Lets Start with the pictures first. The dark one is the Antigua ProOne.
I did kind of a small research project on the ProOne and then a day by day as I was playing it, and wrote it up here: https://www.vesware.com/Saxophone/AntigueProOne6200.html
So, if you're considering this horn, there's at least some good links compiled there. I'll put most of the pertinent stuff below.
But anyway, the Eastern is my current horn, and I'm just seeing how others compare. The most recent challenger was a B&S 2001 Series, the one before that was a Selmer TS600, a 70's Cleveland prior to that. I keep the better one and return or sell the one that I don't like. The ProOne is the latest challanger.
The things that attracted me to trying it were a lot of interesting features, as follows, from Peter Ponzol:
1. Uses a custom brass which contains a higher amount of copper to match what use to be done with the French saxophones in the 50's. Which should give a warmer sound with more projection. (Eastern Music is a Rose Brass, high copper, and I do like the response of that instrument).
2. It's cryogenically treated. Apparently that's a way to destress the metal and improve the tone.
3. Reviewers say that it's substantial, heavy, and that gives it a darker tone. Feeling solid is a good thing.
4. It's a new neck design to give good tuning, and it actually raises the mouthpiece higher. That's good for me because I'm tall, but Peter also says that gets you to tilt your head up and open up your wind pipe. Combined with having two attachment rings, maybe my support harness won't need to be up so high.
5. There is a G# lifter mechanism. Every saxophone I've had the G# can stick because it's spring lift. This is a mechanical lift. Keilworth sax's, which Peter worked on also, have the same feature.
6. The five tone holes on the bell are all ringed, similar to rolling the tone holes. But this is the only instrument that has a mixture of drawn holes on top, and the ringed holes on bottom. Peter says that provides a more uniform sound across the full range and makes the lower notes easier to play. It also provides a consistent resistance from top to bottom.
7. Some of the bell tone keys also use trident arms, patented, with adjusters on them to stabilize the large keys and allow adjusting to close any leaks and stop flutter. This is one step beyond the double arms that you sometimes see on other saxophones.
It did come with a mouthpiece (looks just like a Yamaha 5C), one reed, neck strap, cork grease, cloth wipe and a swab (silk?).
Full rib construction.
Neck to body perfect fit.
Craftsmanship looks good.
Low D pad stuck pretty bad (hmmmm...)
1. The pearls on the keys are more dished compared to my 54. My fingers like it.
2. The springs are stiffer and feel very uniform across all keys. When first playing it I caught myself not pressing enough a few times.
3. The pinkie keys on both hands are well placed. Rollers work nice. On the right hand the keys are actually raised higher off the saxophone, than my 54, about an inch. I like where they fall. I don't need to reach as much. I do have big hands, so this will be nice for people with smaller hands. The left hand table keys are a bit closer, so less reach for those also.
4. Immediately feels comfortable.
5. The key travel distance is pretty short across the board. Everything feels tight and solid; well put together.
Played it for a couple hours initially. No complaints. On middle D with all keys pressed sometimes I get an octave higher. With the slightly shorter key travels and stiffer springs I just needed to work on the timing of getting all the keys pressed. I had this problem before on my 54 when making fast transitions from middle B to middle D. It was a finger timing issue. If the timing is off you end up blipping the octave key open.
After 12 days of playing it:
The sticking low D did not going away. Once I un-stick it at the start of a play session it still sticks a bit, more with time, not enough to be annoying, and not like when it's sitting overnight. That's kind of ironic that it has the no stick linkage for the G# and the D# sticks consistently. That's even after I cleaned it multiple times.
Compared to the 54:
So, I'm returning the ProOne and the Eastern Music survives another challenger. Obviously the sticking pad is a problem that shouldn't be there on a new horn, that's the main reason I'm returning it. At first I thought I liked the firmer springs, but they got old. I prefer the lighter feel of the 54. The 54 cost me $800, the ProOne $2000 including tax (that's a good deal). But all the whizbang features of the ProOne didn't really seem to translate to anything significantly better in playability or sound quality. That's not so much a dig at the ProOne as it is a positive commentary on the 54. Basically both good horns, with minor differences. Will the ProOne have better longevity? That I don't know.
The seller apologized for not catching the pad issue and offered a replacement, but with no advantages, and some clear disadvantage, and higher cost, I passed.
I think this will end my horn investigation. I had high expectations for the ProOne, thought it would be a keeper. I think at this point to get something "better", I'm looking at the big bucks, which I'm not willing to spend. $2000 was my limit. The thought has crossed my mind, well how good a used Yani, Yami or Selmer can you get for $2000. But not going down that road. Had enough headaches with used instruments. There was a previous Selmer T44 which was suppose to be in great shape, for $1700, NOT.
Hope you find this useful. Your mileage may vary.
I did kind of a small research project on the ProOne and then a day by day as I was playing it, and wrote it up here: https://www.vesware.com/Saxophone/AntigueProOne6200.html
So, if you're considering this horn, there's at least some good links compiled there. I'll put most of the pertinent stuff below.
But anyway, the Eastern is my current horn, and I'm just seeing how others compare. The most recent challenger was a B&S 2001 Series, the one before that was a Selmer TS600, a 70's Cleveland prior to that. I keep the better one and return or sell the one that I don't like. The ProOne is the latest challanger.
The things that attracted me to trying it were a lot of interesting features, as follows, from Peter Ponzol:
1. Uses a custom brass which contains a higher amount of copper to match what use to be done with the French saxophones in the 50's. Which should give a warmer sound with more projection. (Eastern Music is a Rose Brass, high copper, and I do like the response of that instrument).
2. It's cryogenically treated. Apparently that's a way to destress the metal and improve the tone.
3. Reviewers say that it's substantial, heavy, and that gives it a darker tone. Feeling solid is a good thing.
4. It's a new neck design to give good tuning, and it actually raises the mouthpiece higher. That's good for me because I'm tall, but Peter also says that gets you to tilt your head up and open up your wind pipe. Combined with having two attachment rings, maybe my support harness won't need to be up so high.
5. There is a G# lifter mechanism. Every saxophone I've had the G# can stick because it's spring lift. This is a mechanical lift. Keilworth sax's, which Peter worked on also, have the same feature.
6. The five tone holes on the bell are all ringed, similar to rolling the tone holes. But this is the only instrument that has a mixture of drawn holes on top, and the ringed holes on bottom. Peter says that provides a more uniform sound across the full range and makes the lower notes easier to play. It also provides a consistent resistance from top to bottom.
7. Some of the bell tone keys also use trident arms, patented, with adjusters on them to stabilize the large keys and allow adjusting to close any leaks and stop flutter. This is one step beyond the double arms that you sometimes see on other saxophones.
It did come with a mouthpiece (looks just like a Yamaha 5C), one reed, neck strap, cork grease, cloth wipe and a swab (silk?).
Full rib construction.
Neck to body perfect fit.
Craftsmanship looks good.
Low D pad stuck pretty bad (hmmmm...)
1. The pearls on the keys are more dished compared to my 54. My fingers like it.
2. The springs are stiffer and feel very uniform across all keys. When first playing it I caught myself not pressing enough a few times.
3. The pinkie keys on both hands are well placed. Rollers work nice. On the right hand the keys are actually raised higher off the saxophone, than my 54, about an inch. I like where they fall. I don't need to reach as much. I do have big hands, so this will be nice for people with smaller hands. The left hand table keys are a bit closer, so less reach for those also.
4. Immediately feels comfortable.
5. The key travel distance is pretty short across the board. Everything feels tight and solid; well put together.
Played it for a couple hours initially. No complaints. On middle D with all keys pressed sometimes I get an octave higher. With the slightly shorter key travels and stiffer springs I just needed to work on the timing of getting all the keys pressed. I had this problem before on my 54 when making fast transitions from middle B to middle D. It was a finger timing issue. If the timing is off you end up blipping the octave key open.
After 12 days of playing it:
The sticking low D did not going away. Once I un-stick it at the start of a play session it still sticks a bit, more with time, not enough to be annoying, and not like when it's sitting overnight. That's kind of ironic that it has the no stick linkage for the G# and the D# sticks consistently. That's even after I cleaned it multiple times.
Compared to the 54:
- One of the fingers for Bb is more of a dud on the ProOne. The all fingers down middle D is also more of a dud on the ProOne.
- The lighter spring force on the 54 definitely allows me to move faster.
- The difference in placement of the table keys is noticeable, but I actually like the placement of the left hand table keys being a bit further away on the 54. On the ProOne sometimes it did feel cramped.
- The sound is very comparable, with the ProOne being maybe a bit darker, but not by much.
- The low Bb may be a smidge easier to initiate on the ProOne. Overtones are compareable.
- The ProOne is slightly heavier. But without an accurate scale that's just a feel. Sometimes that's because of balance.
- Intonation is good on both. I don't feel that I need to make any adjustments playing back and forth between one and the other.
- The 54 is more free blowing.
So, I'm returning the ProOne and the Eastern Music survives another challenger. Obviously the sticking pad is a problem that shouldn't be there on a new horn, that's the main reason I'm returning it. At first I thought I liked the firmer springs, but they got old. I prefer the lighter feel of the 54. The 54 cost me $800, the ProOne $2000 including tax (that's a good deal). But all the whizbang features of the ProOne didn't really seem to translate to anything significantly better in playability or sound quality. That's not so much a dig at the ProOne as it is a positive commentary on the 54. Basically both good horns, with minor differences. Will the ProOne have better longevity? That I don't know.
The seller apologized for not catching the pad issue and offered a replacement, but with no advantages, and some clear disadvantage, and higher cost, I passed.
I think this will end my horn investigation. I had high expectations for the ProOne, thought it would be a keeper. I think at this point to get something "better", I'm looking at the big bucks, which I'm not willing to spend. $2000 was my limit. The thought has crossed my mind, well how good a used Yani, Yami or Selmer can you get for $2000. But not going down that road. Had enough headaches with used instruments. There was a previous Selmer T44 which was suppose to be in great shape, for $1700, NOT.
Hope you find this useful. Your mileage may vary.