Re: New Cannonball Big Bell ???
I agree with what you said about Yamaha and Selmer, and if you picked up on that, then I don't think you'd be happy with a Cannonball, coming from my experience. I bought one on the side a while back to see it was all the hype I'd heard, and I wasn't pleased. It was hard to get any kind of smooth sound out of it, the lacquer was ugly, and after a few months it just started to fall apart. The silver on the neck wore off, and screws started coming out. At first sight though they're great, a nice looking case, two necks, etc, but they aren't even close to a midgrade Yamaha.
Have you played a Yanagisawa? Good solid metal, and a clear resonant tone. Try the 991 model, I think you might like it. The only qualm I have with them is that their horns are designed for tiny-handed Japanese people, and I have giant hands. I'm mainly an alto player though, so a tenor probably wouldn't be so bad. I don't own a Yani tenor.
The Yamaha thing is hard to avoid, but Selmers are all about the right one. I've played SIII's that like you said are very stuffy, but I've also found a few that played great. Those refs play quite nicely, but for less you could go by a Super 20, or even a Mark VI.
I hope you were able to sort my unorganized jumble of opinions into some helpful advice ; )
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