P.Mauriat Vintage Series PMXT-66RGL Tenor Sax - gold lacquer
	(Vintage American Sound) This Custom Class "Vintage Series" tenor features gold lacquer, rolled tone holes, beautiful abalone shell key touches and high F# key. These tenor saxophones have a very resonant and strong low end and an even tone throughout. Supplied with the highly regarded Super Jazz VI neck. Rolled Tone Holes, a feature of many of the vintage American saxes offer performers a noticeably quieter key action because the rounded tone holes strike the pads on a slightly broader and rounder surface without digging into the leather of pad as standard tone holes will often do. With shaped case and basic mouthpiece. Free UK mainland delivery. "Today's music demands a saxophone that can do it all. Built with quality French materials, the P. Mauriat Saxophones have fantastic response, a big, full, sound, precise intonation and outstanding key action. Line them up against the best, and at a significantly lower cost, the P. Mauriat Custom Class Saxophones will take them all on. These are great saxophones!" -Roger Greenberg (Professor of Saxophone, Emeritus University of Northern Colorado.) "The PMXT-66R is a monster saxophone that plays so effortlessly that you might be fooled into thinking you are a better player than you really are. The company has taken the best of yesteryear, modified it and taken it to a whole new level of playing enjoyment. If you are smart you will try these saxophones out - and you will be glad you did." - Jazz Times Our own Jules here at sax.co.uk has just ordered a 66R for himself."For myself, and many other players, the holy grail of saxophones is a sax which has a vintage sound but the ease of playing and robustness of a modern instrument. There are a few candidates for this, but none that possesses as authentically vintage tone as the P Mauriat 66R. Yes, bronze bodied Yanagisawas may very well be more versatile, but if its the sound of old American style horns you're after- you won't do better. This is the sound of everyone from Lester Young to the R&B honkers of the 1950s- warm & rich but, when pushed, it has an enormous amount of power behind it. The tone of the 66R is enormous and darker than any other horn currently available (or, at least, any that I've encountered). This is most noticeable in the lower register where the notes, even subtoned, have a room filling resonance. Compared with real vintage horns (and a fair few modern ones too!) hitting the altissimo comes cleanly and easily. In the words of some American reviewer- "so easy to play you might be fooled into thinking you're a better player than you actually are" or words to that effect. Basically these are saxes that play easily- freeblowing, easy action, no obvious weak points throughout the registers- leaving the player to get on with the important stuff- like what to play next! Yes, Mauriat are a new company and questions inevitably get asked about build quality and reliability. The good news is that, from our experience, & some thorough checking over in our workshop, these saxes are certainly as well made as their competitors. Another interesting fact appears to be the fact that Mauriat bodies are made from a noticeably harder metal than other brands- good news for anyone in the habit of knocking their horn off its stand. Anyone looking for a horn for older style jazz, blues or rock & roll should certainly consider a 66R as a viable option. Anyone who's idea what a sax should sound like is- well, at one extreme Lionel Hampton or Count Basie's saxmen through to the players who used to back Little Richard or Big Joe Turner- Once you've tried the Mauriat, you'll probably find nothing else quite fits the bill."