Wexler Alto Sax--Any Good??

[cgooge]

Is this a good horn to buy? I played all through High School and College. Been about 5/6 years since I last played. Any comments are appreciated!!!!

[JohnZ]

If you bin to collig you awta be able to buy a better one. Musicians are a snobby bunch. I'm strictly a community band hacker. At one rehearsal the "rich kid I've got a new Selmer/Keil/Yani" crowd ended up with the first alto chairs behind the conductor. Each would show up late with a new horn & place his chair in ahead of the others. This didn't last too long, but you'll also see similar snobbery on this board. By now you must have decided to play again. The alto & tenor are the easiest to find places to play, so buy a brand name. Something you can be proud of for your main horn. If you just want to honk around the house and if you must buy a cheap asian horn, get a soprano.

[Gandalfe]

Play the best horn you can afford, within reason. :)

If the Wexler sounds sweet do it. You know, intonation rules. Otherwise, try for a better horn.

[LionTX]

I saw those eBay ads - and tried desperately to find someone who heard of the brand, all in vain. The closest guess I got was that it's an asian-built sax (only the "engineering" is german). I even went so far to contact a few successful buyers, and they were all pretty pleased with the horns (purchased generally for their offspring).

However, when I tried to contact the seller (great-tunes), pointing out some inconsistancies in the description (they have "very few" of these horns, but they sold thousands regularly, always using same description and pictures etc.), and asking for some additional information about its origin, they brushed me off, saying something like "we don't need that sort of aggravation".

I was immediately put off by the apparent lack of customer service, which smelled of a warehouse operation. Asked around some more (even here), and went with the good old (used) YAS 23. Greatly due to the fact that it's a brand name with widely available parts - what will you do if your Wexler needs repair?? The "great-tunes" experience isn't encouraging. But, for honking around the house, Wexler might have sufficed. You sound like someone who may look for something more.

There, giving back to the community.

LionTX

[Se7en]

A girl in my section plays a wexler..

I really havent heard her too exclusively, but it's not an entirely terrible horn. If you're not too serious about what you're doing id say go for it, it would be perfect in that respect.

I believe theyre made in korea, and yes, with "german engineering"...theyre cheaper imitations of serie III's i think...i dont remember.

[markieg]

My sister plays a soprano Wexler, and I think it has great tone and response. I don't know for sure about intonation since I haven't sat down in front of a tuner with it. They seem like intermediate horns to me as far as how they play, but they're priced way too low for that. Maybe because they have no reputation and are trying to make one. I have heard that the curved sopranos (which my sister has) have issues with the right hand hitting the bell when lifing from the keys, but I have small fingers so I wouldn't know from experience. I personally like the one I've played, but then again I like my 1950's Vito better than a Yamaha 52. Just my opinion.

[BadLands]

Here's the thing - I know the Wexler is a nice shiny new product. But it is probably inferior and you will probably be disappointed - I say probably because I've never played one.

Nothoing against anything Asian, but let's face facts. Most of the cheap knockoffs come from Asia.

How can you tell if its a 'student model' you may ask: Student saxes made by Selmer or Yamaha have silver rods by and large, so the body is brass in color and the keys look silver. That stands true for most brand name student horns. The cheaper Asian horns are made to look 'all brass' - the keys match the body - made to look like a professional model but they are not.

Here's a tip if you are buying a first instrument or a student sax for your child - its better to find a used, cared for Selmer, Yamaha or Conn for $180-$400. They will have good intonation and in the case of the Selmer Bundy they are VERY durable. The quickest way to isolate some of the cheaper brands is to just take a look at them.

Student saxes made by Selmer or Yamaha have silver rods by and large, so the body is brass in color and the keys look silver. The cheaper Asian horns are 'all brass' - made to look like a professional model but they are not.

If you must buy a real inexpensive horn visit your local music shop so you can try it.

[electricninja]

I'm a bit unhappy about the Wexler crap on eBay, especially since it keeps clogging up my searches for good saxes.

From the sobbing-heartfelt-xeroxed letter I got with my last purchase (before it got the "Wexler" brand name), the Wexler sellers are an old couple where the husband hurt himself and is on disability. They're just selling horns as they get them, kinda like those "get rich quick" schemes you see on late-night infomercials.

It's such a shady operation. How many times have they changed their eBay name? Why all the falsifications and goofy embellishments on the website ("Pretty isn't it?")? Why the spinning fish and cross? Now I'm supposed to buy from them because they claim to be bonafide Christians? Have they no other merit? Anyone with any scruples would feel foolish after writing up stuff like that.

They are obviously clueless about good business and know not a damn thing about the saxophone (hence the "we don't need the aggravation" remark, which they securely feel they can get away with), and the closest they ever get to quality control is a "7 day guaranty". Well count your lucky stars. It used to be 3 days. I e-mailed them about my ordeal with the last POS and heard crickets.

When I sent my straight soprano to a repair guy and he called back a week later, he was a bit excited to tell me how the metal was soft (you could press a dent in the bell with reasonable thumb force), how the stringy dried glue was all over the place, how the pearls didn't even fit the keys, how some springs were badly bent, etc etc. He said it would cost $80. I decided to silently walk away from the ordeal and let him have my lemon (poor guy). That, the stinky case, the straight neck with the broken octave key, and the nasty plastic mouthpiece.

:evil: The angry side of me wants to call these people mean old cranky farts making dirty dollars selling junk horns to cheap parents and almost-as-old Kenny G wannabes having midlife crises.

:roll: So I'll just stick with "dooshbags".

[DavidH]

I dunno. I just got a Wexler Silver Straight Sop from those people, and it plays wonderfully. Yeah, the whole disability thing looks shady, but they did have the 7-day guarantee, which is plenty for saying yes or no to a $250+/- horn.
My only complaints:
- Laquer wears quickly from skin oils. There are already stains on my octave key and thumb hook.
- Cheap Cheap Cheap mouthpiece/lig. I quickly tested it out with a Selmer C** and Rovner MkIII, and it played beautifully. The reed included was adequate, though I've a new box on the way.
- General "newness" of a cookie-cutter horn required some technical adjustments to keys and pads.
- overall sound quality is not extremely great. For a $250 horn, though, it's excellent.

Basically, it's not a Pro horn. It does have a high F# key, as well as a pretty solid design (I gues it'd have to be solid to mass-produce these things). Replace the mouthpiece, then take it to a Tech to make some adjustments, and you'll have a very solid-playing $400 horn, max. With just the mouthpiece change, I'm very happy. I'll likely need to get a relaquer in just a year, but by then I'll likely purchase a new Yani. If you're tight on budget, and aren't expecting a professional horn, then these Wexlers are actually great.

However, from what I hear, it's hit-and-miss. You either get a nice solid horn, or a real lemon. My advice is to have a new, better mouthpiece ready, play on it with that, and be ready to send it back if it doesn't respond well. I may have gotten lucky, but I think it's not that bad a horn.

[stitch]

For a $250 horn, though, it's excellent.......... I may have gotten lucky, but I think it's not that bad a horn.

But the $250 would almost certainly have been better spent on a used Yamaha/Bundy...

[BadLands]

:roll:

Absolutely - get a nice used horn that has a history - Selmer, Yamaha, or even sister models - Vito from Yamaha.

Wexler makes a line of instruments, horns and so on - they are coookie cutter - let's make some of these and some of those. Not good things in general - I know a used horn will be scratched etc but once your kid is playing rings around the others, their shiny horns won't mean much

[DavidH]

Eh, if I could have found a decent used horn for that price, I'd have gotten it. I did find an old Selmer sop at a pawn show for $175, but it was missing ALL the hardware. It was just the body.

On second thought, though, I could have pointed that out and likely gotten the price knocked down to well less than 100. I just didn't want the hassle of having to get something modified directly from the start. With a new model, it was a hit-or-miss thing, little guesswork. I had the 7 days, and it played well. I'd have returned it if it didn't. And now I can leave it like it is (except for the mouthpiece change).

[electricninja]

A $250 used Yamaha? What planet are you on?

[Bloo Dog]

Yes, it seems that the people selling the Wexler saxophones on ebay are old folks. This might be because Wexler is distributed by an American outfit that sells things one might find at a Dollar Tree store. It's almost all imported do-dads: cheap party items, electronic peripherals under $10.00/ three for fifteen dollars, cheap cd players, etc..

This same outfit sells the Wexler in lots of three, and the price largely depends upon how much business you do with the distributor.

The horn is South Korean? Hmmmm.... You know, Samsung is owned by Hyundai....

[werkinsnake]

I'm not into the cheap knockoffs either, but I found one that makes me question all knockoffs being horrible. Last year I bought a BESTLER brand straight soprano for under $100 from a music store that I freqently go to. These horns go for about $250 on eBay. The stock lig and mouthpiece was crap. Luckily I had my trusty metal Link with me. After a few minor key adjustments (mainly the Front F key needed adjusted via a little adjusting screw) the horn played great. I don't mean great for a knockoff horn, I mean GREAT as in out plays a Selmer Series II that I once played. The model I bought was based on the design of the Series III (though there is no high G key). It has two necks. The metal is thick and there is no fear in accidental denting. I noticed that some of the springs are a little long and this means that they were bent to fit correctly (a minor complaint that does not affect playability). I've had mine for over a year now. It's gotten me through West Side Story playing soprano sax, clarinet, and trumpet parts. Not an easy task with a good horn mind you, but this little sax tackled all of the parts. The sound is very similiar to a Yamaha 475 soprano. There is a little more resistance blowing than with the 475, but overall it's a great playing horn with very very respectable intonation. I play up to a G3 and everything sounds in tune. Low end is just as good. I have not had to make any adjustments on the horn since I fixed the front F. One other thing that I don't care for is the rocking Low Bb mechanism. It's not the fault of this horn. I know it's the common design these days, but all of my other horns (made before 1940) do not have this feature, and I never really cared for the rocker. Other than that, it's a great instrument. I know that BESTLER makes altos and tenors, but I haven't had my hands on one yet. I know a kid who had a BESTLER valve bone (trombone with valves instead of a slide) who said it was a great instrument. Other than my soprano, I have little experience with the company. I suggest that if you're looking for a great sax that will not hurt your pocketbook, take a look at these.

[Bloo Dog]

Notice any striking similarities between the Bestler and any of the other high-end more prestigious saxophones?

[werkinsnake]

The one that I own is very similiar to a series III soprano (minus the high G key). There is a high F# key (just like there is on practically everything comming out of factories these days). The horn also sports 2 necks. I have not had any problems with "bad glue" issues. Meaning that no pearls or corks have fallen out. The one thing I didn't like about the horn was the stock mouthpiece and ligature. The tip opening on the mouthpiece was so small that the reed could barely vibrate. I didn't need to check with guages to know that something was a miss with this piece. Luckily I had my Link STM with me, and that's just what the doctor ordered. Really I was blown away by the playability of the horn. These horns go for about half of what Jupiter is asking for their intermediate models. I'm curious to see how the alto and tenor versions stack up, but my collection is quite full right now.

[Bloo Dog]

Bestler was a popular student horn thirty years ago. I can't vow for its quality though.

Wexler is now being sold as "Werler." Hmmmm...

[Taldren2009]

;) I own a Wexler Alto Saxophone. It's nickle plated, and I am very pleased with it, but it is a beginning instrument, at least for me. It is a little harder to hit the high D sharp, but it is NOT impossible. Also, the low notes are kinda hard to hit. The nickle plated version is very durable, but shows fingerprints like no other. As far as tone quality, I'm leaning towards average...I've heard better, but not by much, and I've heard a LOT worse. It's up to you, but I'd say it's an all around average sax.

[Taldren2009]

L8tr