Buying 82Z Tenor from WWBW: Will it be Regulated B4 Shipment?

[smoothjazztenor]

Hi

Anybody with the experience of buying a 82Z tenor from WWBW?
Will the horn be adjusted/regulated B4 shipment?

[cymru97]

Although I've never had a WWBW horn shipped to me. I've play tested MANY horns in the store and none of them seemed to be set-up and adjusted in any way. You might request them to do it, but I wouldn't count on receiving a well adjusted horn straight out of the box. Even if it does get adjusted the journey will probably knock it around enough to warrant a trip to your tech.

That said I believe Yamahas tend to be one of the better horns right out of the box.

[Joe Jazz]

Odds are no, but I've ordered many saxes from them over the years and the Yamaha's tend to play well out of the box. On those rare occasions when their shop has gone over a sax they usually put something on or in the case to show its been looked at.

[DannyZ]

I bought my alto 82Z about four years ago. I was actually shocked at how it was shipped. It arrived with the case simply placed inside the shipping box. :shock: It played quite well though. Eventually I had my tech look at it for a few tweaks. Nothing major.

[TonyPhillips]

Got an 82Z from them last week. As indicated by DannyZ, it was shipped in its case in the Yamaha packaging; no box-in-box. But it was in good condition. Was it "Regulated?" No. It still had the factory wedges and clamps on it and everything. I need to get it to a shop, cuz it does have some issues... very minor ones.

My 62II (Alto) that I bought from them a few years ago was NOT in good condition out of the box. No shipping damage, it just wasn't set up properly at the factory. The pad openings were off by as much as 3-4mm in places, the octave mechanism was fouled up, etc. I fought that horn for the better part of a month before I callad Yamaha... They had me send it to the Pro Shop in Grand Rapids where they did a wonderful job on it. When I got it back about a week later, it was an incredible machine (they swapped necks with me for no charge because I didn't like the G1, and gave me a few different mouthpeices at no charge.)

[saxxsymbol]

mine was close to perfect. if you purchase a leak light and a set of small screwdrivers you can make the simple adjustments yourself. like the f bridge, g# key, bis key from lower stack etc. the 82Z has adjustments screws for almost everything.

[greyteque]

You could buy one from Paul Maslin at pmwoodwind.com... His come ready to play...
He gets horns from the Yamaha factory, picks the ones he likes and sends back the ones that aren't as good... I bought an alto from him and it is great!

[gary]

I got two 82Z tenors from ww&bw and I doubt that either was set up before it was sent to me. The first was right out of the box and played very well. The second was in a bit of ratty condition and it had been advertised incorrectly. It was either used, a demo model with a lot of mileage on it or had been sitting in somebody's warehouse for several years. However, after calling that to their attention, they adjusted the price, which I used locally to get it fixed by my repair guy. Both were very good horns I would add and I would not hesitate to get another sax from ww&bw.

[Dave Dolson]

I've purchased several saxophones from WW&BW. On a couple of them I called on the phone and talked to the saxophone expert (whoever THAT was) and asked him to find the best player of all the same models in stock. He agreed to do so and I promised to send him a little extra for his trouble. The horns arrived and they played perfectly. Did he do his work? Who knows, but the horns were players. I sent him a separate check for $25.00 each time. DAVE

[nitrosax]

Paul Maslin and Prowinds--Great place to get your stuff...both have techs going over your stuff...highly recommended....

WWBW is a bit big for it's britches...

[soybean]

I sent him a separate check for $25.00 each time. DAVE Shhh!:wink:

[Brian]

I purchased three tenors to try from Prowinds, about 4 months ago. Two of them, including a collector Kookaburra, were so full of leaks that I couldn't even tell what they responded like. The only playable one was an 82Z tenor that was in factory wrap. The experience was a total waste of my time, especially when they hold your $10k from the returns for 4 weeks AFTER they get the horns back, that THEY didn't prepare properly.

I know others tell of good experiences with Prowinds, but I will never order a horn from them again.

WWBW doesn't seem to do anything to prep their horns properly either, but they have never sent out something unplayable ... and they are much more cooperative on the return/exchange arrangement.

[shmuelyosef]

I would say, in general, just buy the horn you want and expect to pay your local tech $100-200 to make it perfect. I'm totally convinced that when you go to a store and try several different horns, you are really comparing several different setups. When you try 3-4 finishes of the same horn...same thing. Take any one of those horns and spend 3-4 hours getting it to play the best it can, and then try again...that will be your favorite (even if it is the Yamaha 62 or Yani 901 being compared to the Selmer Ref54...

[Demolisher]

Yamaha or Selmer, both have their greats and their bads. Yes, as consistant as yamaha is, they do have their best and worst horns much like selmer. A good one will have amazing response and intonation everywhere. Thats why I wont take another chance at a "yamaha dealer" or "selmer dealer", Id rather visit the factory themselves, pay more and get the best. Of course, not everyone can do that, but then just wait for the horn in that case.

[clarnibass]

I've never tried mail order instruments but I was in the WW&BW store in South Bend and tried tons of clarinets and bass clarinets. You'd expect a ridiculously expensive instrument like a new low C bass clarinet to work, but from about ten I tried, several had serious problems like bell cork too thick (so impossible to assemble the bell), register mechanism problems, and also other more minor problems (from two companies). OTOH some soprnao clarinets I tried (from the same company) were fine without any problems. So I think that from WW&BW you get either the factory setup, which could be good or bad, or maybe if someone already tried the instrument and found problems they would correct them (but that's just a guess).

[jbtsax]

You can't expect the large discount and internet stores to go through and adjust and regulate every woodwind they sell. If they did that they would have to raise their prices closer to those of the music stores they are trying to undersell.

The Cannonball saxes when they come from the factory in Taiwan are all adjusted, regulated, "tweaked". and play tested by a professional player at the Cannonball headquarters before being shipped to their dealers. It's unfortunate that more manufacturers don't include this important step, since there are dealers like WWBW who don't go through the instruments before they are sold to the public.

John

[shmuelyosef]

I would differ with the impression of Cannonball. I did a lot of aftermarket setups on Cannonballs for several years, as the local music store (before the ownere of 40 years retired a couple years ago) pushed these hard into the local student market. My son worked there and I got a number of these horns as new. While most were marginally playable, I found all sorts of maladjustments and poor workmanship (corks that fell off in the first week, deep creases in pads that caused bad leaks, nasty burrs on keywork that snagged and damaged clothing, loose keywork, high friction, etc...). I still hold that most new horns today are 'kits' and need to be finished off by a local technician. Even the best music stores are motivated to minimize tech time and maximize profit margin. Your local tech works for you, and can make the horn play as well as you want it to (and can afford, including replacing materials with more appropriate ones at friction or 'bounce' points).