Hmm, Rampone and Cazzani really as good as I hear?

[JackThe7th]

Rampone and Cazzani. I small french company that supposedly 24k laquers their horns standard, then sells them for like 3000 dollars. If it was really 24k gold laquered, it would cost almost triple that. Is it true? can it be true. I say no. They must be poorly manufactured or something, for them to still be gold plated. What do you know about them? they dont seem to be well known, there arent that many posts on this page

[SAXISMYAXE]

Rampone and Cazzani are an Italian company, not French. And yes, having tried a few of their newist models, I can say that they are great playing, sounding, manufactured horns. A bit high priced considering the small market for them at present, but they are fine horns as modern made horns go.

[xuanvu]

It's not a French company, it's from Italy... It's not small, it's older than Selmer and handmade all their instruments, so their production is slower compare to others... From all the posts and from my inperience, they are great instruments (the new lines, R1 and R1 Jazz)... Their workmanship is super.

[Dave Dolson]

Jack: I owned two Rampone saxophones (tipped-bell soprano and a 'nino). Both were exceptional, in appearance and playability. They were 24K gold-plated (not sure about being lacquered - I suspect that gold-plated horns are not lacquered). By the way, they are made in Italy. I sold them for reasons previously stated on SOTW - but if one was interested in buying a Rampone, I'd support the decision based on my limited but good experiences with them. DAVE

[pepesax]

Rampone and Cazzani. I small french company that supposedly 24k laquers their horns standard, then sells them for like 3000 dollars. If it was really 24k gold laquered, it would cost almost triple that. Is it true? can it be true. I say no. They must be poorly manufactured or something, for them to still be gold plated. What do you know about them? they dont seem to be well known, there arent that many posts on this page
Well, I'm a happy Italian owner of a Rampone & Cazzani R1 Jazz tenor.
I suggest that you read the other posts about R&C to get some more useful and trustful information and also that you visit their site: www.ramponecazzani.it (they are 100% Italian makers/crafstmen).
I don't think their saxes are poor quality, on the contrary they are very good quality compared with more prestigious brands and makers. The reason of prices around $ 3000 for 24K heavy gold plated (not laquered) horns is mainly because they need to keep up with the market. There are many brand names and makers which generally sell lower quality instruments at similar prices. Moreover, makers such as Selmer sell something like 10,000 saxes a year, while R&C sell more or less 10 saxes a week (500 pieces a year?)
If you want to have an idea of quality and some useful reviews about R&C horns, also visit: www.saxophones.co.uk and www.saxforte.com.
If you need to see a customized horn coming from their laboratory you can take a look at my tenor: http://web.tiscali.it/pepesax/
Hope I added another perspective to your opinion, giving you a rough idea of what Rampone & Cazzani is.
Unfortunately I can't let you playtest the sax, unless you come to Italy...
Regards,
pepesax

[DougR]

This is a picture of an alessophone. Where and how much ???
http://www.ramponecazzani.it/en/images/alessofono_big.jpg

[pepesax]

This is a picture of an alessophone. Where and how much ???
You can find it at www.ramponecazzani.it.
Price? Well, Alessi is a world famous designer. They designed a unique, modern alto sax produced by Claudio Zolla of Rampone & Cazzani with special characteristics and decorations.
I bet it won't be less than $ 6000 or $ 7000, but it can even be more than that!

[Brice B.]

These are excellent horns. i own two, an alto and curved soprano. i think they are the highest quality on the market. i actually don't think they're over priced. i bought mine at a fair price for a professional handmade horn. mine are heavy silverplated.

my only probablem with the horns are the large bore. now, this wouldn't be a problem for a regular player, but i switched to actually directing music at a church and do very little sax playing. i find the large bore harder to play when i only pick it up once a month. that's a sad expression of me though, no the horn. when i was practicing regularly, i loved the way the horn played. more refined than a Keilwerth, more power than a Selmer.

I would actually sell my alto to buy an easier horn. But i stand by the fact that nothing could replace a horn of this quality. i just need something easier on my chops.

If anyone is interested in an R1 alto, give me an email:
bbasquez@yahoo.com

[xuanvu]

Hi Brice B., check your email regarding the R1 alto... What about the curved sop.??? I'm about to place an curved sop. order through saxforte, and if you're not really using it, I think I can have a deal here.

Thanks,
Kenny.

[Joe Jazz]

Kenny, what did you do, win the state lottery? Way to go! :lol:

[xuanvu]

Hehe :) Not actually, I passed the R1 al to deal thought... I'm saving money for a R&C curved soprano now...