Who makes Jupiter saxes?

[DanF]

I see these saxes advertized in WWBW catalog and was wondering why you don't hear too much about them. Who makes them. Their silver "Artist" model looks great. How do they play?

[MonchMan]

You can check them out here

ttp://www.jupitermusic.com/home.html

I don't know much else about them

[gary]

You should be able to find information if you do a "Jupiter" search of this forum.

[singlereed]

They are Taiwanesemade saxes that used to be awful. The 500 series still is terrible, but the other models are giving Japanese student and intermediate saxes a run for their money now. My feeling of the premium Taiwanese saxes like the Artist is that they feel good and are certainly competent but a bit sterile sounding.

[jr!]

Jupiter make their own saxes.

They have 2 factories, one in Taiwan & one in China.

I own 2 Jupiters as you can see by my signature.
My alto is to be honest nothing special, its a bare bones student horn.

My Artist series tenor is great.
I haven't played any of the "top" brands or models, like Yamaha Z's, or Selmer Reference 36 or 54 or MkVI so I really have nothing to compare it to.
It's a very focused sound (due to the metal resonators perhaps, or the sterling silver neck?), the left hand pinky cluster is awesome & very fast, the action is very good too. Even the stock case is very good.

In fact, Jupiter make horns for other people as well, they make the student Keilwerth's, Vitos (I think) and others.
No, they're not affiliated with Yamaha in any way.

Also-Jupiter has 2 new models out that are ABOVE the artist series, but aren't on their web site yet.
They have a 900 series & a 2000 series. The 2000 series is only available in alto for now & its a "custom" horn, hand assembled by one person, no assembly line, the tenor will be out in early 2005 I think.
The 900 series is a step above the 800 series. I briefly played a 900 series a few weeks ago & to be honest don't notice much of a difference between it & my 889SG with the exception that the 900 series was
laquered so therefore a darker sound than my silver plated 889.

I've also played a 700 series tenor & I don't have much positive to
say about it. I got my 800 series for the same price as somebody wanted to sell me the 700 series.

So, in short stick with their artist series (800 series) & above.

[Bloo Dog]

Jupiter has a factory in China now? Where is it?

I am moving to Jiangxi province to take a teaching position (non-music) for a year. I don't feel like hauling my instruments and I'm counting on buying a soprano while I'm there.

The later manufacture of Jupiters are all good instruments. The 500 series soprano leaves a lot to be desired in ergonomics, but with the right mouthpiece, it is a serviceable instrument.

And yeah, the Artist series horns are killers. Just don't play on a cr@ppy mouthpiece.

[jr!]

Dunno where it is, I think it was around S.hanghai somewhere...

[Kareeser]

I play a student alto at school, and suffice to say, it IS the best sax i've played in my life. (Compared to a stenciled King).

If that sax is "bare-bones", I'd love to try a Selmer Mk. VI, :D

[Storamin]

I've got a Jupiter Artist Bari sax and I like it. I paid 2800 new for it and it works well on jazz. On classical I have to work harder to get a nice deep dark tone but I attribute that to the silver make of the horn. I tested a lot of different saxes until I chose the Artist because it felt good and was a low cost pro model. Since I'm not majoring in saxophone at college I felt that it was the perfect match. A few months ago my high school bought a new YBS-62 and it really doesn't strike me as better. Definitly give the Jupiter a playtest.

[Bloo Dog]

Sorry, folks. Jupiter is still exclusively a Taiwanese export. Present economic and political conditions make it impossible for Taiwan to manufacture on the mainland. Perhaps you're thinking of Jinyin of Hebei Province (which, by the way, is producing several lines of musical instruments and makng a nice go of it).

Though mainland China prides itself on its ability to copy almost anything (prescription drugs, industrial products, electronics), it has not learned to copy too many things very well. Nor has it learned the finer points of trade agreements.

Unless Taiwan is somehow enticed (or forced) to rejoin the Chinese mainland, Jupiter will remain solely a Taiwanese export.

Bloodog
Nanchang, Jiangxi Province
Mainland China

[robbieg]

I play a Jupiter Bari, and its one of the best Bari's I've ever played. Actually now that I lost the opportunity to get a good deal on a Buffet SDA, I'm really considering getting a Jupiter Artist Tenor.

[Kareeser]

Ah.. as an add-on to my last post:

I now own a Jupiter 869SG. It does beat my student Jupiter hands down...

Notes speak vey easily, from High F# to Low Bb.

Just certain intonation problem which could be resolved by seeing a tech.

[jr!]

Funny you mention that, I just had my horn in for an estimate yesterday,
if you want a great shop (it's in North York), let me know.

OH, & Bloodog, I was told by a Jupiter rep that Jupiter does have a factory in China & that he's been to see it, maybe its under a different name, or its a contractor that's making the horns in that factory??
Your point does make sense though, maybe he was BS'ing me...

[Bloo Dog]

jr!

I'll look for it. I speak no Chinese, but Shanghai has 45 million people in it, and many of them actually speak English, so I should be able to locate the manufacturer if it's in Shanghai. It's difficult to keep secrets with a population density like that.

My contact in Shanghai works in export, and she is trying to find out who the manufacturer might be. They're not manufacturing under the KHS name, or the the Chinese name, as far as we can tell.

I seriously doubt that the manufacturer is working with Taiwanese money. Economic conditions aren't favorable to that right now, but you never know.

[HC]

Just a sidenote:
Many manufactures have moved from Taiwan to China because labor costs in Taiwan are too much compared to their rivals in China, thus many factories have moved to China if they had not done so already. The only decent business they have in Taiwan are manufacturing things related to computers, I.E. actual laptop computers, motherboards, memories, etc. But why are manufacturing of these stuff still in Taiwan and not moved to China?

[davidtw]

because some high tech you just can not share with your enemy

[bruce bailey]

The company in Taiwan is KHS.

[queperknuckle]

Hi everyone. When I was in junior highschool (like 10 years ago), I had an armstrong alto sax. It was sivler and gold, like most student models. I went into Mccrea's music store and I saw this beautiful silver jupiter. It was sitting there calling to me. It was the prettiest sax in the whole store. I was just a dumb kid and didn't know anything about the different saxophones. It was just pretty and I thought that that translated into a better sax. Boy was I wrong. Even at that early age, I could tell the thing had a horrible tone, especially in the lower register. The intonation was terrible. I actually still have it, and it isn't nearly as pretty anymore. The finish on it as well as all of the key work was done poorly. Many of the corks on it fell off and I had to glue them back on. But, from what I've read, it seems Jupiter has come a long way since then. Still, the moral of this story is that just because a sax looks good and says artist on it doesn't mean it is better. I was stuck with that horn until I got my yamaha YA62 in collge, 2001. I've had the 62 ever since and I love it.

[BVEBVE]

Just by way of an update, I have three Jupiter saxes, 2 Series 700 altos and one Series 500 tenor. They are all excellent for my level of playing and in no way reflect the negative comments which may have been true in the past. In particular, the 500 tenor (Chinese made) is just as well turned out as the 700 series altos (Tiawanwese made) albeit to a lower spec than the 700s. The 500 has plastic tone deflectors and a fixed thumb hook - otherwise they are practically identical. Interestingly, the older of my two altos (about 10 years) has a nicer tone than the newer one, despite the fact that it has lost a lot of its laquer and is peppered with tarnishing. I have the impression that Jupiter instruments are gaining many enthusiast these days and are even attaining a kind of "sought-after" status on eBay.:)

[64sax]

http://www.jupiterinstrument.com/about.htm

>> "All Jupiter instruments are produced in Jupiter's wholly-owned manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and China"

[64sax]

http://nocaster.com/jupiterchina.jpg