Review soprano saxophone Amati ASS-62
In September 2015 this instrument came into the shop for major repair ( fall damage ). A maintenance check was also performed. Because these modern Amati saxophones are rather uncommon this was is an excellent opportunity to review the sax.
A local dealer uses the following add:
SOPRANSAXOPHON ASS 62 Professional model, Long model
One piece body and neck, bell: 90mm, High F # key
Abel adjustable thumb rest, Goldlacquer
Complete with deluxe wood case and hard rubber mouthpiece.
PRICE: 1150.00 EURO
We find the following information on the website of Amati:
AMATI Bb Soprano Saxophone 62-ASS / DREAM /, intermediate lung model, made of yellow brass. Goldlacquered body and keywork.
It would therefore be an intermediate model; The ASS-82 is the professional model. I had already seen this at Musikmesse in Frankfurt but not yet tested themselves.
Here my personal findings of this ASS-62 (compared to my Selmer SA80 Series 1)
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1) The sax feels somewhat heavy. It is a robust sax and the material of the body is probably thicker making it weight a bit more as other soprano's.
2) The sax is not that comfortable in the hand because of the thumb rests: left thumb rest is a bit big and right thumb rest is made of flexible plastic.
3) Laquer looks great both on the body and keys.
4) The keys are somewhat poorly finished (sharp edges) but are comfortable..
5) Used pointed screws are very long but seems to work fine. There is little slack in the keywork.
6) Well thought optimization of keywork in relation to the competition. Everything fits together perfectly.
7) The rods are unfortunately of lesser quality. Pity: this will cause problems because they scratch easily.
8) The material quality of the keys is moderate. The stiffness is poor: they bend easily. The horn is rather sensitive to falling and impact damage.
9) The sax is easy to adjust through the adjustment screws.
10) Used pads are of reasonable quality : cork is not always very neat.
11) Supplied suitcase is fine.
12) Sound is full but somewhat shrill. The sax intonation is ok, but there's a clear difference in sound between low and middle octave.
13) Tuning in the high register (from C) is too high.
Conclusion: Amati ASS-62 is a very nice soprano saxophone. Concerns to be an European product in the middle class, however, it is quite pricey. In this price range there are not that many soprano saxophones. Quality and finishing of the ASS-62 is sufficient. Shame about the poor quality of the rods. Because the sax is heavy it seems less suitable for children. Competition : the Jupiter JPS-547, which is my personal preference. It is child friendly because of the weight and sound.
After repair many detailed pictures were made so that you get a good impression of the saxophone.
