DixieSax
12-04-2008, 09:20 PM
With trepidation, I've been occasionally looking at 'ninos for the past several months, and on Monday, a perfect storm hit. The first gust was an ebay 10% off coupon. The second arrived in the form of a Kritavi post on the ebay thread about how to get free money from ebay/microsoft on a buy it now purchase. I looked for the info on ebay, and the number on Monday was 30% cash back.
So I started scanning ebay for anything that I "just had to have," and noticed that Dominic had some stuff including his 'ninos marked 50% off and priced at 499.00. I did a little bit more research on the ebay cashback thing and learned that it applies only to "buy it now" items, but that it could be combined with the ebay 10% off coupon.
Then when I checked my mail, I received an unexpected small bonus check.
So - I decided what the heck, and I ordered a DC Pro series II 'nino... for a total cost of 299.70 after cashback and all the coupons were applied. :D
The big brown truck delivered it today. I will say that Dominic packs well, and that I'd like to have stock in his tape supplier. The 'nino in its case was packed in an inner box, which was surrounded by air bags packed in an outer box. Well done. Inside the case, the horn itself was wrapped in tissue paper, then a layer of bubble wrap. Nine separate shipping corks were fitted to secure all the keywork closed. Again well done.
The horn shipped with a stock mouthpiece, 1 reed, cap, lig, and an accessory kit that included a nice jewelers screwdriver, tweezers, polishing cloth, gloves (snicker) and a neckstrap. All in all, a very well put together package.
The sax itself really is not bad at all. In silver plate, it is very striking in appearance. On closer examination, the build quality is not as good as my Kessler alto and tenor, and certainly not up to the standards of my Mk VII alto or SML tenor, but it does compare very favorably to my Jupiter sop. It's not going to fall apart if it's not misused. Mostly post to body construction, with generous solder plates at the bottom of each post. All were well fitted with no gaps, and only a couple of very minor (you would never notice if you weren't looking) instances of a small amount of stray solder. The silver plating job is done extremely well.
Having said that, it's not set up terribly well, and will need some adjustments. The left pinkie table is not particulary comfortable, and C# is very oversprung. G# on the other hand is undersprung, and not real well positioned for my big fat hands - my long pinkie tends to overshoot the key.
The horn feels solid though when being played - there is no play in the keywork, everything operates smoothly and crisply (although with a bit of a thud when the oversprung C# and Bb bounce back into their normal positions). Right out of the case with the stock piece and reed, the horn spoke from the bottom to the top (E) of its range, and with entirely reasonable intonation for someone who hasn't played a 'nino in years. The only evident intonational issue is that D (long D, not the palm key D) is a bit sharp in both octaves. I won't attribute that to the workmanship yet until I have Eb checked for leaks.
Overall impressions after spending about an hour with the horn today is that it's a much better build than the last Chinese horn I tried out a couple of years ago, and a very passable player. Not the best horn I own, but certainly not one that I'd be ashamed to take out and gig with. Good enough that I'll make some opportunities to use it on a few jobs for the novelty factor, and certainly worth what I paid for it.
Given the rare opportunity to play 'nino, it's certainly not a horn that I'd run out and spend big bucks on, but if you keep an eye out for a sale or other deal, it's a pretty good horn, especially for the price. If the others in the Series II line are up to the standards of this 'nino, they would definitely be worth consideration if you are on a budget. Not surprised by this, as the Chinese manufacturers are improving, as C.E. Winds for example has some pretty decent horns built there. As they do get better, however, I expect the prices will start to climb as they already are for some of the excellent Taiwanese horns.
So I started scanning ebay for anything that I "just had to have," and noticed that Dominic had some stuff including his 'ninos marked 50% off and priced at 499.00. I did a little bit more research on the ebay cashback thing and learned that it applies only to "buy it now" items, but that it could be combined with the ebay 10% off coupon.
Then when I checked my mail, I received an unexpected small bonus check.
So - I decided what the heck, and I ordered a DC Pro series II 'nino... for a total cost of 299.70 after cashback and all the coupons were applied. :D
The big brown truck delivered it today. I will say that Dominic packs well, and that I'd like to have stock in his tape supplier. The 'nino in its case was packed in an inner box, which was surrounded by air bags packed in an outer box. Well done. Inside the case, the horn itself was wrapped in tissue paper, then a layer of bubble wrap. Nine separate shipping corks were fitted to secure all the keywork closed. Again well done.
The horn shipped with a stock mouthpiece, 1 reed, cap, lig, and an accessory kit that included a nice jewelers screwdriver, tweezers, polishing cloth, gloves (snicker) and a neckstrap. All in all, a very well put together package.
The sax itself really is not bad at all. In silver plate, it is very striking in appearance. On closer examination, the build quality is not as good as my Kessler alto and tenor, and certainly not up to the standards of my Mk VII alto or SML tenor, but it does compare very favorably to my Jupiter sop. It's not going to fall apart if it's not misused. Mostly post to body construction, with generous solder plates at the bottom of each post. All were well fitted with no gaps, and only a couple of very minor (you would never notice if you weren't looking) instances of a small amount of stray solder. The silver plating job is done extremely well.
Having said that, it's not set up terribly well, and will need some adjustments. The left pinkie table is not particulary comfortable, and C# is very oversprung. G# on the other hand is undersprung, and not real well positioned for my big fat hands - my long pinkie tends to overshoot the key.
The horn feels solid though when being played - there is no play in the keywork, everything operates smoothly and crisply (although with a bit of a thud when the oversprung C# and Bb bounce back into their normal positions). Right out of the case with the stock piece and reed, the horn spoke from the bottom to the top (E) of its range, and with entirely reasonable intonation for someone who hasn't played a 'nino in years. The only evident intonational issue is that D (long D, not the palm key D) is a bit sharp in both octaves. I won't attribute that to the workmanship yet until I have Eb checked for leaks.
Overall impressions after spending about an hour with the horn today is that it's a much better build than the last Chinese horn I tried out a couple of years ago, and a very passable player. Not the best horn I own, but certainly not one that I'd be ashamed to take out and gig with. Good enough that I'll make some opportunities to use it on a few jobs for the novelty factor, and certainly worth what I paid for it.
Given the rare opportunity to play 'nino, it's certainly not a horn that I'd run out and spend big bucks on, but if you keep an eye out for a sale or other deal, it's a pretty good horn, especially for the price. If the others in the Series II line are up to the standards of this 'nino, they would definitely be worth consideration if you are on a budget. Not surprised by this, as the Chinese manufacturers are improving, as C.E. Winds for example has some pretty decent horns built there. As they do get better, however, I expect the prices will start to climb as they already are for some of the excellent Taiwanese horns.