ORLEANS SAXOPHONE

[oliva1972]

I have a saxophone branded as "ORLEANS" with "HERMES U.S.A." mouthpiece.  this was just a gift for me by my late dad which he bought 10 years ago for USD 300, second hand in chicago.

sounds good, nice french style gold plated, but what "orleans" really is?  after long research from the net, the mouthpiece gave a clue that such mouthpiece are paired with "prestini sax", and upon viewing some models of prestini on the net, it was identical except for the brand name "orleans".  as per internet, "Prestini is one of Italy’s most prestigious musical instruments manufacturer, but The problem of Prestini saxophones, as expressed by some dealers and users alike, is the lack of publicity of the brand, at least in comparison to other competitors on the saxophone market".  also prestini is using other trade names in different locations because of problem on patent".   no further information found on the net...

questions:
1. is orleans really prestini?
2. assuming that it is really prestini, what decent/known model is prestini comparable?
3. given 10 is the highest, how do you rate this sax?

thanks,  just want to know more about my sax... although I know that vintage models such as conn are far better, but i just want to know more and believe in my sax.

[oliva1972]

to add on, from a former prestini employee, with Epinions.com ID:    neworleansjazz said "They "prestini" have hired most of Conn-Selmers employees after they were layed off so Selmer could start buying from China.
I believe they did the hard working people a great deed by giving them jobs again. All instrument are assembled in there factory in the U.S.A."..

[dingricon]

never heard of that sax brand?..maybe a stencil or copy ..
any pics? send to my email or post here a link...
.........you can put any brand of mouthpiece on any sax.. search ebay.....they include a yamaha 4c mouthpieces on a junk saxophone.... and don't think if the brand of pads is _____ then the sax is made  at that factory too...

[oliva1972]

heres the picture of my orleans saxophone:







and this is the prestini saxophone...




sorry for the poor resolution, i just use my phone to get pics.

[dingricon]

...for what i know...it's a copy of Selmer super action (II ?)......just a copy.. like many chinese made saxophones today..

[oliva1972]

perhaps it is, like copy cat of selmer super action, but its not as bad as chinese copy cat sax (you know what i mean) but neither as good as selmer.  honestly, selmer is far better but my sax is also better than those chinese made sax in terms of quality, materials, thickness, sounds...or it is just me...but at least, honestly, im satisfied with it, though its not the best.  given a chance to own another sax, of course i'll go for branded or any vintage one... but this one comes with good memories, thats why i love my sax and the sounds it produces...

[dingricon]

bro, keep your sax.. if your dad gave it to you...it maybe not the best sax but u have the most important reason to keep it...
 i still have my first sax , a friend is keeping it for me while i'm not in the PHils...it's a vintage, not  a known brand, it was the ugliest sax in  marching band/concert band during our time,not the best sax but i will never sell it....lots of memories came with it....

[oliva1972]

thanks dingricon...i really appreciate you consolation...i'll never cross to my mind to sell or dispose this sax...  as you have said, it may not be the best... but the memories it had will always be the best, and that will be enough reason to keep it for good...