X/P SS1202LQ Bb Soprano Saxophone

UPDATE: I brought this to my saxophone teacher to let him evaluate it. He said that it played fine through except the higher notes and lower notes (I believe D and up on the higher register and C an below on the lowest register) are significantly out of tune. It's not something that can't be compensated for with embouchure if you know this particular sax and it's issues well, but it does add unnecessary difficulty to learning it. He also said the tone was a little too bright and thin sounding for him. Again, something that can be compensated for, with the right equipment and enough practice, but an unnecessary impediment. I'm still satisfied with my purchase, but be warned: Even if the build quality is better than Mendicini it's still a cheap beginners horn and probably won't be perfect..I just received this earlier today. As a quick heads up, I have never played a soprano sax before. I have been playing the tenor saxophone for the last 5 months though. I know there are no other reviews up at the moment, so I'll try to be thorough here. If anyone has any questions I can try my best to answer them as well. As a little background on this brand, from the research I've done Antigua is one of the most recommended "cheap" student horns. They have a reputation for great quality at low prices. This particular model has less reviews than their other models, but what little I've found on it recommended it. I got this on sale for a little over $600, and at this price I HIGHLY recommend it. The base price of $1000+ is not unreasonable in my opinion though.So first I'll list the contents, since the product description was incomplete:-A soprano saxophone (obviously): more on this later-A canvas case: more on this later-2 necks: 1 bent, 1 straight-2 reeds: decent quality. strength is not labelled, but they are significantly weaker than 2 1/2. Maybe 1 1/2. Easy enough to play on but unstable on lower notes.-A neck strap: absolutely adequate, no frills, no cushions.-A mouthpiece, ligature, and cap: Mouthpiece plays, but is very shrill. The ligature is way too small- MUST be replaced. It barely fits on the mouthpiece without a reed, it would be very difficult to get it on with it (I gave for fear of breaking the reed)-A cleaning cloth, but no cleaning tool: would be fine to polish the horn's surface, but you'll need a special stick to clean the inside with it. I prefer the pull-through style cleaning cloths anyways.-A manufacturer's 1 year warrantyI'd like to start with what you see when you first open the package: the canvas case. I have to say that the quality on this is surprising. It has 2 pockets (neither large enough for a music book or sheet music though), nice handles and the inside has room for all your accessories. It also comes with 2 straps and you could attach them to either serve as a backpack or a shoulder strap. It has the Antigua Winds logo: XIP series on the front. It's very attractive overall, although the stitching on the logo has some slight flaws.Next, and most importantly: The saxophone itself: I can't rate it and compare it as though I've seen and used a ton of soprano saxes. Here's what I can say: it looks great and it plays well. The keys are well placed and react well. There doesn't seem to be any leaks. Construction seems durable so far. It has an attractive, but subtle leaf pattern engraved in it. My only complaint with the horn itself is the cushions. Some are a nice red felt, but some of them are unattractive (but functional) cork pieces. I'm not sure they will prove to be durable and they aren't all perfectly centered or cut. All in all a minor complaint and I'd give the horn itself 4.5/5Now for the accessories: Let's start with the necks. The option of bent vs straight is nice and I'm glad they included it. However they don't include any cork grease, so if you don't have any you should definitely pick some up. Also, the cork on the neck is too thick. I ended up sanding it down with some sandpaper so I could get my mouthpiece down far enough to be in tune. How far it needs to go depends on the mouthpiece though. Speaking of mouthpieces: replace this one. It plays, but it's bright to the point of being shrill. The  Yamaha YAC1281 4C Standard Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece  comes highly recommended and is relatively cheap, but I myself went with  Rico Graftonite Soprano Sax Mouthpiece, B5 . You'll also want to get a new ligature, the one that came with this is basically unusable. You may be able to get it to work but it's way too tight to be used easily. The Rovner ligature is popular and not overly expensive  Rovner 1RVS Soprano Saxophone Ligature . The neck strap is fine but has no cushioning. Since this is such a light horn that's not a problem IMO, but you may want to get something a little nicer. Other things you'll need: A cleaning swab: I like this style, though I personally can't vouch for this particular product  SuperSlick SHSWAB Saxophone Hanky Swab , cork grease  Venture 200 Tube Cork Grease for Wind Instruments , and perhaps a stand  Hercules DS531B Soprano Sax Stand . I'm a fan of the Hercules stands, I have one for my Tenor sax and got the screw-in extension for the soprano. It rugged, works great, and I'm sure this soprano stand alone is quality. You'll also want some reeds, which is a personal choice but Rico royals or Vandorens are both solid. As far as strength goes I play a 2 1/2 on my tenor and got the same strength for this and it plays fine. The reeds that come with this are adequate but very light and you're going to want more than 2 of them.I'll keep this review updated if anything comes up and will do my best to reply to any comments on this review.

The Antigua Winds X/P SS1202LQ Bb Soprano sax is after a week of adjustment is a decent saxophone.The following are the issues noted and corrected.1) The unit arrived with octave key non-functioning. The alignment rods were way off and was sticking.2) Some of the rods were not drilled deep enough for the pin to sit deep enough. Some of the adjustment screw pins were out about 1/8" from the surface of eye bolt.3) Some of the posts were drilled about 10 degrees out of alignment from true.4) Some of the posts were bent down and up as to make the alignment very tricky.5) There were no lubricant noted in the pins nor the screws.6) The ligature was not usable, because the size was just way too small.7) Some of the pins were way too long and some were not long enough. So, after fully screwing the pin in place, there were in some cases 1/8" above the post.8) The left hand "B" and "Bb" key were so mis-aligned they would de-couple.I tried to play the instrument without any adjustment when I first receive it.It simply would not play: since the octave key was stuck and was not working at all.At this point, I was certain I was going to return this instrument. It was nice lookinginstrument and notes that I got out "G","A","B" were promising.Since I was rebuilding Yanagisawa tenor saxaphone that was about 30+ years, Idecided to adjust this soprano saxophone as well. I almost pulled the trigger onreturning this item.Well, after a week of adjustment, I am relatively happy with the sound. The sound isfull if not bit brassy. It is has good resonant tone with exception of the lower "C" insome occasion. I could adjust to compensate for the lower "C" in most cases, butas of now I am not fully happy with the lower "C". The lower "B" and :"Bb" and justfine, just "C". May be little more adjustment will fix it, the low "C". The low "C" soundsOK most of times but in occasion, it will not have the same fullness of sound as othernotes.So, I have mixed feeling about this sax, I like the current full sound (minus low "C"),but the workmanship on the sax was poor. This horn was produced in China. Maybethey have not had enough time to get the quality control down as of yet.The bottom line is that, it is reasonably good sounding horn once properly set up, andfor the price it is a relatively a good deal.I am enjoying playing this sax. I currently play Yamaha, Yanigasawa, and formerly Conn.This is not in the same league but certainly a playable and enjoyable instrument once set up.I am glad that I kept it. But, of course, your mileage may vary. I enjoy setting upinstruments, so this was an interesting and rewarding adventure. If you do notenjoy such activities, you probably should stay away.

I was about to visit the Bay Area and wanted to buy a student Soprano Saxophone for my wife, which is going to start playing saxophones. Since I wouldn't have time to visit any stores, I decided that ordering online would worth a shot. As an intermediary musician that plays for fun, I wasn't expecting great intonation from this horn, but I was expecting it to be at least functional, it wasn't Antigua Winds' quality that I was used to at all. The saxophone came inside a light case with every component well packed. It was also a very good looking horn, but as soon as I attached the mouthpiece and tried the first notes, I noticed that the Bb key was sticking, as its lever was scratching another key on the lower registers.. Going through it with some strength applied to the lever, I finally managed to play something, but there were air leaks basically everywhere and the high octave notes were simply impossible to blow. A closer inspection also revealed several fabrication flaws to the keys, glue coming out of very low quality pads and finger pads. Overall a very bad horn for a new product, which didn't go through basic quality control. I returned it to Amazon and bought myself an used Antigua Winds horn for 100+ dollars with perfect condition, despite being used.