Sax on the Web Forum banner

P Mauriat: Unremarkable build quality

32K views 95 replies 48 participants last post by  Harvey 
#1 ·
I had a chance recently to try 2 alto 67's and 2 tenor 66's and found their sound to be very good and what I was looking for. Nice darker core, sort of the opposite of my yani's. But the build quality was poor. These horns felt like student knock offs compared to what I'm used to. With further inspection I noticed the palm key cups were in general too small as the rolled tone-holes were right at the very edge of the pad, others needed realignment, the octave mechanism didn't feel solid and in general the horns didn't inspire me to want to play them. Honestly, the Barone horns I tried had a much better feel so I guess all Tiawanes horns are not the same.
 
#82 ·
Love my 66R UL. Loved the other 66R UL that I tried. I loved the 66R DK that I tried as well. Love my 70K Mark VI too as well as my 10M, and my Yamaha 62. There are a lot of great horns out there. Yeah, some dogs too. In 50 plus years playing sax I've played a few. As far as build quality, I'm sure there are a lot of different "realities". All of our experiences are valid. If you don't have the luxury of trying the horn you are thinking about buying in person, then my suggestion is to pay a little more and get your horn from someone who knows how to set them up like Saxquest or Tim from Sax Alley (or Phil Barone for that matter). Most of these dealers have a decent return policy so there's not a lot of risk involved. Who cares what kind of bargain you get? What is it worth to you as a player to have a horn you love vs. a horn that you got "a good deal" on? The people you are playing for sure as heck don't care what kind of a deal you got. Same goes for any piece of equipment. I'm just glad that I don't play piano, violin, viola, cello, string bass, harp or any other number of instruments where finding a good ax might cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Jeez, even guitar players gripe less about their equipment than sax players and I don't know hardly any guitar players who own less than a half dozen guitars and probably that many amps as well.
 
#84 ·
I don't think anything comes out of the box ready to play anymore, even Selmer. I have a first edition System 76 tenor that I was able to get new pretty cheap. It was essentialy from the factory this way with no additional setup by a dealer. It needed alot of key tweaking, spring adjusting and cork/silencing material fixing and even some light metal filing to make some mating keywork surfaces true to each other before replacing the cork/silencing material. Additionally, the pads are not levelable (word?) with the sparce amout of mystery glue they put on the pads to keep them in the cups. So, out came the factory-installed Pisonis, in went the roo pads secured with shellac. So what's the moral of this long-winded story? I suggest getting a P Mauriat horn from a dealer who sets these up prior to shipping. The big box stores don't set them up. But if you are able to do yourself what I have described here, you get a bargain that plays and sounds great when you are finished. In fact, I like the 76 tenor so much that my Mark VI has been sold at a tidy profit, but don't tell the other Mark VI owners.
 
#85 ·
I suggest getting a P Mauriat horn from a dealer who sets these up prior to shipping.
Matt Stohrer is offering this. If I were seriously looking, that's where I'd be looking.
 
#87 ·
Thanks, rleitch and TJ!

Giving these horns a good setup is a necessity in my opinion. They've got such a great sound, and what I think is pretty good build quality, but the setup from the factory is lacking. They do keep improving on build and setup; the new System 76 2nd Edition unlacquered tenor is a killer horn.
 
#90 ·
Jicaino, I can see room for improvement in almost every sax ever made, as can you. But I don't feel like its a dealbreaker, any more than I consider Keilwerth build quality to be a dealbreaker. But would I like to improve it? Yep. Same as almost every horn except Yamaha and Yanagisawa. But I can find something to complain about on almost every horn- its probably what makes me a decent repairman.

Mauriat's strength is their sound. You simply can't get it anywhere else on a modern horn. Nobody else has it. I don't want to gush because I'll sound like a shill, but their new System 76 2nd edition unlacquered tenor- holy hell. Its huge.

Their construction is catching up at a pretty fast pace.
 
#92 ·
Jicaino, I can see room for improvement in almost every sax ever made, as can you. But I don't feel like its a dealbreaker, any more than I consider Keilwerth build quality to be a dealbreaker. But would I like to improve it? Yep. Same as almost every horn except Yamaha and Yanagisawa. But I can find something to complain about on almost every horn- its probably what makes me a decent repairman.

Mauriat's strength is their sound. You simply can't get it anywhere else on a modern horn. Nobody else has it. I don't want to gush because I'll sound like a shill, but their new System 76 2nd edition unlacquered tenor- holy hell. Its huge.

Their construction is catching up at a pretty fast pace.
Matt you know I respect you and appreciate you, but this kind of statements makes me raise my eyebrows and question wether you're being impartial here or you're just carried away by the enthusiasm everyone of us has when for some reason we have a "dog in the race"... I don't know, like me driving a Mopar and commenting on Mopar's qualities. I'm partial... [rolleyes]
 
#95 ·
Not saying you're full of it man! :tsk: just wondering wether you're keeping your center or you're excited being a dealer of a product you'd endorse, play, etc even if you have to buy it. I know the feeling.

I would seriously consider a PM if the paris bullshít was out of the picture.
 
#96 ·
New York, Paris, London, Tokyo. Those are the cities stamped on the bell of my 67RUL.

And below the thumb hook are:

USA XXX...
France XXX...
London XXX...

It sounds to me that Matt is more interested in the sound of the horns than what they're labeled. Which also seems to be a more reasonable approach since build quality is NOT an issue. But if you think set up is, then I can't really understand that either because just about any new horn out there could use a once-over to get it exactly right. Playable? Yeah, lots of horns come to the shops fairly playable. Not perfect and in some cases further than closer to being up to their potentials.

But here's the thing; a good musician is going to hear the tonal qualities of a horn even when it isn't exactly right. A little set up attention is only going to make a horn with great sound play better. Moreover a tech whose been working on all brands knows some brands have a distinctive sound quality and playability which is different than other brands.

Build quality? Some people are never going to wear out the worst brands out there. They just don't play enough. Others are going to need a tune up every six months on first tier horns because they're hard on their instruments. (knock any horn around enough and something will go out of adjustment)

And we also have lines of certain brands now being made in China. Granted these are the student lines, but whose to say more lines of those brands won't find parts etc eventually moving to overseas manufacturing if some hasn't already?

I know what you'll say.... Hey, I like my True Tone too. But it wasn't the last word in design or playability or sound.

The Kessler I tried was good. So was the Pro One. The Jupiters I've tried over the years have been decent enough horns.

But that Buffet.. S1 I think it was. jeez... And every Yani I've ever blown through.... And my Mauriat. Yes, my Mauriat. All have distinctive sound. All play extremely well.

Off to shed,
Harv
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top