[TPIN] Yamaha NY / CH / LA / Shew compared

[MikeSpengl at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/2/2007 10:53:34 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
info at chasesanborn.com writes:

No, just  one sample of each. I've never gone the route of picking  
through  identical models, at least not since playing Yamaha. They are  
famous  for consistency, and while no two horns will play exactly  
alike, you  can be pretty confident that a Yamaha out of the box will  
play  well.
     Agreed. One thing I noticed was that- although  they felt different- 
both bells on the two 'Chicagos' rang at virtually the  same pitch. And Wayne 
probably could've 'tweaked' the one so that the feel  would be virtually 
identical to the other. 



I always take a new horn to my repair guy (Ron Partch in  Toronto) for  
fine-tuning. He checks alignment and vents the valves,  looks for  
errant solder, and sometimes re-fits slides, water keys  etc. He  
didn't have to do much to the Chicago, but no mass-produced  horn can  
receive the individual attention that he can provide. Mind  you, he is  
a world-class craftsman and I trust him completely. This  is not a job  
for just anyone with a hammer.
   Wayne Tanabe impressed me a lot. He'll do the same thing- in  fact his 
deal with Yamaha is that he can maintain his own "shop" within the  company. He 
found a solder glob on the inside of the 1965 Bach (an e-bay  find in 2004) 
that I brought in for alignment.  And with my other '65 Bach  (a uniquely 
'open-blowing' 37 ML Strad that I've had since 1968) as a guide, he  did a little 
tweaking to bring it a tad closer. Repair guys are an intensely  personal thing. 
There was an 'old-schooler' in White Plains that I  went to for years until he 
had a stroke in '99. He was one of those magicians...  In the NY area, I've 
found Wayne to be one of the best 'new-schoolers." Although  I'm sure other 
area folks have people they trust completely... :-) 
 
    Many thanks for both the initial analysis & the  response, Chase. All the 
 best....              Mike S






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