finding a new horn

[becky]

Hi! My name is Becky, and I'm new to the forum. I'm a university student who is looking for a new alto. I currently play on a Yamaha custom tenor, and a YAS 62. The alto is not mine. I'm hoping to have my own by the end of the year, and I want one that will last me the rest of my playing career. I do enjoy playing the 62, but I'm not sure if I should stick with it, or move to something different. I have played some of the newer selmers, and I'm not a huge fan of them. I find the key placement to be awkward. I have tried some of the new Yanigisawa silver series and have fallen madly in love! However, I don't know a lot about these horns, the durability, reasonable costs, etc. I do love the Yamaha that I play on right now, but I don't want to cut out other possibilities. Any suggestions? Thanks so much! :D

[Billy The Fish]

I recently got myself a new horn, and if you are able to, I strongly recommend you do what I did. Go to a good dealer and lock yourself away in their practice room for the day with as many saxes as you can surround yourself with. And then just blow ! Whichever sounds and feels best is then the one for you. It doesn't matter too much what we think. If you have remaining concerns about whether the price is right, or about durability / maintenance costs, you can come back here to get opinions, and there will be plenty of people happy to wade in with views on the specific instruments you may have questions about.

The great thing is you have already played and got used to a very nice alto (the YAS62), so you have a good reference point. Talking of reference points, I recommend you try the new Selmer Reference Alto (nice link there :wink: ). I ended up buying a Reference 54 Tenor. Yes, I agree that the change in key placement and "feel" from Yamaha to Selmer was huge(the Yamahas are such fantastically easy playing instruments), but it was worth making the adjustment to take advantage of the superb tone on the Reference. I am still coming to terms a little bit with the more awkward feel to the High D key, the octave key, the bis key, and the greater "weight" to the C# key in particular.

The Yanis are great too - you can't go far wrong if you like the sound. Great bang for the buck.

I would also check out some vintage models, and see how you like them. Try out some of the following (just examples to cover a range of sounds, and is by no means exhaustive):

Selmer Super Balanced Action
Selmer MkVI
King Super 20
Conn 10M
Martin "The Martin"
Buescher 400 (pre-1963, before the Selmer buy-out)

When trying new instruments, don't forget to include the Keilworth SX90R amongst the Yanis, Yamahas and Selmers.

I should add that if you do this, you will also have a very memorable and fun day out too :D . When I had my session with the saxes, I felt as though I was playing my way through musical history. It was a blast !

In the end, for me it came down to a choice between three great playing instruments. A King Super 20, A 1963 Mark VI and the Reference 54 (my favourite was actually a 1956 Mark VI, but just fell out of my price range :cry: ). 2 vintages and a new one. In the end, the Reference just edged it for me. Was a close decision (and surprised me, as I had expected to walk out with a vintage horn).

Have fun, and good luck in your search.

Billy The Fish

[gary]

Man, Billy - that's a great answer!

Becky - one minor note. The Conn alto would be a 6M; the 10M is a tenor. (I play both :wink: )

[Perfect Pitch]

Hi
Billy's got it! I would also take an electronic tuner, my favorite mouthpiece/reeds and discerning critic ( :idea: preferably with large wallet)

[Billy The Fish]

Man, Billy - that's a great answer!

Becky - one minor note. The Conn alto would be a 6M; the 10M is a tenor.

Oops, nice spot :oops: . It's the tenor player in me coming out :wink:

[King Bee]

:D If you played a silver Yani and fell madly in love, then you better go back for a second audition. If you meant what you said, you may have found your horn. The Yanis are well made and durable, so it's only a matter of price. If you want a terrific price on one, call Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center in Wheaton, MD. I think he is the largest volume dealer in Yanis in the US, and he supplies (at least two years ago) the US military bands with horns.

Re price: it's cheaper to get the right horn the first time. :lol: