Rampone & Cazzani Tenor

[lescooper]

hi there. i've just bought my first sax, a Rampone & Cazzani tenor, on ebay. a bit of scouting around on the web suggests that this is a quality instrument, but i'm not convinced. the makers name is very feint, i.e. it looks as though it was stamped on afterwards. it has a logo of a french horn and the letters 'FISM' underneath. bearing in mind that "i know nothing mr fawlty" it seems to play ok. but i just wondered if Rampone & Cazzani had ever rebranded cheap imports, or if anyone had ever used this name on fake instruments. the serial number is 18331. i would really appreciate any feedback on this
thanks
les

[singlereed]

Rampone & Cazzani are a quality maker these days. However, their old horns were of lower quality. I don't know if they ever imported from, for example, the former DDR or other Soviet bloc countries, but they may have, that used to be a source for poor cheap instruments. I don't think anyone would fake a Rampone, it wouldn't be worthwhile. There is not a lot of info around about the brand, but they do have their own website:
http://www.ramponecazzani.it/en/index.htm

[griff136]

hi les.

The french horn is the logo for Rampone and Cazzani and is found on all their items cases,mouthpieces cloths neck straps etc.
FISM
is short for F..... Italia Strumente Musicaleor something similar but I cant for the life of me remember what the F stands for.
This instrument is not a stencil and I am not aware of any made by them although there may be some out there.

If you email R&C with a picture and serial number they will do their best to help you identify when it was made etc.
I did this with my curved sop and they were very helpful.

regards
Griff

[The Martin]

F could be Fatore = Factory

[pepesax]

F.I.S.M. = Fabbrica Italiana Strumenti Musicali (Italian Factory of Musical Instruments). Hope this helps. Regards,
pepesax