Tenor Saxophones

[Sovryn]

I have been looking to buy a tenor saxophone online but I honestly have no clue where to begin. I've seen the prices of new saxophones range from around $500 to over $9,000.

 

I am not a beginning musician. I play the trumpet in a quartet and just want to expand my horizons musically.

 

I have a good practice ethic and do not plan on being at the "student level" on tenor sax for very long so I don't really want a "student level" saxophone, however I definitely cannot afford to drop five thousand or more dollars on a new instrument right now.

 

Selmer looks like a good brand to me, but I honestly don't know. What brand/model tenor sax do you think a person like me would be content with? I desperately need some advice on what to get.

[TimOBrien]

I can only give you my experience:

 

A few years ago I wanted to buy an intermediate/pro tenor.

There are no good horn stores here in Florida so I took a side trip to some vendors up in Indiana during a vacation. I got to test out a LOT of horns.

 

I really feel that if you're going to spend a lot of cash you REALLY have to go and try some out, even if you have to travel. EVERY horn is different (even among the same brand) and you REALLY have to try them out.

 

I tried horns from $900 to $9,000 and finally grabbed a Yamaha 82Z that screamed 'buy me now!'. I felt the much more expense 875 was more of a classical horn and could have settled for the intermediate 62 tenor, but fell in love with the 82Z's effortless play.

 

Selmer's are still top-ranked, but I really felt the Yamaha's quality, tone and playability was up there for less than half the price (I've owned a Selmer MkVI alto for over 40 years, so I know how they hold up...)

 

Everything comes down to how much you want to spend, how much of an investment you want to make and - much more importantly - how much the horn screams at you to play it and take it home.... don't be swayed by other people's mantra of 'you MUST play this'. Your style and the type of music you want to play is going to have a big effect on your choice. Same with mouthpieces and reeds, too.

 

As for vendors - I bought my horn at www.prowinds.com across the street from IU in Bloomington IN. (I went to their store and they were SO good to me, brought out everything I wanted to try and let me spend the day in a booth with 'em alone. No high-pressure or bait-and-switch like I had at another dealer in that state!) I highly recommend you go there if you can, but really think you should try a variety of horns out if at all possible.

[soundministries]

I tend to go against the grain, but I bought a house brand from WWBW a number of years ago for the school I taught at and never had a 2nd thought about it. http://www.wwbw.com/Woodwind-WWTS-Tenor-Saxophone-471049-i1429040.wwbw The horn played well and was built fairly durably for use in a public school system.

[mnash]

If you want a LOT of opinions on the subject, take a look at the forums on Sax on the Web (www.saxontheweb.net). Some of the advice is even of the useful variety.

 

Selmer, Yanagisawa, Yamaha, and Keilwerth are really the top pro brands right now. For someone just starting out but wanting a long-term relationship with a horn, I would suggest looking for a used Yamaha YTS-62. Solid reputation as a good middle-of-the-tonal-road, versatile pro-level horn, good action and intonation, good resale value too. Expect to pay around $1500 to $2500, depending on condition etc, and whether it is from a private seller or at a shop. Can sometimes be found cheaper on ebay. The other makers turn out excellent horns too, but they will generally cost more.

 

Good luck!

[Jon Hiller]

I would also reccomend sax on the web as a good source. One thing, I have seen a lot of Yamaha fanboy types there, so expect a lot of your suggestions to be from that company. That said, the reason they do that is because Yamaha stuff is pretty darn consistent, especially if you get out of the student level instruments, and if you ever need a part, Yamaha is pretty helpful in that regard. Not that other companies aren't.

 

Personally, there are a lot of saxes out there that are decent quality, a lot of the stuff coming out of China is good, although if it's not a major brand, or if it's a house brand from some store, what happens if you need a replacement key or something, say, ten years down the road. I would stick with a first tier brand instead just for those reasons:

 

Selmer (which includes Vito, Yanigasawa, Selmer, Bundy, Conn, Armstrong, and I think a couple others), Yamaha, Jupiter, Olds, you get the idea...

[Sovryn]

Thank you guys so much for your advice. I will most definitely check into Sax on the Web.

 

I've been browsing Ebay and Craigslist for used tenor saxophones and I came across a vintage Conn Bb tenor saxophone (shooting star model) for $450. I inquired about the serial number of the instrument, which is 642734. This indicates that the saxophone was manufactured in either 1957 or 1958 (if I'm not mistaken). I don't know much about the brand, but from what I've read this means that it was made before Conn moved to Mexico and turned to {censored}.

 

I'll be able to go and see the instrument before I buy, so what do you think? If the sax is in good playing condition should I go ahead and get it?

[TimOBrien]

When you start looking at vintage horns, it's a whole 'nother ball game.

 

Find someone who works on 'em and get to know how much it costs to fix them up and rebuild them. (you can bet you'll be putting more than that to get it in shape unless someone died and left a museum horn in a closet. Oh and rebuilds dont happen over a weekend, it'll be in the shop for awhile)

 

Not saying it may not be a great horn, but know what you're getting into before you throw money at someone you don't know. At least with a music store you can go back and find them again!