[Dr G]

Does anyone else have a SBA Soprano? There are only a very few around. Mine is gold plated, 40xxx, which is even rarer.

I am considering buying a modern soprano, with a warm sound too. I am looking into R&C saxellos, Yanagisawas and Borganis, What would you say that comes closer to the SBA sound?

Given that, as you state, there are few such horns in the world, and few R&C saxellos, and even fewer Borganis, I have to wonder whether there exists anyone that could make such a comparison.

I have owned Selmer Mk VI, SA-80, and Serie III sops, as well as SC-992 and Borgani Jubilee sops - my bent neck Borgani has the warmest sound of them all, but I have no idea where that sits relative to the SBA. Ergo-wise, the Yanagisawa wins. I prefer to play the Borgani.

 

[Dr G]

Thanks for sharing your considerable experience, @Paul Cohen . When you say “”None of the other excellent modern sopranos…”, does that include the bent-neck Borgani Jubilee? I ask because Borgani was included in Andrea’s opening post, and my experience includes the Selmer and Yanagisawa sops, but not the R&C models. I’m hoping to learn from anyone that has played all these unicorns.

Respect and regards,
George

 

[Dr G]

Dr. G, you are the Borgani guy... Have you seen the Borgani Jubilee soprano that Taras has put up for sale some weeks ago? I was actually thinking about that one, but without knowing soundwise and ergonomically how it behaves, I am not willing to spend so much money just to try it out. Do you still play with one, or you have another with bent neck now?

I have seen that sop: https://www.saxontheweb.net/threads...x-vintage-finish-2-bells.386943/#post-4351302

It is exactly the same as mine - only different. Here’s the thread from when I found mine (see posts #113-): Borgani serial number starting with "OB"???


I still have mine and continue to enjoy it. Mine has a bent neck, silverplated mechanism, and silver power bell - pretty much the same as Taras’ except with a bent neck and a lil’ older (mine is OBS26).

 

[Dr G]

Thanks George on that.

Do the power bell really work on the Borgani? How can that be exactly? And how does the silver differ from the bronze and brass ones? I was always curious... Do you also think that the price that he asks for it is fair?, sorry for asking but I have really not many other references to compare. There is actually a gold plated one with silver bell on the Italian musical market that looks great at the same price (SAX SOPRANO BORGANI GOLD 24K - #4143285 - su Mercatino Musicale in Sax). So which is the right price for a Borgani? thanks again!

You’re welcome. When offered the set of three bells with the horn, I negotiated with the seller to reduce the price and send me only the one bell - after agreeing to the deal, he told me that was his preferred bell also. I never had the chance to compare. A “fair” price depends on whether you actually want the horn, and its scarcity. I was looking for several years before finding any of them, and then had two - I have seen none since. 2000 Euro seems a good price to me - that is less than half the price of a new one.

As to the goldplated one, I consider the gold plating to be one of Borgani’s weaknesses. Every Borgani with gold plating on its mechanism that I have played has suffered from flaking or premature wear. Their silver plating is superb. It’s just an aesthetic issue, so you’ll have to make the call on that. The low resolution images look alright - it the finish matters, I’d ask for better pictures. If age matters, my OBSxx sop was of the first 30, and made in 2007.

 

[Dr G]

Thanks George for your further info! I believe that the curved neck must be more comfortable to play. That's why I have thought of the R&C Saxello. I didn't know that Borgani had a curved neck model. Now, I have had an input from another SOTW member regarding the soprano rampone. He found that his copper one was way too resistant compared to his SBA soprano (yes, there is another one who plays with it!), and he neded up selling it. he claims that the SBA is like no others and he plays only with that!

So in your experience, are soprano borgani resistant or free blowing?

I do not find my sop to be “resistant” - but that is something that I would ultimately tune with mouthpiece selection if it were. The most resistant horns that I have experienced were usually ones with leaks. I certainly defer to Paul Cohen whether to attribute resistance to the copper body of the curved sop, or if there is something else going on there.

I also have a J-K straight sop in the house right now, and find that both blow similarly with choice of mouthpieces (Wanne Mantra 6 or Phil-Tone Sapphire 7). FWIW, I play a pretty free-blowing setup on my tenor (Phil-Tone Intrepid 7*, Rigotti 3M, Borgani Jubilee), so I think that if there were “resistance” issues with either sop, I would notice.