first.

If you can swing it, I'd go for the red brass. I've heard only great things about them for the $.

[goodsax]

I have a Kessler Custom KCS2 soprano and believe it to be one of the best sopranos I've owned and played because of how easy it is to get the left palm key notes to speak compared to the others I've tried. I do have a playing issue with the front F key on my horn that could be unique to the horn.

It has an excellent sound quality and surprisingly good intonation. I'm using a Claude Lakey mpc with a Rico #3 reed, most of the time.

Btw, the only difference between the Deluxe Custom and the non-Deluxe is the engraving. So, to answer one of your questions, there's no difference in the playabilty between the two.

I have not played the rose brass version, but Yanagisawa makes a rose brass (or copper?) 992 model alto that does have a darker sound than their 991 lacquered brass model. I owned a 992 for awhile and noticed this with it.

[jrvinson45]

There was a recent thread that seems to address the issues you brought up here:
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=80292&highlight=kessler+red+brass