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3 Posts
So.. thinking about buying a 66R? I've owned one for about 8 months now and thought I would post my impressions of the horn on SOTW to inform and enlighten you!
Appearance / Finish
Well, let me just say that this horn looks great... I bought mine off Saxalley (great service, highly recommended!) and even without engraving the horn looks very pretty... My only reservation about it is that close inspection of the horn reveals that it appears as though there are small portions of the exterior flaking off, especially on the keys themselves... Even though this has no effect on the sound, I guess time will tell how resilient the horns's finish really is...
Key Layout
Wow, this took me by surprise... In the past I've mainly played Yamaha / Selmer / Yanagisawa horns and in my experience they each feel much the same in terms of key placement.. The 66R feels great but the left hand will probably take some time to get used to.. At first I found it hard to hit my D palm key without brushing the Eb palm key also, the palm keys just don't feel as comfortable as they do on the other brands. This being said, 8 months on I'm comfortable with the layout of the left hand but picking up a Yamaha Custom just feels more comfortable. This could quite possibly be just a personal preference thing.
Tone
Finally, the important bit... the tone!! Well - the 66R is dark!! Beautiful subtone, and a phat bottom end but expect to really work your embouchure if you wanted a brighter top register... as such you could possibly find yourself switching mouthpieces when you start playing it... I personally swapped my Otto Link STM 8 for a Guardala Crescent 7* to give extra brightness and projection to the sound. The result is a unique effect.. The 66R adds depth and warmth to the sound while the Guardala provides brightness and projection, leaving a fairly well rounded tone (for my taste) overall! Intonation is great in all registers, even altissimo.
Construction
Overall the horn is very well constructed, dont expect to be rushing to the repair shop any time soon. Everything they say about the rolled tone holes on the 66R is true, they're well constructed and feel great to play, the action is very smooth, however I will say this: the 66R is heavy, so be prepared to spend a bit of extra money on a quality neckstrap to alleviate some of the pressure on your neck, especially for those long gigs / practice sessions.
Overall I'm very pleased with this horn, and for the price you pay its a real bargain... It plays with the action and response that you would expect from any other pro horn twice it's price... I hope this rough review has been helpful to anyone interested in these horns! If you have any questions that might be bugging you about the 66R feel free to ask
Appearance / Finish
Well, let me just say that this horn looks great... I bought mine off Saxalley (great service, highly recommended!) and even without engraving the horn looks very pretty... My only reservation about it is that close inspection of the horn reveals that it appears as though there are small portions of the exterior flaking off, especially on the keys themselves... Even though this has no effect on the sound, I guess time will tell how resilient the horns's finish really is...
Key Layout
Wow, this took me by surprise... In the past I've mainly played Yamaha / Selmer / Yanagisawa horns and in my experience they each feel much the same in terms of key placement.. The 66R feels great but the left hand will probably take some time to get used to.. At first I found it hard to hit my D palm key without brushing the Eb palm key also, the palm keys just don't feel as comfortable as they do on the other brands. This being said, 8 months on I'm comfortable with the layout of the left hand but picking up a Yamaha Custom just feels more comfortable. This could quite possibly be just a personal preference thing.
Tone
Finally, the important bit... the tone!! Well - the 66R is dark!! Beautiful subtone, and a phat bottom end but expect to really work your embouchure if you wanted a brighter top register... as such you could possibly find yourself switching mouthpieces when you start playing it... I personally swapped my Otto Link STM 8 for a Guardala Crescent 7* to give extra brightness and projection to the sound. The result is a unique effect.. The 66R adds depth and warmth to the sound while the Guardala provides brightness and projection, leaving a fairly well rounded tone (for my taste) overall! Intonation is great in all registers, even altissimo.
Construction
Overall the horn is very well constructed, dont expect to be rushing to the repair shop any time soon. Everything they say about the rolled tone holes on the 66R is true, they're well constructed and feel great to play, the action is very smooth, however I will say this: the 66R is heavy, so be prepared to spend a bit of extra money on a quality neckstrap to alleviate some of the pressure on your neck, especially for those long gigs / practice sessions.
Overall I'm very pleased with this horn, and for the price you pay its a real bargain... It plays with the action and response that you would expect from any other pro horn twice it's price... I hope this rough review has been helpful to anyone interested in these horns! If you have any questions that might be bugging you about the 66R feel free to ask
