[long island tenor]

Has anyone played both? If so, I am curious as to your opinions.

 

[Dan1004]

Has anyone played both? If so, I am curious as to your opinions.

I played the Yani and SX90 next to an Amati, Antigua, Cannonball, and YSS475. I chose the SX90 over all, due largely to the amazing sound and tone. It was the perfect one for me. If I were you, I would certainly play them side by side with the same mouthpiece and reed. Then make your choice. As far as I'm concerned, they're both great saxes. But the Keilwerth was for me.

 

[bkiser]

I also found the SX-90 to be more to my liking than a Yani 901. The Yani sound had a little more crispness/reediness to it and the palm keys were easier, but it lacked the full tone and response of the SX-90. For the record, mine is an SX-90BN one-piece, and I have played it for about 10 years, so it had an unfair advantage in the playability department.

 

[Richard901]

Have you seen the reviews at sax.co.uk ?
http://www.saxophones.co.uk/index2.html
Click on Sax Tests near the bottom of the list on the left.
Then Soprano Sax Tests.

I also prefer my SX90 (single neck) over the S901 for the reasons already mentioned.

As mentioned, the palm keys are more difficult, but not impossible - I use a Runyon Custom 8 mouthpiece.

The intonation is just as good as the S901 - perhaps even better on some notes - apart from the low C and B which are a little sharp.

At first the action feels slightly clunkier on the SX90, but I prefer it - apart from the bottom notes.

As mentioned in the review, octave leaps are much easier.

The SX90 does feel larger, mainly because some of the rods do stick out from the body more.

The SX90 is more free-blowing, but the advantage I find is that I can use slightly harder reeds, which improves my sound????

I only play soprano, but I must add that I'm only a hobby player, so I'm sure some far more advanced players may disagree with me on some points.

Is it possible for you to buy one/both saxes on 7/10 days approval in your area?

Good luck in your search.

Richard

 

[long island tenor]

Thx Richard,

I am looking for a used sop. I currently play the SX90 tenor and have tried virtually everything over my 30 yrs of playing. Do you have any experience with the Couf Superba I or II soprano?

 

[Richard901]

Thanks for the reply.

I've seen some SX90 bargains on ebay - certainly in the UK (£800) - I don't think they are as well known as the other 3 main makes.

I bought mine from ebay. Be careful though - the bottom notes didn't play well because the tone holes needed levelling - a common problem with Keilwerth.

I haven't tried a Couf, but I did a search on this site and came up with:
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=28521&highlight=couf+superba+soprano

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=5876&highlight=couf+superba+soprano

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=5807&highlight=couf+superba+soprano

The full addresses above are not displayed for some reason, but the links seem to work though.
Another search would probably find some more threads.

Hope this helps.
Richard

 

[Richard901]

There's a Couf Superba II on ebay USA.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-H-Couf-...ryZ16203QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and an SX90II (two neck model - some people think that the palm key notes are slightly easier on this model) - only 4 feedbacks though.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Keilwerth-SX-90...ryZ16203QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Perhaps you've seen them.

Richard