Just seeing this now.... Have food poisoning, and am pretty much brain-dead at the moment, but will revisit this to say more later.
Some basic, quick points:
- ROC construction is better than PRC, objectively (will say more about this later)
- The original Crescent tenors and altos are discontinued, as I detailed in the thread that was linked above.
- Re bells, swperry1 ? I don?t remember if we discussed this, but I hope we did. I always want to know when things go wrong. After initial receipt on sales, I usually didn?t hear back again from any one; I wish I had heard back more because problems come up on all kinds of purchases, of any brand, and I figure I did not hear back because the problems were addressed without contacting me, not because no problems came up. I always want to know when something goes wrong (not directed at you, swperry1, but rather at others who may not have contacted me, and to future customers).
- The Crescent altos and sopranos were/are very much like Yanagisawas, and are compatible with Yanagisawa necks. The tenor is not. The tenor is compatible with Selmer and ROC (e.g. P. Mauriat) necks. Saxcop, you had a tenor, I believe.
- I don?t think the Crescent tenors would be anybody?s ideal tenor, out of what is out there over the course of saxophone history. But I also don?t think any SA80s likely would be either. For many players the ?holy grail? will be a great SBA, for others a great VI. I think I know where Phil?s tenors are made (no offense Phil, and I could be wrong about this), and if it?s the place I think then they are capable of being on a level with anything else being made today, but perhaps not with the original neck (Phil, I?m guessing you have done some work, neckwise, to improve your product over what the factory likely originally sent you). The function of the Crescent line was primarily value. Before the improvement in PRC saxo manufacturing, there wasn?t anything available, vintage or new, that I could recommend at under $900, based on prevailing market values. I felt very good about selling the Crescents at that price, i.e. that the value was exceptional. Most players won?t know what their ?holy grail? is until they have decent chops and have played a good array of saxophones. The Crescent?s ideal purpose was to stand-in, and enable a player to develop those chops and gain that experience, ?until the real thing comes along? and one is able to know what it is. For any dedicated player, anything you buy that is not your ideal horn is probably going to end up being resold.
OK?that?s more than I thought I had in me at the moment. Just woke from 14 hours in bed, still brain-dead from food poisoning that hit yesterday eve. I?ll say more later.
One more comment re ROC makes: I play a rescued SBA tenor with a Schucht neck at home, and a P. Mauriat with a Schucht neck at work. The P. Mauriat combo is just about identical in performance to my own JS Custom tenor (not yet released) and probably very similar to Phil?s tenor (if you put a Schucht neck on his tenor). I?ll probably switch over to JSC/Schucht at work, and sell the P. Mauriat, they are that similar ? but I also mention this by way of adding some detail to my last comments above. If I couldn?t have an SBA that I love, I?d probably stick with an ROC tenor with a Schucht neck, until I could find an SBA that I love more.
Also, these comments aren?t any kind of marketing ploy (I think some will suspect that, because that is how a lot of people on the board think) ? I?m not ditching PRC makes altogether. I?m dropping the factory that was making the original Crescent line for altos & tenors because their products have deteriorated, but if I can find replacements good enough to put my name behind I will still offer them, so long as I can make the wage I need to make for the work I do on them & related to them.
To return to the OP, though, putting all else aside except for the question asked, if I did not have any choice between a (pre-discontinuation) Crescent and a Phil Barone tenor (and I'm making an educated guess as to what Phil's tenor is like -- I don't remember having one ever come in), and price was not a consideration, I absolutely would take the Barone. I don't know what Phil's pricing is, so I can't really say what I personally would do if price were considered. Also, what I know about neck options that are likely available for Phil's tenor makes that a more attractive option, as well -- these same neck options are also are compatible with the Crescent tenor, but they do not play as well on the Crescent as on P. Mauriat or my own JSC (the ROC make I'm the most familiar with, firsthand).