Older Antiguas?

[tnsewalkin]

From what I've read here, most everyone who's tried an Antigua Soprano has liked it. But everyone seems to be referring to recently purchased horns. Anyone know anything about the older ones? Like 2 or 3 years old?

[Paul Coats]

The older ones had a black plastic left thumb rest. The newer 582, 586, 590 series has a brass thumb rest. That is the easiest way to tell. Also, the newer series has a YS prefix on the serial number.

The older ones, 5 or 6 years old, had a tendency to play very sharp on the top end, just as every other Taiwan import, LA Sax, Lazer, Woodwind, and others in that period. But Antigua did something about it, and modified the neck, a slightly different taper and longer length, and this seemed to bring intonation into line if a suitable mouthpiece was used.