590 Sop Substitute neck

[Russ]

Would a Yanni neck fit the 590 horn ? After all, the horn is a Yanni clone.

[Dave Dolson]

Russ: After reading your post, I tried mine . . . a straight neck from my S992, a straight sterling silver Yanagisawa neck (I use it on my SC902), and the 590LQ straight neck - on the 590LQ.

All the Yanagisawa necks fit the 590LQ. I did not notice any intonation problems. The horn's tone changed a bit with each different neck but I can't honestly say one was better than the other, just different. It would take days of testing and gigging to identify the benefits to my ear.

Unless you have some compelling reason to use a Yanagisawa neck (like replacing a broken 590 neck and the Yanagisawa is all that is available), I can't see any benefit to doing so. DAVE

[Russ]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the response. I was browsing Ebay UK and there was 2 minutes to go on a Yanni 991 sop neck. Needles to say, it got me thinking about my 590 sop, so I put a wild card bit in and got it for a price that can only be described as 'insulting'. Cheaper than a quality 10 box of reeds in fact ! Just a bit of fun that's all.

Cheers !!

[Dave Dolson]

Russ: Good buy . . . I guess. It always is nice to have back-up parts. And who knows, maybe this neck will be a better player than the stock neck. Let us know how it works. DAVE

[Russ]

Well Dave,

I never would have believed a small piece of brass tube could make so much difference !

From behind the horn using the Yanni neck and a Yanni metal m/p, their is much less resistance than on the Antigua straight and curved necks.
The tone is much MUCH brighter and the higher notes are nailed much easier. I'm really quite astonished.

Not sure if there would be any discernable difference from the other side of the horn and I'm not sure which I prefer, but the best way I can describe it is if I'd just moved from my Selmer C to my Yanni metal 7 again. Not bad for £8 UK.

I remain open minded but totally baffled !

[Dave Dolson]

Russ: I guess anything is possible. I'd advise testing and RE-testing for quite a while before deciding which one is better than the other. Like so many things saxophone, initial impressions can be weakened (or strengthened, I suppose) over time and by using the changes in various settings. DAVE