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Having recently acquired a 1927 TT from a forum member, and had that and my 1975 Yani serviced by the same Tech, it seemed worth trying to compare the two.
In appearance the TT wins hands down. Not only is the silver/goldwash finish elegant, but the design is more stylish than the utilitarian (Mk VI cloned) Yani’s.
Ergonomically, both have “vintage” in-line fingering, which I don’t find a problem having never played modern horns. The Yani has a lower action, but the TT’s small pearls and positive feel actually seem slightly quicker if anything, though the tiny bis key is a little far from the B. After half an hour you forget that, though. The low-set TT palm keys I found much easier to negotiate than the Yani’s (the Mk VI is infamous for these), but the pinky clusters were about equal.
Intonation is reasonable on both, but the Yani is near-perfect throughout. The TT’s Bb and open C# are a little flat, and the palm keys a little sharp. Top C and C# are a bit muffled, but much less using a Vandoren S-15 mp than my more open Bari 62. This seems to match Stephen Howard’s online review so maybe it’s the design.
Regarding tone, as you play the TT feeds back a wonderful, warm buttery sound compared to the more nasal Yani, especially in the lower register. To my surprise, however, when I recorded both via an AMT clip-on mic, the tones were almost indistinguishable, particularly with the more open mp. Careful listening revealed the TT to have a more woody, breathy sound, whereas the Yani had an completely unexpected sweet centre to the sound which is much less obvious to the player.
The question is, which should I sell? For playing at home I can admire the Buescher on the stand, cosset myself in the velvet sound, noodle around dexterously and feel good about owning a piece of history. An audience, though, might prefer the sweeter and better-tuned sound of the Cinderella stencil, whilst other players think me a cheapskate.
In appearance the TT wins hands down. Not only is the silver/goldwash finish elegant, but the design is more stylish than the utilitarian (Mk VI cloned) Yani’s.
Ergonomically, both have “vintage” in-line fingering, which I don’t find a problem having never played modern horns. The Yani has a lower action, but the TT’s small pearls and positive feel actually seem slightly quicker if anything, though the tiny bis key is a little far from the B. After half an hour you forget that, though. The low-set TT palm keys I found much easier to negotiate than the Yani’s (the Mk VI is infamous for these), but the pinky clusters were about equal.
Intonation is reasonable on both, but the Yani is near-perfect throughout. The TT’s Bb and open C# are a little flat, and the palm keys a little sharp. Top C and C# are a bit muffled, but much less using a Vandoren S-15 mp than my more open Bari 62. This seems to match Stephen Howard’s online review so maybe it’s the design.
Regarding tone, as you play the TT feeds back a wonderful, warm buttery sound compared to the more nasal Yani, especially in the lower register. To my surprise, however, when I recorded both via an AMT clip-on mic, the tones were almost indistinguishable, particularly with the more open mp. Careful listening revealed the TT to have a more woody, breathy sound, whereas the Yani had an completely unexpected sweet centre to the sound which is much less obvious to the player.
The question is, which should I sell? For playing at home I can admire the Buescher on the stand, cosset myself in the velvet sound, noodle around dexterously and feel good about owning a piece of history. An audience, though, might prefer the sweeter and better-tuned sound of the Cinderella stencil, whilst other players think me a cheapskate.
