Yet another Antigua question

[Coufman]

I got to test play a Antiqua sop at a local shop yesterday. I was told it was brand new, but it had a black plastic thumb rest. I have looked at the photos from Dave Kessler on ebay, and none of the models have the black thumb rest. Is this an older model? The serial number was 980000xxxx and had 2 necks and a high F#.
The only person working the shop was the juke box hero I will call "Mr. 80's Hair Band" He didn't have a clue. When I told him I wanted to test play the sop, he brought out a case, set it on the counter, opened it up, and said "There ya go". I hestitated for a few seconds to see if he even noticed what he brought out. Then I said " this is an alto" His rely "Oh really?" Back he went.

Anyway, back to the sax, I was not that happy with the horn. I could not get it to play in tune. (I brought my tuner and my mouthpieces) I did like the tone and the keywork though. If this is an older model, I would like to know, since I have heard that the older models did have pitch/intonation problems. They also had a former rental that looked exactly the same, and one of the co-owners had told me before it was 2 years old.

Dave/ Paul et al: Any input?

BTW, I won't be buying mine from a shop. Wink, wink

[Straightsax]

Geez, this is an alto, "Oh really."

I just love it. You mean this was a music store or a pawn shop. No, no one is knock'n pawn shops. Great deals I hear. But not real good on repairs.

Anyway, just one person's experience. It was an Antigua rental. The intonation was a problem before the adjustment screws in the upper stack were adjusted. Also dicovered that the particular mouthpiece I was using had to be pushed in darn near all the way up the cork. After that, everytime was smooth sailing. Almost wanted to keep it when the rental was up.

This also happened with my Selmer SAII, the last time I brought it in. When I got it back the upper stack needed a few turns.

So, it's not fatal. Well, depending on who you are dealing with.

And as always, Peace.

Chris.

[Coufman]

Unfortunately, it was a music store, but I don't normally go to that one (for obvious reasons) It was just because they were the only Antigua dealer close by that had a sop in stock.

BTW, "Mr. 80's Hair Band" was the guy I talked to the first time I came into that store. I asked him if they had chromatic tuners, and he told me I could use a metronome. I looked at him with disbelief that he had survived this long. The other EE there almost burst into laughter.

Anyway, the reason for the question, was that I was thinking about picking up a 582LQ or 586LQ and wanted to know if the horn I played was either of those. I just hadn't seen any with the black plastic thumb rest before.

[Dave Dolson]

Coufman: My new Antigua 590LQ, #YS3061xxx, straight sop, has a brass thumb rest. DAVE

[SuiZen]

I have the 586LQ, SN#YS3051xxx, and it has the brass thumb rest.

I purchased it from Dave Kessler. Why? Dave quickly answered my numerous emails, the price was right, and Dave said it would be play tested and adjusted, if necessary, prior to shipment. The latter is very important, as far as I'm concerned. It was delivered in great playing condition.

Bill

[goodsax]

My new 582LQ has a brass thumb rest. I'm not sure when it was actually made, but I bought it new about three months ago.

[Coufman]

Thanks for the help everyone. It looks like I played an older model.
BTW SuiZen, I plan on picking mine up from Kessler for the same reasons you stated.

[pknight]

I also have a 590LQ, and it has the brass thumbrest. (Purchased from Kessler's.) It seems that the current crop of Anitiguas sopranos have SNs beginning with "YS," so it is a safe bet you were playing something older.

[Paul Coats]

Yes, all of the current Antigua 582-586-590 series sopranos have brass thumbrests. The one you saw was an older model, probably a 570 or 580.

If the one you saw had two necks and keyed up to high F#, did it have a brown leather looking case, or a gray molded plastic case? If the brown case, it is an older model.

The 586 has two necks and keyed to high F#, and comes with a gray plastic case (and quite a good case, I might add).

[Paul Coats]

As far as the mouthpiece on the cork... my Selmer SA80 and Runyon Quantum Metal mouthpieces both cover all of the cork when in tune. My Runyon Custom mouthpiece has about 1 mm of cork showing. This is quite normal.

[Coufman]

Thanks Paul. It did have the brown leather case. Thanks for the info on the cork too. I was pushing my pieces on pretty far, but I didn't think they would need to go on that far.

This site is great!!!!!!!

[DaveKessler]

To confirm what you already know, yes that sounds like an older 580 model which we didnt care for either (and unfortunately I still have some... oh well, looks like wall art now!)

All of the newer models have the brass hook & rest and all of them have a "YS" in their serial numbers (which we believe stands for "Yangisawa Soprano" ourselves).