G T Sax
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Never heard of them. There are some great horns coming out of Taiwan. Their website is very similar to P. Mauriat's http://www.pmauriatmusic.com/en/products/items/3-alto
The GT Titanium is the soprano Joe Giardullo is using these days. Joe let me play his, and it's a very nice horn that sounded awesome with my Rascher, but my Selmer metal and Espresso didn't work so well. Joe also let me play a vintage large chamber Meyer that was the perfect match to the horn (for me, anyway.) It was nice quality, very light compared to my Antigua, but as I said, my jazz setups didn't work so well so I'd need to change everything to make it work for me. Joe sounds good on it with his S440.
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Was that because it was on the brighter side? I know Joe described it as warm by nature in his video...
Y'know, I honestly don't remember much about it. I only had maybe 15 minutes of playtime on it, and it's been several years since this past March :twisted: I do remember thinking I could really go to town with the Rascher, but the Metal Classic and Espresso just really sounded...gross. I don't consider them particularly bright pieces, and maybe something as simple as a reed change would have brought it around for me. I've never played a large bore soprano, so maybe I just needed a little more time to work on my airstream with the horn. I'd gladly give it another blow sometime.
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Just to share with you @Eulipion2 that I got the GT 'titanium' soprano in the end, and I'm loving it. Plays like a dream with Soloist style mouthpieces in particular, but also great in a different way with a vintage HR Lawton. Works with Link style pieces (although their spread and buzz isn't really my preferred soprano sound). Beautifully warm and clear at the same time. Very like a Keilwerth. Recommended if you're ever tempted to give it another blow sometime!
That's cool! I'm really jealous of the Lawton. Someday. I've been thinking about hitting Joe up for a new piece to go with my new-to-me 875EX (dream horn!) I got the horn for a great price, and i have no need for a new horn. However, if I wait until we get the virus a little better controlled maybe I can pop into the shop and give the horn another blow while he works on my new mouthpiece.
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Yes that's the one - Gu Tai Co - this top of their line soprano is something else - sold my Buffet stencilled Keilwerth having A/B'd them for a few weeks. Rather similar and for me a clear preference over a Yani SW10 in sound. The GT is that good.
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And I can add a Yanagisawa SC992 to the list, compared over the last couple of days. Nice though the Yani is (and its intonation is extraordinary), the GT S30TIS is a considerably fuller, lusher beast. It's perfect for someone who's drawn to the warmer side of the soprano sound but without sacrificing clarity. Not in the way that vintage soprano's are - a Conn New Wonder has a spread sound - whereas the GT is more focused. I've played and owned quite a few sopranos and the sound is unbeatable - to me at least.
Picked up a sax in 2002 and here I am.
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Looks like these horns are over $2K in the market. Is that correct?
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There ya go, Jerry.
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Yes Jerry, the S30TIS is their most expensive soprano. I guess partly quality of finish, but with a different bore to some of the cheaper models according to Joe from Sopranoplanet (start viewing the link at 3 mins 15 secs) and my experience of the voluptuous tone matches his perspective. In fact compared to a Keilwerth the bore at point of entry at the neck is fractionally wider.
Here's my preferred finish (they advertise it with a more heavily brushed white silver body and gold lacquer keys). I've ended up owning both finishes (!) so will move the other one on in due course (which needless to say has been played for a few hours):
Picked up a sax in 2002 and here I am.
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I only saw a couple sellers and this soprano was $2300 or so. Just wondering what people are actually paying for this soprano in titanium alloy.
I must be looking in the wrong places, but the couple sites I can find that sell the brushed silver titanium soprano are asking about $4000, which seems absurd to me. For example...
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Well, I'm in the UK so bought direct from the factory, and the pricing made sense to me.
“I play sax but mostly it plays me”
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Looks a lot like the second generation of TK Melody
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Thought TK was a regular Selmer bore soprano?
I think Gu Tai make key work for other brands though...
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I'm not a soprano player but I took a look as well just out of curiosity and that's the same observation and initial reaction I had. Many of the horns coming out of East Asia now are very nice but I think they are surpassing the point where people are willing to take a flier on them and buy without trying.
In spring of 2008 I bought a gold plated Phil Barone tenor for about $1200. Phil had just begun branding his own horns and did not even have the website yet but the folk who had played them where saying good things so I thought why not. I figured the worst that could happen was I hated it and would take a $400-$500 hit on resale. About 4 years ago I bought a TM Custom tenor from Sax Alley. I wasn't looking for a horn at all but tried the TM when I was there one day and liked it so much that I was willing to pay $4k for it. I never would have paid $4k for it without trying it first. I suppose with a soprano at least the shipping is manageable if you can find one to trial but a decade of fairly significant prices increases has changed the dynamic from what it was.
“I play sax but mostly it plays me”
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Sorry I was comparing tenors to tenors not the soprano
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