P. Mauriat 300DK Bari

[GAS_Wyo]

Who has one of these monsters? What are your impressions of the horn? How do they compare to other baris you've played? I've read Mountainman's impressions in the thread "Testing the PM's", but are there others?

I'm considering ditching my YBS-52 to get one. I like the 52, but I want a horn I can fall in love with and the Yamaha just isn't getting it for me anymore.

I WILL go try one out at Sax Alley before purchase, but I'd like to know who has one or who has tried one out. Just curious for the moment.

[tjontheroad]

I'm going to CO to visit family Labor Day weekend. I'm planning to check out Sax Alley and the PM bari's while there. Nice looking sax, but ya' can't judge a book by it's cover.

[BayviewSax]

Yeah man. If I ever go with new bari (read: My VI meets a horrible death) I'm going this route. They're too smokin' to ignore!

[jmarshall83]

I use a Jody Jazz esp. w/ spoiler 10*. best baritone mouthpiece ever. for me anyway...
custom p. mauriat baritone sax low Bb. let me know what you guys think.

http://web.mac.com/jasonmarshalljazz
http://www.myspace.com/overtnegritude7

[Chris S]

If y'all are planning on going to see Tim anytime in the near future, you'd best call first. Tim's still battling a parasite of some kind that he picked up on his last trip overseas. He's not getting any better (or least hasn't been for the last several weeks). Keep him in your thoughts.

[GAS_Wyo]

Well, I realize it's been a while since I saw this thread. Tim is better and gettin' more of those PMB-300DK's in as we speak. I think I have one reserved...I get rid of a car payment at the end of January. I'll take my Link Tone Edge, my Metallite and a Berg 115/3M. If one of those will play down to pp, I may just buy the horn on the spot!

I just listened to jmarshall83's sound clip on mysite...That's some kickin' bari!

I'm lovin' the sound, the groove, the name, etc. Keep it up!

[Selmer's_glu]

I just tried the Mauriat bari at the IAJE this morning.....

Its a nice horn, really nice. Big sound. I was impressed. I still feel that the Tawainese horns are lacking a certain something, but for the price, its not a bad deal.

The only downside, for me, was, its REALLY HEAVY! I mean, alot heavier that a MK6 or others. AND I'm 6'4" and weigh about 250 (all muscle, of course:) ), and I thought it was heavy. Granted I'm almost 43, but I think it would be a tough hang, to be playing a horn that heavy, for 4 hours a night--but thats just me.

I also tried Steve Goodson's bari, and...surprise, I found it VERY good & dark & big sounding, actually i liked it BETTER than the P.Mauriat--more features, a little slicker action &, a lot lighter. I think Steve came up with a nice one :)

Hope this helps you.

[GAS_Wyo]

For comparison, I'm 6' 2", 225 lbs and 45 years old...If it's tough for you, it might be doubly tough for me. I wonder if a harness would help?

How would you describe the sound? Warm? Did you say 'lacking something'? Can you give me a hint as to what you believe it is lacking?

[Selmer's_glu]

I think, and its just me, that most of your Tawian horns, sound good if and when you don't put tons of air thru the horn. Possibly they are designed for that.

Ive always thought air is what separates a decent tone from a really good one. Air support is key, unfortunately, many teachers do not stress it enough, or at all. Alot of weekend & hobby players, who possibly never had enough private instruction or spent enough time with the horn to develop that, have poor air support.

This maybe who these horns are marketed for, Im not sure.

I feel that when you push a horn, really push it & put alot of air into it, something happens to the sound. In some horns, it breaks up or gets really nasty. In others, it really sings in a complex way.

The opposite is true also. When playing a ppp, very soft, the tone should be as complex and full of the "stuff" (harmonics/depth, call it what you want) thats in the tone, at normal volume. Its subtle stuff.

This is why Selmer is so popular. It has that. (IMHO)

Unfortunately, you need to support & put some work in, to get that.

The Tawain horns, and this seemed to be true with the Mauriat, sound best at mid-volume, but dont quite "make it" in the extremes.

Hope that helps.

[GAS_Wyo]

I think, and its just me, that most of your Tawian horns, sound good if and when you don't put tons of air thru the horn. Possibly they are designed for that.

Ive always thought air is what separates a decent tone from a really good one. Air support is key, unfortunately, many teachers do not stress it enough, or at all. Alot of weekend & hobby players, who possibly never had enough private instruction or spent enough time with the horn to develop that, have poor air support.

This maybe who these horns are marketed for, Im not sure.

I feel that when you push a horn, really push it & put alot of air into it, something happens to the sound. In some horns, it breaks up or gets really nasty. In others, it really sings in a complex way.

The opposite is true also. When playing a ppp, very soft, the tone should be as complex and full of the "stuff" (harmonics/depth, call it what you want) thats in the tone, at normal volume. Its subtle stuff.

This is why Selmer is so popular. It has that. (IMHO)

Unfortunately, you need to support & put some work in, to get that.

The Tawain horns, and this seemed to be true with the Mauriat, sound best at mid-volume, but dont quite "make it" in the extremes.

Hope that helps.

Answering a Selmer Player (above) with another Selmer Player on sound of the PM's...
The first impression you get when holding the new System 76 soprano is its solid, well-built look. The blue-abalone key touches are stunning and the key placement is very comfortable. The gold-lacquer finish complements its look as a modern-contemporary soprano.

After playing my first note, I was awestruck by the fullness of the tone, particularly at the low registers. Many players comment on the big-sounding low registers of the P Mauriat saxophones and this one is no exception. I am able to execute all the way down to low B-flat effortlessly. The sound is not boomingly huge but creamily full. I did not have to adjust my embouchure very much to glide my way around the low notes. I was very pleased with the flexibility down there.

As I get more and more comfortable with the modern key work (* I was using a vintage soprano for the last 5 years), I felt a sense of ‘connection’ between the key placement and the tone production. The ‘feel’ was very easy and effortless and the notes sort of ‘pop’ out with every movement of my fingers. As I went higher up the registers, there is a little healthy resistance which prevents me from over-blowing. Middle D was very warm and round. Octave E and above was very clear and powerful but not too overbearing. The sound doesn’t crack as I tried to push it. Instead it remained focused and clear throughout.

Intonation is a major concern with soprano players. And all I can say is that I’m very pleased with the overall intonation of the System 76 soprano. I did not have to constantly adjust my embouchure in order to keep in tune. This soprano definitely out-performs other sopranos in its price range in terms of intonation.

Last but not least, I would like to add a comment about the overall tone quality. Although it has a very clear and full modern soprano sound, it surprisingly retains the warmth missing in most of the modern sopranos in the market. I was a skeptic of such advertising lines such as “a vintage-like warmth but with modern key work”. But the System 76 soprano has just done justice to such a claim.
As a former Selmer player myself, I'll say I believe the Selmers have less character than the PM's.

[Selmer's_glu]

OK, but I'm going to respectfully DISagree w/you.

To me, it doesn't have it, at the extremes, like I said before. Maybe I like to "push" horns too much, but thats the way I play.

I'm primarly a tenor player, who, in recent years, here in New York, seems to have been getting more & more calls for Bari--I recently played Bari on a national TV commercial for Charles Schwab for a pretty well know jingle house & ad agency.

I'm not sure what kind of playing you need the Mauriat for, perhaps it will be what you need, I don't think it would fulfill all my purposes.

Good luck

[bari_sax_diva]

Okay, I'm back from the NAMM show and had a blow on one of these. In short, I was awfully impressed by the sound and response of this horn. Sunday in this part of the hall is pretty loud, but by using a glass case across the aisle as a sound reflector (I'm sure the exhibitor there just loved that), I found that this horn had a nice, complex sound with TONS of overtones. Getting plenty of volume wasn't a problem for me--when I poured on the air, the sax responded with a roar. Low A and Bb popped out at pp (not bad, considering it had been subjected to tire-kicking all weekend), and the top notes spoke nicely, though the front F didn't seem to respond as easily as I'm used to on my Yamaha. Ergos were awfully good, though I'd tweak the LH table a bit to lighten things up and also swap out the thumbhook for something more forgiving--the metal ones seem to shred my hands.

While I was there I also played Goodson's sax (a close runner-up), the black nickel Keilwerth, and several others I won't mention because they didn't stand out in any particular way (save one that was remarkably bad). I've been keeping an eye out for a backup horn in case my primary axe gets hit by a truck or something, and although I was thinking one of the Taiwanese horns would probably do the job well enough, I wasn't thinking particularly about the Mauriat. Now I'm thinking that if the horn holds up as well as it plays new, this could become my primary axe for R&B gigs. It just seems well-suited to that sort of thing.

YMMV of course, but I'm not easily impressed and I sure was today. :)

Cheers,
Leanne

P.S. I only played the horn for a few minutes, but for whatever it's worth, it *seemed* lighter than my Yami 62.

[GAS_Wyo]

Leanne,
Have you ever played/compared your YBS-62 to a Selmer Series II? I've been toying with the idea for the last few days. I haven't played the PM yet (still waiting for Tim Glesmann of Sax Alley to return an email), but the Selmers always intrigue me. Plus, glu above got me to thinking...

Thanks for the report back. Hope you enjoyed the show!

[bari_sax_diva]

Leanne,
Have you ever played/compared your YBS-62 to a Selmer Series II? I've been toying with the idea for the last few days. I haven't played the PM yet (still waiting for Tim Glesmann of Sax Alley to return an email), but the Selmers always intrigue me. Plus, glu above got me to thinking...

I play tested a Series II before I bought my Yamaha, and the key layout didn't work for me. I was playing a Mark VI bari at the time, and the Yamaha was a much easier switch. I don't remember there being a substantial difference in sound between the two, but it's been quite a while since I played a SA-80.

I think I've finally come to the conclusion that once you've narrowed a search down to a [small] group of top-end horns, you're dealing with such similarly excellent equipment that the rest comes down to issues of personal preference. So... all I can suggest is to give the Selmer a try and see if you dig it enough to want to spend hours practicing it. If you do... mission accomplished!

Best,
Leanne

[DaveR]

The Series 2 is very heavy. Much heavier than a Yamaha 62 or a Mk6. I played one for 6/7 years in a quartet and had to use a stand; I couldn't have hacked it on the sling. So, beware if weight is a problem - it has a great sound though.

[danarsenault]

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.

[DaveR]

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.

:!: That's weird, the Yamaha 62 bari I played felt like a tenor in comparison to my Series 2 bari.

[bari_sax_diva]

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.


Back about a year or so ago, there was a thread that dealt with this same subject, but was focused more on tenors. Time to revive that question; so as not to derail this thread, I've posted a new one here. (http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=436762#post436762)

[jojosax]

I also tried Steve Goodson's bari, and...surprise, I found it VERY good & dark & big sounding, actually i liked it BETTER than the P.Mauriat--more features, a little slicker action &, a lot lighter. I think Steve came up with a nice one :)




where can we get info from steve goosdson's bari?
is it a low A or LowBb.

thanks

[Funkdude]

Hi, I live in Denmark - but I'm probably going to Netherlands around easter. They have the 300DK Bari. For some reason dealers in Denmark doesn't have it.

I would like a lot more info on the horn though - I can't find many reviews I think I can trust. Mauriat and their endorsers have written a few - but where can I learn more from less biased sources?

Please help me out on this - I really could do with better bari than my banged up King Zephyr (I love the sound - hate about everything else ;-)

Thanks, Peter

[bari_sax_diva]

Well, this thread for a start...

[Funkdude]

Yes, this thread is actually the best I have found so far. Only a thread at saxquest.com comes close:

http://www.saxquest.com/forumThreadView.asp?ForumUID=6&ThreadUID=5756

Still, I could use a lot more info on these horns. Mauriat apparently knows how to brand a horn, and reviews not written by endorsers are very hard to find.

Of course how I like the horn should be the only thing that matters, but being a quite new brand, it would be nice to hear from someone who has played it - or maybe even owns one.

I'll try the horn when I get to Amsterdam, until then - any info (not already in this thread) will be appreciated. Thanx

[Funkdude]

I have not yet tried the 300DK Bari. They had sold out at the stores I visited. I might have one sent up here - so I can try it out. I really would like to. I was impressed with the Mauriat tenors - but don't really need a substitute for my ser III. Still looking for a nice bari.

I have done some searching on the internet in the meanwhile. I have seen pictures of the mauriat and the new Steve Goodson saxophone at www.saxquest.com. To me, they seem quite alike. Not completely, but several things do appear to be the same:

The low c-key (design of where I hold my pinky + the double arm).
The bell to body-brace (even though the SG model has two of them).
The thumb rest - apart from an interesting addition - has the same design.
The brace close to the neck.
The octave- and low A-key.
Front f design.

Does anyone know anything about this? Myself - I have no idea - I just like to research a product before I buy (as well as play it - if it is a sax). I'm just interested to know. Could the SG be a Mauriat stencil - with minor additions? Don't know if that would be good or bad (I have read - not all, but most of the posts about SG - so this should not end up being an SG discussion). I am just eager to know more.

[Morry]

I think there was a thread on here somewhere that highlighted a number of the similarities. Too many to be a coincidence. I think the consensus was that they likely came from the same factory.

[Randall]

Uh-oh guys....get ready for unsolicited G-mail!

THERE IS NO SPECULATION ALLOWED ON THESE HORNS:twisted:

[Somerled]

Almost 30 years ago I played a Couf Suberba I low A. I thought it was as heavy as a boat anchor until a new Berklee Student, Wendy Swedberg, let me play her Yamaha (I don't remember the model). I almost broke my neck it was so heavy. Now I play the Serie II on a wide Hyman no problem.

When I first came to Berklee I had a Low-A Vito (made by the Yanagisawa people.) Not a bad starter horn. It was destroyed when I passed out and fell down a flight of stairs with it in a soft gig bag. That's when I got my first Selmer. Happily, the marvelous Scott Robinson (marvelous musician, marvelous person, marvelous repairman!) fixed the badly mangled Vito and I was able to trade it in for my first alto, plus a piccolo and an alto flute!

-Wendy (Swedberg) Macdonald

[Windmiles]

Who has one of these monsters? What are your impressions of the horn? How do they compare to other baris you've played? I've read Mountainman's impressions in the thread "Testing the PM's", but are there others?

I'm considering ditching my YBS-52 to get one. I like the 52, but I want a horn I can fall in love with and the Yamaha just isn't getting it for me anymore.

I WILL go try one out at Sax Alley before purchase, but I'd like to know who has one or who has tried one out. Just curious for the moment.
Hi, I have hade a 300DK for about 3 weeks. Amazing sound, very good control, excellent intonation, definitely better than the Mk Vl I sold to get this.
This is a horn with a fabulous sound.

[Snowbari]

Hey guys and gals,
I regularly play bari, and I tried a new PMauriat bari at TMEA last year and the year before and then went to the Selmer booth and played a Series II. I was using a Jody Jazz ESP8 w/Rico Select Jazz 2H. I liked the sound of the PM and the feel of it too. In fact, I had one of my students purchase the alto with rolled tone holes. However, when compared to the II, I found that I liked the edginess of the Selmer II. Yes the II was a brighter sound BUT I want that when I need it. The PM wasn't giving it to me how I like it. I'm still a fan of the Selmer II and if I was to get another horn I would most likely go with the YBS-62 until PM gave me a brighter sound.
Thanks for listening,
Ken

[jthole]

I'm looking for a new bari (my The Martin is a rental horn, and I want to evaluate several options before buying something), and I am definitely interested in trying the P.Mauriat horn.
One thing that I am not sure of though ... since I bought it 25 years ago, my Indiana alto has kept, and even increased, its value. Of course nobody can answer that question already, but I am not convinced that a P.Mauriat will retain its value throughout the years. So, looking at the long term, I don't know if a relatively new brand like P.Mauriat is the best route for me.

[iPodFreak]

Well my 300DK will be arriving soon from Tim @ Sax Alley. I'm doing his 10 day trial. I would really like to save some $$ with this horn. I've played YBS-52, Selmer SA 80, and some real clunkers over the past 18 years. All of them borrowed. So I'm finally making my first bari purchase and will send it back if it fails to deliver. Here's to a hopefully a great horn.

[iPodFreak]

Well after several delays on both sides, the horn arrived today in great condition. Only played it for an hour or so and I am impressed at the quality of the horn. More time with it is needed to determine if it is a keeper.

[bari_sax_diva]

Have fun and make sure you post back with a report!

-Leanne

[iPodFreak]

After playing it for two days I have come to the following conclusions:

Horn has a beautiful sound. Sound is dark/warm. Low register is very easy to play at pp and equally pleasing at ff. When comparing it to my very tired $600 eBay Bundy II (Low Bb) there is no doubt the virtues of modern engineering. At first I found the right hand larger and the left hand smaller but quickly adjusted to the new spacing. The Low A Key was awkward at first but again found myself using it without thinking. As I went back and forth between the sad Bundy II the difference in color was remarkable. My wife would comment that the Bundy II sound more "saxophoney". Essentially commenting on how the DK 300's sound had so little edge when compared to the Bundy. After the first night we all agreed that the low register was just outstanding and appropriate for my classical sax needs.

I started today with Jazz etudes that leaned on the upper register. I struggled with a slight buzz on high G. More air would disguise it but at pp it was there and bugging me. The upper register was taking some shape. But the edge one might look for just was not going to arrive with my Selmer E hard rubber mouthpiece that has served me well for years. Keeping this horn would definitely mean needing to find a bright jazz mouthpiece if and when I start playing more jazz.

Then it was time to test intonation. After ensuring the horn was in tune I tuned F# (concert A) as this is what we tune to in my church orchestra. I then gave my wife the tuner and played a chromatic scale from low C to high C. She noted the intonation for each note. We then repeated the test with my Bundy. Again, I could not see the tuner to avoid me from trying to save any particular note. The results were revealing.

The DK 300 absolutely failed the intonation test. The entire upper register was sharp by a min of 10 cents. With 9 notes were 10-20 cents sharp and high A - C were over 30 cents sharp. How disappointing! The Bundy? well it had only three notes on the whole horn that were grossly flat. I wanted to tell myself that I must be doing a whole lot with my embouchure by memory with the Bundy. But after staring at the results I have to come to the following conclusion that this is not the horn for me. We all know C# is typically sharp on most saxes. Shouldn't the horn play mostly in tune?

Am I over reacting?

Should I be doing something totally different with my embouchure just to get the horn in tune?

Please share your thoughts before I send this back.

[ianhart]

You aren't overreacting, but you might be over-compensating.

Try playing with the most relaxed embouchure you can and see what happens, you have probably been dealing with your bundy's intonation problems for enough time to make them disappear when you play the horn, through subtle, unconcious adjustments with your embouchure pressure.

[GAS_Wyo]

I sold most of my saxes so I wouldn't do what I believe you are doing. When I move from one main axe to another I usually end up having to relearn what is 'in' and 'out' on the new horn. This is what amazed me about the PM 66R tenor. I had to relearn to 'relax' the embouchure. I've moved from the PM to a Reference 36 Selmer and I still can't get my palm keys in tune....I learned on a Bundy/Selmer that had really flat palm keys.

Keep the horn. I would get the mouthpiece changed ASAP also. Something a little brighter??? Do you mean like a high baffle RPC B, Dukoff D, Berg Larsen 0? OR are you planning to go a little less edgy than those pieces?

[iPodFreak]

Thanks for the helpful advice.

I found that tuning to the middle F# helped to balance the intonation. Trying to play relaxed but results are mixed.

What would you replace the Selmer E with for classical sax? I have not invested in a "Jazz" mouthpiece since I get so little time to play that style currently.

Thanks again for the comments and support!

[iPodFreak]

Well I played it today with my 50 piece church orchestra. Everyone loved the sound of the low register. The finish drew plenty of eyes and nice comments. Amazingly when playing in the group the intonation issues largely disappeared. So the comments about my needing to relax were certainly correct. I had a colleague who plays professionally bring his berg larson jazz mouthpiece and give it a blow. He immediately agreed that the bottom register is just simply outstanding. Effortless and warm.

After rehearsal, two services and plenty of discussion in between I am left with the following:

This is a good baritone sax. Much better than the YBS-52 I used to get into the California All State Honor band. What I am missing from the this horn is the upper register. It may be too dark. Hollow is another term I could use to describe the register. Even when with a professional R&B/funk player on the sax I just could not convince myself that upper register sounded like what I wanted it to sound like. He was certainly able to get a edgy/grittier sound.

Right now my needs are covering Tuba parts in the orchestra. The DK300 is equal or better than the Selmer Series II I used while at UCLA when in the lower register. I am very disappointed to send this horn back. But ultimately for this horn to last 20 years I need to be completely in love with the whole thing.

With the rumors of a Series III coming next week @ NAM and plenty of horns that I've never tried my search is still continuing. Worst case I may spend more money and time to verify that this horn is the best for my needs. The DK-300 will most likely still be there for the picking.

This is certainly a horn worth considering. As for me I need to know what another $3,000 buys and determine if the difference in sound merits the costs. I may seriously plan on flying out of Los Angeles just to be able to play at least 3 out of the big 4 and compare.

[Jon Gudmundson]

Hi, I live in Denmark - but I'm probably going to Netherlands around easter. They have the 300DK Bari. For some reason dealers in Denmark doesn't have it.

I would like a lot more info on the horn though - I can't find many reviews I think I can trust. Mauriat and their endorsers have written a few - but where can I learn more from less biased sources?

Please help me out on this - I really could do with better bari than my banged up King Zephyr (I love the sound - hate about everything else ;-)

Thanks, Peter

Hi Peter--

i can't blame you for wanting to find unbiased sources for info about the P. Mauriat bari, I wouldn't trust them, either. But I wanted to let you hear from a P. Mauriat artist (me) that the company has given me absolutely NO money or trips to Rio or recompense of any kind. They didn't even give me the horn!

In my case, a little over three years ago Roger Greenberg, one of my former teachers, encouraged me to try the P. Mauriat bari, as baritone is my main horn (I played an H. Couf Superba I at that time). i was fully expecting the P. Mauriat to be not very good ("it's just another of those Taiwanese horns"), and was frankly shocked to hear that Roger had gone over to them from having been a dyed-in-the-wool Selmer guy forever. Well, you can read my blurbs of praise on their website, but to make a long story short I was thrilled to find that a horn company FINALLY made a sax with all the modern conveniences that sounds like a vintage horn. After about three months of cautiously using the P. Mauriat PMB 300 DK on more and more kinds of gigs (combo, big band, rock, funk, classical, etc.), I switched over completely, and now use it on all my bari gigs.

I hope you like the horn, Peter. I just wanted you to know that, among other things, P. Mauriat did their artist/endorser thing right. They never paid me a dime, and the horn belongs to them. If I ever were to switch to another brand, I'd be obligated to ship the bari back to P. Mauriat. I don't think that's going to happen, though. I love this horn.

I have been cynical myself about endorsers of some brands of horn after seeing them live playing a different brand than they endorse. In my experience, all the P. Mauriat endorsers I've seen really play P. Mauriats, which is kind of refreshing...

I wish you the best of luck in your bari search!

Jon

[tenor2toes1]

It's so sad that alot of people go on and on about horn's not having this are that,i mean the big name's and P.Mauriat is a top horn,all of these are great sax's with there own thing and every single sax has it's own sound so why dont alot of people have a look at them self's as player's,tone,breathing,standing,sitting,etc instead of looking at all these great horn's and trying to find fault.Myself included in this of course.I have said this before and here goe's again,us saxplayer's havent had it so good with gear,mp's etc.

[PhatSax]

A year ago @ TMEA I got to play every Bari in the room including the 300DK. It was just OK, workable but nothing special, especially considering the price. There was one Bari there that was amazing, so much so that I had a hard time putting it down. It was head and shoulders above everything else in the room. I don't know if it was just setup better or my Bari soul mate. :) It was the Jupiter 993GL Bari. Underrated but a smokin' horn, try one. Just my .02.

[Gizmo Hall]

Arg! I went to hit post and it said the server was performing some sort of data test. I had to retype all of this! :cry::cussing:


I got a 300DK just about a month ago. I'm loving it!

When I opened the case the day I got it, after the searing midday Vegas heat exploded out of it, I lifted the horn out of the case and noticed how much heavier it was than my Yamaha 52. I'm not talking about some number of ounces or a pound, I mean at least five pounds, if not more. It was HEAVY. I'm glad I have a harness. It was time to play it.

Once I got together a working reed, I put my Quantum Runyon on and played a few note. My jaw dropped at the beautiful, full and robust tone the horn produced. It was like nothing I could ever get on my Yamaha, ever. Then I inserted my spoiler into the mouthpiece. I could tell that, come the Monterey Jazz Festival in September, I'd be able to flatten my high school big band if I wanted to. Excitedly, I recorded a tune to make sure I wasn't just hearing things. Mind, I was rather excited, so a few times I let my mpc get the better of me, but it wasn't bad considering how hard my heart was pounding.

http://www.gizmohall.com/audio/GIZMO-Dragonfly.mp3

I also want to mention that I got this horn from SaxAlley. That may attribute some of its out of the box playability. They also gave me a nifty little swab-stick for the crook. It's amazing, gets all that excess moisture out of there.

A few weeks later, I went to a local combo camp held at the former community college. I got to show this baby off to my friends, it was a hit from the start. I remember pulling it out, the practice room hushed a bit as they gazed upon its beauty (or awesomeness, as one of the younger alto players coined). I let one of my friends try it; I haven't seen a smile like that on him ever. He, too, had fallen for its siren call.

So me and my four friends made a music circle where we jammed out to the bariline of Moanin' (provided by me). It was then I noticed the ease of play in this horn. Before, with my Yamaha, I had always worried about the next note, if it would speak or if it would squeak. I didn't find myself doing this with this horn, just listening to the music we made.

As the week progressed, I got numerous compliments on my tone as well as my sax. It was a hit all around. And, come concert time, it didn't let me down. Over that week I fell in love with how smooth and easy to get out it was.

I'm at my grandmother's right now, which so happens to be down the street from my uncle's. He's a weekend warrior, playing bari with a local big band. He has a Yani 992 as well as a Barone Bari he got yesterday. He let me try them yesterday. I admit, the Yani was very playable, it just couldn't compare to my Mauriat. It had nowhere near as much fullness to the sound or nearly as much warmth. The Barone both my uncle and I were a little disappointed in (for him it was the key layout). It did play well, its true, but it had that rushed feel to it. It was obvious no attempt was made at hiding the solder at the posts and other soldered items, they were just left there blatantly silvery among they beautiful yellow brass. Also, there was strange watermark looking splotches all around the horn, as if it had been rained on. It just didn't seem like quality work. I guess its about the sound, which was good, but its still a little disappointing.

The bottom line- This is a great horn, the best I've ever played. It can produce a wonderful tone and really roar! It is clear that an exceptional effort was put in to maintaining the quality of this instrument (either by the Mauriat company, SaxAlley, or a combination of the two) both aesthetically and musically. I would recommend P Mauriat to any of my friends and all my fellow saxophonist.

I went P Mautiat and I ain't goin' back! :protest:

[larryleung]

Hi, I went to PM's office in Taipei two weeks ago. The QC manager showed me a new Unlac version of PM's Bari, like the unlac 66RUL tenor. He said the Bari has a great sound, but I didn't try it 'cos I am not a bari guy.