[AZAZAZ]

A buddy of mine just picked up a new Barone Classic tenor. ever since he received the horn, he has been leaning on me to come check it out - he thought it was on par with my vi, and we were both eager to have a bit of a jam. so, i finally got some rare free time and headed up to his place for a day.

immediately upon playing the classic, i was impressed by the horn - good ergos, good resistance, even intonation. nice fat thick core to the sound, which is what impressed me most. the midrange of the horn seemed to spread out a little bit too, especially when played hard.

i then picked up my selmer for a comparison and was thoroughly impressed and slightly shocked how similar the two horns felt and sounded. the most significant aspect was that I felt that if I had to gig on the barone that same night instead of my vi, i would have been perfectly comfortable.

 

[patmiller]

I had a MkVI tenor back in the day. It was a very, very good horn. I believe my PB Classic tenor has better intonation and ergos but the MkVI beat it on price. I bought the Selmer second hand in about 1971 for a few hundred dollars. The PB was new and cost me about $1500!

 

[stormott77]

In case anybody cares the buddy was me. I love my classic. I took it to the local horn shop that has a really nice SBA and a lot of Ref. 54 and 36. I played it back to back with those horns and I was blown away. The Barone was right there.

Thats when I started bugging azahurak to come up and hang. I know how nice his VI is and I wanted to A B the horns. azahurak got me into Barone mouthpieces a couple years ago so I really wanted to show him Phil's latest handy work. It was pretty crazy how similar they sounded. They could almost be the same horn except of the ergos and the F# key. We didn't pull the tuner out and check each note on both horns. We both play fairly well in tune up and down both horns with out much thought. We both agreed that the Selmer did not have any extra 4th dimension of unexplainable vintage sound quality.The Barone has softer brass than the VI but I think most newer horns have softer brass than the Vintage horns. My tech said the brass on the Barone is about the same on my Cannonball Big Bell Global.

Both horns are great. The big difference is you would have to pay at least 6 grand to get a VI as good as his. We all know how affordable the Barones are. Is it fair to call the Barone Classic a Mark VI clone with refined ergos, YES.

I will give a full review soon with some clips. I have been super busy or I would have already done it.

 

[saxson]

My son has a PB sop, alto and bari. He has a 6 tenor. The PB tenor will one day be added to his collection. I've been thoroughly impressed by Phil's horns. He also has a Mauriat tenor, which has a very dark sound. He likes them both. My favorite sound is his 6 with a Ponzel neck, but he likes the rougher sound of the stock neck. Money dictates that he'll have to wait to complete his PB collection (no, he's not selling the 6).

 

[buddy lee]

Wish I could try one... I play Mauriats because I've never had the pleasure of playing something else that I've liked better. I really want to try something with the core of a MkVI without having to pay MkVI pricing and it sounds like the Classic is it.

I know this is off topic a bit, but how do the Cannonballs compare to 6's? I haven't played a Cball tenor that I've liked yet.

 

[stormott77]

Wish I could try one... I play Mauriats because I've never had the pleasure of playing something else that I've liked better. I really want to try something with the core of a MkVI without having to pay MkVI pricing and it sounds like the Classic is it.

I know this is off topic a bit, but how do the Cannonballs compare to 6's? I haven't played a Cball tenor that I've liked yet.

My Cannonball Big Bell tenor doesn't have much in the way of core. It has a big edgy sound to it. The Classic blows it away.

 

[buddy lee]

My Cannonball Big Bell tenor doesn't have much in the way of core. It has a big edgy sound to it. The Classic blows it away.

Every Cball I've tried (vintage reborn, stone series) has been very, very resistant. Classic fairly free blowing?

 

[SiB0717]

I had a MkVI tenor back in the day. It was a very, very good horn. I believe my PB Classic tenor has better intonation and ergos but the MkVI beat it on price. I bought the Selmer second hand in about 1971 for a few hundred dollars. The PB was new and cost me about $1500!

Oh how I miss the good ol' days. Oh wait that was before my time. Stupid internet!

 

[stormott77]

Every Cball I've tried (vintage reborn, stone series) has been very, very resistant. Classic fairly free blowing?

My Classic is more resistant. My Cannonball is free blowing.

 

[saxphil]

Well, I'd like to hear how "Selmer" the PB Classic sounds. Clips?
I have one of the earliest Barones and it doesn't have the Selmer core.

My VII and III have it, no surprise there.

 

[stormott77]

Well, I'd like to hear how "Selmer" the PB Classic sounds. Clips?
I have one of the earliest Barones and it doesn't have the Selmer core.

My VII and III have it, no surprise there.

I will get them up as soon as I can. We almost got them done on Monday but those darn responsibilities got in the way.

 

[saxphil]

Sure Shane, I enjoyed your clips of the Vintage.