Tenor for Small Hands

[Kimsey]

What are the best brands of tenor for small hands modern or vintage. I am fully grown! (in my forties) Unfortunately only 5ft tall and with small hands. I currently have use of Yamaha YTS275 but have difficulty reaching Bflat. Are there any other Brands with less space between keys or adjustable keys?

[Hurling Frootmig]

I've always felt that of the modern horns the Yanagisawa and Yamaha's have the right feel for folks with small hands. The Couf's seem to have a closer hand spacing than the SX-90's. You might check out the vintage Buescher's as they are very small hand friendly.

[SaxPlayer1004]

I ditto that. I can't really respond as to what are best for small hands, but what are worst for large hands. I'm 6' 4" so I run into the opposite problem. Yamaha's, and Selmer SA80II seem to be small hand oriented for a modern horn. The Jupiter Artist alto that I am borrowing should work nicely too. Prestini may be another option, I play a Prestini tenor, and had to have cork risers put on the tables.

[saxmanglen]

I've got fairly small hands. I use a size medium cadet (short fingers) glove when I play golf.

I've found the Yanagisawa's the most friendly for my small fingers. I use a T901 with a bronze neck.

[Sigmund451]

If your spending the bucks I dont think the Selmer Referece horns require large reaches. I find the keywork fairly compact but my hands are not especially small.

[singlereed]

You will struggle to find a horn with smaller keys than a Yamaha YTS 275 as it is meant for young beginners amonst others.... Others worth trying are B&S/Guardala, Yanagisawa - and maybe an old Selmer SBA, the LH pinky keys work quite well for small hands.

[Hurling Frootmig]

Sigmund,

I find the Reference horns to have a little more of a reach down to B flat than does my VI. Not impossible like a VII but not as easy either.

[Grey]

If your spending the bucks I dont think the Selmer Referece horns require large reaches. I find the keywork fairly compact but my hands are not especially small.

I agree with you on this one. I own a Serie III tenor but have tried out my teacher's Ref54, and the keys do feel closer to your hands. I have large hands so I'll stick with my Serie III, but the Ref horns seem to be good for small-handed folks.

[Kimsey]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have decided to stay with Yamaha and have just aquired a YTS 61. I am going to experiment with building up some of the table keys with cork to make them easier to reach.

[Sigmund451]

Hurling, I guess I may not be a good judge on this one...My hands are not especially small. I could reach on a VII but I found the entire layout to be cumbersome. The worse was reaching for C and Eflat on the rt hand...Seemed on the VII I reached everywhere.

[SilverNeck20]

I though Selmer took the keys on the Ref horns in closer to the body to be similar to the MK6.

Also, if your looking for vintage, the Martin Handcraft keywork is compact (compared to my S20).

Also keep in mind (I'm not sure how long you've been playing and it soulds like you've decided to make it work), you'll eventually get used to it, then any horn may become fairly comfortable in your hands.

[Kimsey]

Just to add, in case anyone else has the same problem as me. The left hand palm keys are definately smaller (dont stick out as far) on the YTS 61 than on the YTS 275 which is great for small hands as it is harder to modify these than the table keys (which can be built up). I know YTS 61's are not everyone's cup of tea but it may be that the 62's have a similar design and are more readily available.

[davidtw]

take a visit to taiwan. there is factory make horn for YOUR SIZE YES your SIZE

[BayviewSax]

My problem is slightly different. It's not that my hands are so small, but I have very thin fingers. My pinkies seemed to stop growing when I was about 13, consequently, I require a horn with a close reach and prefer light spring tension. There is the dilemma. A Conn would provide me the optimum spring tension, but the reach is too much. (My Zephyr bari actually caused slight tendonitis in my right wrist!) Selmers can't have the spring tension set quite as light as a Conn, but the reach is MUCH better. The 82Z has a nice reach, but lacks body (to my ear). I fall into the NAF category (Not A Fan) with respect to Yanis. I didn't care for the feel of that horn or the Keilwerth. My own recommendation would mirror that of Sigmund, a Mark VI. Of course, that's my recomendation for *everything*.:D