Sopranos: Yamaha Custom EX VS. Yanagisawa S-992

bari_saxxy said:

I recently bought a Yanagisawa A-992 alto and I LOVE IT!!! It replaced my older Yamaha YAS-875S alto (which is now for sale). Now I'm curious about the top contenders in the sopranos. I've tried the Yamaha EX sop and it was out of this world. I've also tried many of the brass Yani sops, but not the bronze ones. When playing altos, I noticed a large difference between the brass and bronze Yanis, so I am leaning towards the bronze Yani (even though it costs more and many don't notice much of a difference between the two metals). Has anyone compared the EX and 992 sops side-by-side and have any observations?

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I play the S992 and absolutely love it, when i compared it to the yamaha i found it had a sweeter rounder sound and superior intonation, i also found that it was more comfortable on the hands. I put a solid silver neck on mine and that improved it even more, the tuning is now perfect and the sound is a little more direct and even over the instrument.
I would strongly recommend this soprano, i had a sII selmer sop and then a mkVI sop before it.

It's like everything else, everyone has their favorites. I haven't played the S992, but know from playing other Yani's that they make some fine saxes. Most folks would be happy with either one, so do what you need to do to test play an S992 so you can figure out which one you like best. Myself, I test played a bronze T992 previously and thought the sound was kind of "dead", but others love them, and the bronze sops may be different........you also may want to save some $ and get a Yani SS981 from Prowinds.....

I am a Yanagisawa fan, especially with sopranos. I've owned Yamaha (not the latest EX model, though), Selmers, and Yanagisawas. I settled on a Yanagisawa S992 for my first-choice modern soprano (still like my old '28 Buescher TT the best of all).

If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably go for the S901 and save the money. I recently played Tom Mayho's S901 (purchased new from Dave Kessler) and there wasn't any differences I found between my S992 and his S901. I played them side-by-side, then I played his S901 through a whole set with my band. Loved it!!

Bronze vs. brass? Subjective, in my view. My Antigua 590LQ sounds even better to my ears than does my S992 (but the Antigua does not have the FEEL of a Yanagisawa). By the way, I used to own an A992. I traded it away, even thought it was a very nice instrument. DAVE

I played a friends S901 once and it was VERY good. It was the most even sounding one-piece soprano I've played. I have trouble at times with right hand fatigue when playing soprano (and sometimes even alto), so I favor the curved necks. Now if only Yanagisawa made a one-piece curved neck model...

Heh, go with the curved: the SC-991 (or SC-992 or an SC-991S like mine ). Talk about a soprano that just makes you play better.

I'm falling in love with mine all over again just thinking about her. . .um. . .I mean "it".

Btw, I noticed no difference in sound between the SC-992 that I owned previously and my current SC-991S.

My friend has an SC-992, and it is a great instrument. I find that I don't like the way it balances as I play it. It wobbles around in my hands. I like the way a straight sop with a curved neck balances. On an interesting note, I played his SC-992 next to my straight P. Mauriat PMSS-64 sop and my P. Mauriat was darker. The only problem is my PM is so dark I have a hard time being heard in larger ensembles. I don't have a lot of projection.

bari_saxxy said:

On an interesting note, I played his SC-992 next to my straight P. Mauriat PMSS-64 sop and my P. Mauriat was darker. The only problem is my PM is so dark I have a hard time being heard in larger ensembles. I don't have a lot of projection.

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Something to consider: I found my PMSS-64 to be quite dark too and I started using metal mpcs on it instead of HR . I resolved to using a Yani metal mouthpiece , and it gave it a little more projection and character.

My apologies for a potential thread hijack.
OO

I mainly use my soprano in classical situations, so I don't feel comfortable switching to metal mouthpieces. That is a very good suggestion. I played my PM last night, and it sounded great. It also looks like a million bucks! I may or may not end up looking for a new soprano anytime soon. I'll keep everyone posted.