Tom Goodrick
08-31-2005, 01:17 AM
My Antigua 590 arrived today after a brush with Katrina this morning. UPS chose to route it circuitously from Memphis to Montgomery yesterday and then back to Huntsville (my home) this morning where it moved paralell to Katrina as she came up through Mississippi. The box shows evidence of being bounced and slid around as it changed trucks 5 or 6 times. But the horn was fine.
I had never played a sop before, having played only tenor the last few years. (Played alto a long time ago.) I had a Bari 66 ready to go with some 2.5 ZZ's. I tried that first. The first note was a squeek. Then there were several way out of tune, expecially as I went lower. Then I put on the Morgan Protone and it settled down to business. In minutes I was playing actual songs that seemed very natural. I can play all notes from low B flat to C3 with reasonable intonation though it will take a bit of practice to get everything nice and smooth. Above C3 I managed a few but not with good quality. That will take more work. Just for kicks I'll try the 4C that came with the horn originally. I just want to compare it to the others.
The plan is to work on the Morgan for at least a month or two until everything settles down. Tonight I'll try the Rovner dark lig as well. If nothing else, it is easier to get a reed firmly in place and straight with the Rovner.
This seems like a very professional horn to me. It looks great. (I have the laquered or LQ model.) The keywork has the same feel as my Yanigasawa tenor though, of course, the stroke is smaller for each key. Everything was close to where I expected it to be. I played several fast licks with no problem - and a few with some fumbling, of course. I am sure the fumbling will disappear in a few days.
The service by Kessler was fine. But, somebody ought to teach UPS about geography! I think next time I'll pop for the 2-day air shipping as I have done before with instruments.
I had never played a sop before, having played only tenor the last few years. (Played alto a long time ago.) I had a Bari 66 ready to go with some 2.5 ZZ's. I tried that first. The first note was a squeek. Then there were several way out of tune, expecially as I went lower. Then I put on the Morgan Protone and it settled down to business. In minutes I was playing actual songs that seemed very natural. I can play all notes from low B flat to C3 with reasonable intonation though it will take a bit of practice to get everything nice and smooth. Above C3 I managed a few but not with good quality. That will take more work. Just for kicks I'll try the 4C that came with the horn originally. I just want to compare it to the others.
The plan is to work on the Morgan for at least a month or two until everything settles down. Tonight I'll try the Rovner dark lig as well. If nothing else, it is easier to get a reed firmly in place and straight with the Rovner.
This seems like a very professional horn to me. It looks great. (I have the laquered or LQ model.) The keywork has the same feel as my Yanigasawa tenor though, of course, the stroke is smaller for each key. Everything was close to where I expected it to be. I played several fast licks with no problem - and a few with some fumbling, of course. I am sure the fumbling will disappear in a few days.
The service by Kessler was fine. But, somebody ought to teach UPS about geography! I think next time I'll pop for the 2-day air shipping as I have done before with instruments.