[Grimmell73]

I sold the Yanagisawa SC991 in July and replaced it with the Barone Classic soprano, so I never A-B'd them, but here are my impressions.

I bought the Yanagisawa curved soprano first. The case looks about as good as you can hope for short of buying a specialty case. The ergonomics of the horn were excellent. Keys were feather-light to the touch, evenly balanced, felt like the horn knew what note I wanted to hit next. Intonation was also very good, about as good as you get on a soprano. Setup by Kesslers was impeccable. The included mouthpiece was pretty disappointing. I think it was plastic, and I know it wasn't very precise. So I replaced it, trying several others before settling on a Drake Son of Slant. Nice mouthpiece. Nice mouthpiece. I used several different kinds of reeds trying to darken the sound a bit, because in spite of the excellence of the horn in pretty much every respect, the tone was too bright for my taste. (Trust me when I say that a Runyon is not a good idea with this horn.) I was able to get many different versions of bright, but no mouthpiece/reed combination would produce dark.

After reading a lot of reviews and pondering a lot of ideas, I sold the horn and the Son of Slant to another member here, who is probably happy as a clam with it. I bought the Barone Classic, rather than a curvy this time.

The horn arrived having gotten the left hand key stack pushed out of whack during shipping, which my tech put right in about 30 minutes. I think the case is not quite as effective at cushioning the horn as the Yani's. When I first started playing the horn I notised that the right hand key stack was positioned a bit differently than I was used to; the middle finger felt a little more forward than on other horns and the whole hand is rotated just a bit, just enough to notice. In about a week of playing I've settled in, and I think the positioning is a bit of an improvement. At least, fewer fast moves end up with a double-key hit or accidental touch to the palm keys. Intonation is also spot-on, but let me warn you, you really have to push the mouthpiece all the way on. I've heard 90% of the way on for sopranos, but I'd say 95% on this one. Once I did that, intonation was just about perfect from D' to D''', and needs a bit of jaw drop on the bell notes and a bit more tightness to the mouth above D'''. The included mouthpiece is an absolute gem, fully the equal of the Son of Slant. As far as tone goes, it's definitely darker, and with the included mouthpiece I seem to be able to get a wider tone palette: medium-bright with Hemkes, dark with Alexander NY, fairly bright with DC Superials. None of the tones is as bright as the Yani/Drake combination was.

If I were playing in a loud band, rock or funk or fusion, I probably would have stayed with the Yani and been thoroughly happy with it. For church and community band and occasional jazz work, the Barone is a better fit.

Hope this helps.

 

[Grimmell73]

Two points I forgot. First, the Yani case protects the horn better in part because the horn is a curvy. The delicate keywork is sheltered inside the curve, as if the sax were lying in "fetal position" while being abused by Chicago police. (Sorry -- 60's survivor talking there.) By contrast, the straight Barone lies with all the keywork facing straight up, toward the lid, and is thus probably intrinsically more vulnerable.

Second, the key action on the Barone is slightly stiffer than the Yani. It takes more effort to push the keys. It hasn't been enough to interfere with even the most rapid changes, but some people might want to know.

One day soon I intend to take my Barones to Tenor Madness for professional setup. I'll report back on the difference this makes.

 

[evan1]

Hi Grimmell - You make a good point about the case. Although i will say that the new Soprano Case on the PB Classic has seen some minor improvements on the old case. I did drop my Barone in its case, from about 60 inches from ground level. The left hand stach was effected slightly. Grimmel can you tell me abit more about the Drake Son of Slant vs The Barone Vintage please.

 

[Grimmell73]

Sorry for the delay, I just noticed this had been updated. It's hard for me to comment on the two mouthpieces, other than both were really, really nice mouthpieces. The problem is I didn't own them at the same time, never A-B'd them. However. If I can be really crass, and say that at one extreme a soprano sounds like a flute, and at the other extreme like an oboe, I'd put a Caravan solidly at the flute end, the Drake just about in the middle of the range, and tending to sound similar regardless of the reed, and the Barone as about a third of the way from the Drake toward the oboe end, but with more ability to shape the tone by changing reeds. I kept the Drake over a Jody Jazz ESP, also a pretty nice mouthpiece, and over a JJ hard rubber, no comparison, the Drake was superior. One day I'll have to try something from Soprano Planet, but currently I'm pretty happy with the included mouthpiece.

 

[dogster]

I agree the key action is very stiff and springy , I would love my tech to tweak it a bit some day soon

 

[hakukani]

Disclaimer: I play a PB mouthpiece on soprano.

I know from playing straight vs. curvies that curvies, because of their curves, tend to sound 'brighter' or certainly more present than a straight soprano.

I tried a curvy Buescher TT (which no one would say is a 'bright' horn), and compared it to my YSS-61. The Buescher was distinctly brighter to my ear.

 

[Grimmell73]

Knowing this, I recorded and played back several times, as I do with my alto and tenor as well. It's a better sound check than playing against a wall. I always found recordings of the Yani brighter than I wanted, but am happy with the tone of the Barone.