I'm the new owner of an Amati Kraslice ATS 61.
Very reasonable price. Feels good. Looks good. Sounds good.
I met a guy playing the same model Baritone and thought I'd try the tenor out at the local brass and woodwind.
Compared to the Cannonball and The Jupiter XO I had I like the Amati way better.
Hi , newbie on this forum.
Been playing on Amati alto and tenor for sometime now (own Amati's, Bueschers, owned Yamaha).
I always, always wanted to react when someone -who clearly has never owned or played a well setup Amati - was bashing this original brand (these guys are really not hard to find) but I kept quiet because….I hate to loose… bargains! It's a fact :you can buy Amati for scratch and...I have a nice collection already so here I go " breaking the silence"…
So littlewailer …I have that ATS 61 as well (and a AAS 61…and…well, don't get me started…
Good horns, marketed as their best at that time (mid sixties) .Weak points : the springs and the pads. Get those replaced, have the horn setup by an expert and it easily holds it's own next to really really expensive horns. Playability and tone ! 15 years of studio-work (I recorded many saxplayers ) and 35 years of been a musician" with good ears" will guarantee you that.
That said: the Super classic's (especially the Nickel ones) are really …well..Super. You will read that they are student horns: forget it! They were meant as being the best they had at that time and they are mind-boggling good horns (once setup by an expert).
Let me share one other thing: when you read things like: Amati badly copied this or that: don't even bother ! They have their own models. They are "original", both in form , function and sound . The Amati Alt Super and Tenor Super (better known as AAS 61 and ATS 61) first appeared around 1964, just about the same time Yamaha introduced their YAs 61'series (1965 if I'm correct). As Amati was government-ruled, the changing of the "name of the models " probably took…(well…you know how fast administration worked in those days…One can only guess "how many" years it took) Yamaha -at that time-was like all other Japanese companies: copying , copying and copying and taking the market by storm. So…I leave it to common sense to help one guess "who copied who". I'm not even starting a discussion on that.
The "Tjech " also have a good reputation for instrument building (and not only instruments.) . The idea that anything coming from behind the iron curtain is mediocre was based on cold war propaganda . To get a more realistic idea how much "technically behind" they are…Mmmmm…lets' see...just check the space-program from USSR and the US and see which country made the most (and biggest ) mistakes. USSR hasn't lost 1 rocket /shuttle yet.. .even their dog came back safe and sound (well, it barked and informed about cats when it came back.. sounds healthy to me)
If my English isn't that good, do forgive me. I am Belgian, Dutch is my language and French my second language.