Ravi Coltrane: an unbelievably amazing, generous and unassuming star

Kim Bock /

I have had the honor of repairing and overhauling Ravi’s saxophones since 2010. In addition to him being an incredibly accomplished and unbelievable sax player, Ravi is also a truly sincerely wonderful person.

His humble and gracious personality is always apparent. When his shop visits often see other star struck sax players nervously engaging him, his genuine and accessible manner instantly makes them feel at ease. He is as interested in learning about them as they about him.

When I began developing the necks back in 2014, Ravi was right away interested in being part of the process. After the initial prototype phase, Ravi took the Redwood neck with serial number 5 (#C0005) and played it exclusively for 3 months on his SBA. He gave me feedback that was instrumental in fine tuning the sound and response of the necks, which had a crucial impact particularly in those early days.

As I keep on testing and developing new materials and models, Ravi has continued to provide in-depth play testing and has been of invaluable help.

Ravi is currently (spring 2020) using the Vanguard Hand Hammered Bronze and Vanguard M-61 Brass on his Super Balanced Action tenors. I can’t overstate what a tremendous honor and privilege it is to have Ravi being such a big part of our neck-adventure!

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