amati alto saxophones. any idea?

[bawaw]

just asking if u guys have any idea about amati saxophones, coz im planing to buy one AS32 alto sax. i really need some help. tnx!

[benliner]

I'm sure you'll get plenty of expert advice , but my non expert two cents worth is that I think Amati's are, or at least were, made in Czechoslovakia, and the only reason I say that is one of my two saxophones was accused of being an Amati , by a man in a shop, on the grounds that it didn't even have a brand name anywhere, all the I.D. it has is "made in Czechoslavakia" by top end, and a serial no. at bottom. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Amatis at the lower cost end of the market?
I've had mine for a while and I'm coming to the opinion that I didn't do it justice. The 2nd place I took it to for a service did something to it , don't know what, with the result that the tuning was much improved, and together with the keywork, which I had liked from the start, it became quite an enjoyable thing to play. The tone is nothing to write home about, and I can't get "super notes" like on my Dolnet. It has no high F # key, but you can get F# with the F plate and the low F key, and even G with the F plate only. That's not to say you won't get super notes, just because I can't
But what you're thinking of buying might be of a completely different standard from mine. And mine is a tenor, not an alto.
Is it new? Mine is estimated as 60s-70s and the bloke who sold it to me said he "thought" it was a Selmer copy! I wouldn't know about that, and I've only seen one Mk 6 Selmer close up, but the design of the large pad guards on the Mk6 does seem similar to that of my Amati.
My local music store had an Amati identical to mine and were selling it for about £400, I think

[stitch]

Yes, definately Czech. You'll find a brief history of its antecedents here:http://www.saxpics.com/Keilwerth/index.htm
As benliner surmised, they are probably responsible for a number of stencils (in the UK anyway) - certainly they make the Boosey & Hawkes 400 series. As far as being a Selmer copy goes, I suspect that most modern horns are! They don't have a reputation for quality (try a search of this site) - is the AS32 a new model? If so, quality may have improved, but judging from what others have written here, you can't go far wrong with a secondhand Yamaha YAS 23 in decent condition - they go on UK eBay for c £300 but you may be better advised to check online retailers to see what else is on offer and get an idea of prices.

[gary]

I don't know if this is much help, but, as you can assume, Amati instruments are widely available here, but, despite their availability, it's Jupiters and Yamahas one sees in this price range, overwhelmingly.

[bawaw]

as32 is a new model. what i heard from you guys really help me a lot, thanks!!!!!