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My Rampone R1 Sopranino(Vintage gold plate)

6K views 22 replies 5 participants last post by  sycc 
#1 · (Edited)
Stunningly beautiful sax. Great engraving all the way up sax. Intotation spot on. Response is wonderful. My 11 going on 12 year old,who mostly plays tenor(alto on occaision),summed it up best. It is not a easy sax to play but it is on the other hand not too hard to play;it is a sax you must work at. Kudos to R&C for making a nino that 11 year old w/ 3 years experience can play. The 9 going on 10 year old did a bit better but she's been playinhg since age 6 and has a lot of soprano playing under her belt. Mind you the girls' tone left alot to be desired but what they played sounded like a tune.I only mentioned my daughters playing cause I thought it would be bad w/ intonation all over the place and/or some really horrid sounds coming out. When Mathew Aaron said the R&C ninos are easy to play and have great intonation on his Saxforte site;he wasn't kidding!!!! I can get it to sing a little but I need work. I feel it is great sax to break in your nino chops on. With practice I will be able to make gorgeous music high in the stratosphere. The tone is quite warm for a high piched sax;no doubt due to the big R&C bore. The case is the best case that came w/ a sax I have ever saw!!!!No formed nest. A very very plush well padded case. Case even has a strap to carry sax over the shoulder like a purse.
 
#2 ·
The 9 year old likened the small mouthpiece in her mouth to the small opening she uses to play her flute. Maybe it will help my flute playing as my sound is breathy and spread over the hhead joint. LOL
 
#4 ·
Yeah I hope so!!!!If not it was a expensive experiment. My wife turns 40 in 3 years. After I bought a flute,tenor and nino,you know what she wants a vacation to Hawai. She'll get it too!!!!!'She will use my sax purchases as leverage!!!LOL
 
#5 ·
Again, I must ask about your claim that the R&C 'nino has a "big bore." What is that all about? How do you know?

I agree that the R&C 'nino may be among the best 'ninos out there. Mine was gorgeous and well-made. But as you probably know, I don't buy the big-bore/small-bore stuff, at least as everyone tosses those terms around. DAVE
 
#6 ·
I took Mathew Aaron and his site on his word. R&C claims to have a bigger bore on their saxes ie a Rampone alto/tenor or baritone neck tenon will not fit the receiver of a Selmer,Yanagisawa,Yamaha or even a Keilwerth(which has a big receiver). I was told the R&C nino has a bigger bore than the Yani or Selmer. I believe it. Mathew has been honest and upfront about everything,I have no reason to doubt him!!!
 
#7 ·
My daughters' teacher tried it. He plays mostly alto and graduated from Berklee w/ a degree in jazz arranging. He got some real nice sounds out of it(he plays far better than I do)!!!He said it has a nice warm low register.
 
#8 · (Edited)
And for anyone wanting to purchase a R&C,remember these are handmade saxes. If you really look sax over you can see very very minor cosmetic inconsistentsys consistent w/ a hand crafted product.
 
#9 ·
If anyone purchases a Rampone nino,I must advise you to put a mouthpiece cushion on top of mouthpiece as stock Rampone ligature has a tendency to slide on mouthpiece when tightened. Stock R&C lig is a brass plate w/ a single wire that leads to a knurled brass screw on top. I ordered a Brancher lig from SaxForte to try as well as a Selmer lig from wwbw.com to try!!
 
#10 ·
Still impressed w/ the keywork I went from playing my Selmer S-80 I baritone to playing the Rampone nino effortlessly when I did a pre recital sax presentation on sunday!!!
 
#11 ·
Sax Forte has ordeded R1 jazz ninos. Mine is a R1(yellow brass).Differance is the jazz version has red brass. With such a small sax(not much metal) is shouldn't make a differance in sound. If it does it will be miniscule. Always happens to me. I buy something and then something comes out that is new and improved(or in this case a differant model is ordered LOL)!!!!!LOL Nah there shouldn't be a differance!!!!I am still in love w/ my R1.
 
#12 ·
Still enjoying my nino!!!! The honeymoon over ie It's not played everyday. But when it comes out once a week or two,it's still a blast to play escpially playing along w/ Maynard Ferguson cds!!!
 
#13 ·
Still enjoying my R&C nino! I love playing Maynard's trumpet lines w/ it on Maynard Ferguson's greatest hits! I enjoy using it as a trumpet!
 
#20 ·
My impression was (but it is always difficult to say since you hear yourself differently with horns projecting the sound towards you rather than away from you) that the curved sounded warmer and rounder. I had just bought a sopranino mouthpiece (Yanagisawa 7 metal) and I played sopranino for the first time. On soprano, I most definitely prefer the curved ones too.
 
#21 ·
When I got my nino in nov 2007 it was 4000. Now the straight ones are $5400. The $4000 was a stretch to spend back in 07 when the yansgisawas were 2300. I don't regret my purchase as the Rampone is beatifully hand crafted w/ great intonation and tone. But now they are $5400 and up! Alot of clams for a specialty sax that doesn't get played often by most saxophonists! But I still enjoy mine 2-3 times a month!
 
#23 ·
Still having a blast playing it! Not a everyday sax but always a hoot when I get it out. I mostly play along w/ Maynatd Fergusen CDs. It's my trumpet w/ a reed. LOL
 
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