Grassi Prestige soprano sax

[newtenorsax]

Hello everyone I was wondering has any one tried a Grassi Prestige soprano sax? I have seen one the serial number is 67xxx. How is the sound and keywork? The aksking price is $800.00. Is that to high? thanks for any info.

[MMM]

I think you should take a look: the keywork is an exact copy of a Selmer. Before Grassi shut down for good, the Prestige was the top of the line model in 24K gold plated finish. It was not an inexpensive sax (probably one of the reasons the company went bust, according to some Italian music retailers): from a Bill Lewington (London) price list from 1990, the Prestige soprano with hi F# is listed at £1395 (equivalent to @ $2200 USD), for comparison, the Selmer SA80 II was listed at £1720! Not much difference in price.

Having said all that I have not had the pleasure to try one in any denomination, so I can only say that they are rare (I'd like to know where all the unsold ones ended up!) and worth a try, but do try first!

All the best and report back with your findings...
M

[JMac]

Hmmm.. according to this thread, they went out of business for a different reason.. http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=5226 a parsed version (whole thread concerns 4 makes of Italian Saxes) is...
Well,I'm italian,so I know this topic well enough,I think,because these intruments are pretty common in my country.
...Said this,the most important names (there were many other,but the more avaible are these ) are the following:

1)Borgani (Macerata)
2)Orsi (Milano)
3)Grassi (Trento)
4)Rampone e Cazzani (somewhere in Piemonte on a lake...I remenber)

{snipped}
Grassi:sadly,what was the best sax factory in Italy shut down in 2000.Lady Grassi was very old ,around the 90s,and she wasn't able to carry on.Nobody of their nephews wanted to be involved in the enterprise so it died.If it's sadly enough,it closed when started the production of the last and the best sax by Grassi,the Professional 2000.I tried it along with a Selmer IIIrd series and it was MUCH MUCH better.If you find one,purchase it!The other instruments were the leader (don't be fooled by the name,a student model) equipareble to the Yamaha 52,and the old Prestige,professional model good but not special.The older model are very well done but nothing more than Selmer mk VI copies.
{snipped}

I guess only the family knows for sure why they went out of business...

That being said, you may want to try a search on Grassi in this forum. There are a number of threads tauting the Professional / Professsional 2000, but I do not know how that model relates to the Prestige. Most of the latter period Grassis I see on e-Bay are in the UK. I have on older Ida Marie Grassi tenor (a Mark VI clone) waiting to be refurbed. It seems to be very well built, and will likely become a backup for my B&S 2001. Give the Prestige a trial, and please let us know your thoughts! - Jeff

[newtenorsax]

Thanks for the information JMac and MMM I will take closer look at the Grassi prestige. I will keep you posted.

[newtenorsax]

Hello JMac and MMM I got the chance to see and play test the Grassi Prestige soprano. The sax is in good shape finish is about 95%. Pearls on the keys includig g#,high f#,F#,left hand thumb rest.The right hand thumb rest adjust. It has one small ding on the side of the bell and a little wear on the pinkey table and palm keys. The pads look good. The keywork looks like a Selmer SA80II. The sax plays intune on most notes and the worst being c# wihich was flat 10 cents. I was using a Rico Royal Metalite mouthpiece M5 .060" and Rico jazz select #2 medium reeds yamaha ligiture. the Grassi Prestige looks and sounds good much better than the cheaper Rossetti Ebay model I bought awhile back. Thanks for your help MMM and Jmac (Moderator for moving this thread from the soprano section) I think I bought a pretty good soprano. Jmac and MMM based on my 67xxx serial number do you know when this soprano was made?

[newtenorsax]

Hello again JMac and MMM I just bought a Selmer S-80 D mouthpiece and now Grassi Prestige soprano sings. I will keep the Rico Metalite for the Rossetti. Again many thanks.

[JMac]

Hello again JMac and MMM I just bought a Selmer S-80 D mouthpiece and now Grassi Prestige soprano sings. I will keep the Rico Metalite for the Rossetti. Again many thanks.
That is indeed good news!!! it is unfortunate the business did not survive :( . I am also sorry that I can not help with any information on serial numbers. I have no idea what year my horn was made. It was actuall 3rd-, 4th-, or 5th-hand by the time I got it :!:

[baffonero]

SOPRANO SS350 IDA MARIA GRASSI ITALY
Serie Grassi Prestige

I found one of this saxes for $1000. Any news, advice about this horn?

[MMM]

Baffonero (a Zappa fan?),

make sure it is one of the older Prestige made in Italy, these were pro level saxes (Gold plating, sophisticated keywork, etc). I'm telling you this because saxes stamped "IM Grassi Prestige" are now being produced in Taiwan and sold by Amadeus, an Italian importer manufacturer(?).

As far as I can tell, the old Prestige saxes had a 400 model number (ie 440S for the soprano, 450A alto, etc.) so be careful, if it has a modern (vintage) finish it is most probably a new sax. Chances are you can buy a brand new one for close to that money. Still, they look well made so try if you can.

Poi mi puoi anche contattare in Italiano...
Manlio

[baffonero]

Baffonero (a Zappa fan?)

Yes, I love Zappa.
Thanks for the advice. It was made in Taiwan, no ways.
I didn't try it, it was an ebay item. The price was too low actually.
I think it's pretty hard to find one of those old Grassi, however at the moment I'm turning to something else (Antigua Winds).

Thanks again.

See Ya

Fabio