[SilverNeck20]

I played a gig last Saturday night. The guitar player usually brings he son on the gigs. He had Olds tenor on loan from his school. It said Olds Elkhart on the bell and ROC by the serial number. Obviously a Chinese horn. It was heavier than my S20. I think it was the intermediate model they produce.
I was a little suprised when I played it. It sounded pretty good. Not a bad tone, and had good projection. The intonation seemed OK although I only played for a few minutes. It had modern keywork, so it felt funny to me (as all horns do after playing the S20 for 20 years).

Anyone ever have any experience with these?

 

[Mike W]

I have an Olds ROC tenor (and used to have a similar alto that I regret trading away sometimes). Mine doesn't say Elkhart, just Olds, on the bell. Mine is the intermediate model from about 2000 and is made in Taiwan. From what I read it is supposed to be a copy of the Selmer SA 80 and I get a good Selmerish tone out of it--almost identical to a series III I tried one time. It plays well enough that sometimes I find myself playing it instead of my S20. They are nice sounding horns and project very well. When I played it with the blues band I used to play with, I had numerous complements on the tone. It does have a more centered tone than the S20.