ABS 31 mouthpiece and reed

**Big Dog** · 04-23-2012, 03:48 AM

Hi,

I've been wanting a baritone to add to my alto (Bundy II) and tenor (YTS475) for no other reason than I like shiny things. I went in to the local big box music store and they had an ABS 31 hanging on the wall with a $1000 price tag on it. That's about 1/2 of what I was expecting to pay to get into a basic used baritone. The story is they are retiring it from the rental fleet because they are replacing it with a Jupiter horn.

My question is about the mouthpiece and reeds. I've got the horn on a one week rental for evaluation. The mouthpiece is unlabeled but I expect that it is the original since the horn doesn't appear to have many miles on it. It has a few cosmetic dings so I know it has been out of the store but all the pads appear to be in good shape and the lacquer is 100%. The ligature says it's for a tenor and the mouthpiece appears to fit a tenor reed as well as or better than a baritone reed. It is definately not a tenor mouthpiece. It's much too large.

For good measure, I got the store to throw in a Yamaha 5C Baritone mouthpiece but it is much shorter than the mouthpiece that was in the case. The Yamaha mouthpiece throws the intonation off. I have to pull the neck out of the socket about 3/16" to get it to play close to in tune.

I can't find much information online about the Amati horns, let alone the non-current ABS 31. Anyone got any thoughts on this? Do they use tenor reeds on baritones in the Czech Republic?

By the way, the case must be wrapped in actual leather 'cause my dog thinks it's pretty darn tastey. I should have gotten the "no questions asked" insurance. I guess I'm keeping the horn.

Thanks,
Ray

**spike421** · 04-23-2012, 02:39 PM

From what little I know about Amati's they appear to be built with an older design, bigger bore, octave key on the neck, not as "tightly wrapped" as opposed to the newer Selmer, Yamaha, Yanagisawa design. The Amati may require a larger chambered mouthpiece to play in tune, although the Yamaha isn't that small. You'll need to go back to your retailer and try what he has until you find one that works with the horn. My experience with my own older style Bari (Buffet SDA) is that
they don't like small chamber, high baffle pieces.

**dexdex** · 04-23-2012, 03:34 PM

I owned an Amati ABS 31 back in the early 90s (ouch...). It came with a standard Selmer G HR mp, which did fine. The horn was in tune and sounded like Mr. Mulligan. It lacked a bit punch for the more funky use, so I bought a steel Berg 125/3 M which also did great. It gave a nice spark to the rather darkish sounding Amati. Nice and well built horn, I don't remember any intonation issues.

**xax** · 05-31-2012, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by spike421

From what little I know about Amati's they appear to be built with an older design, bigger bore, octave key on the neck, not as "tightly wrapped" as opposed to the newer Selmer, Yamaha, Yanagisawa design. The Amati may require a larger chambered mouthpiece to play in tune, although the Yamaha isn't that small. You'll need to go back to your retailer and try what he has until you find one that works with the horn. My experience with my own older style Bari (Buffet SDA) is that
they don't like small chamber, high baffle pieces.

I think they are based on or similar to an older Keilwerth/Kohlert/Weltklang design so perhaps what works on those would be the ticket. (large bores seem a typically German thing) I should add that these were stenciled as Boosey & Hawkes "Lafleur" and King "Lemaire".

I have one of these that I'm trying to resurrect but I can't find certain parts. I haven't had to deal with the mpc problem...yet but one mpc that i'd look for is a Geo. Bundy.

Hey Big Dog, Would you send me a PM with the name of the dealer?...He may have the spare parts I need to put mine into shape.

**littlewailer** · 05-31-2012, 08:42 PM

I also have to pull the neck out of the socket about the same amount you do to get it to play in tune with my Jody Jazz HR.

A little sharp up top. A little flat down low. Nothing really "off".

My link played more in tune but the sound wasn't what I was looking for.

Keep in mind this is tenor. Likely true across the range though.

**xax** · 06-15-2012, 07:11 AM

UPDATE: Over the past 5-6 years, I have tried at least coupla times to get a replacement bari neck from Amati USA, going so far as to drive there with the horn, but was always told that it wasn't available.

However, this month i was finally able to get a commitment from Mr Rana Singh at AMATI USA in Mountainside NJ. The factory in Czechoslovakia will make me a new neck for my long out of production ABS32 low "A" bari. I should receive it sometime next month... less than $275 delivered!

**littlewailer** · 06-15-2012, 01:31 PM

Cool.

I've often thought about getting an after Market neck for my Amati.

However since the overhead for the horn is only about $600 I'm not gonna sink another $300 into a neck when money is pretty tight right now.
I've got a super weekly gig coming up. Who knows I might get a new horn within a couple of months. Already getting a new larger chambered mouthpiece so I suspect I won't have to pull the neck out anymore.