I just passed my grade 3 Clarinet and am interested in taking up the saxaphone aswell. I've been thinking about it for a while and am now sure that i want to buy one. I live in the UK so any only american instruments/ sites are not possable for me.
I'm looking for a beginners model (new or used). It must be a strong good quality sax that will last me at least a couple of years before i move to an intermediate one. I'm not sure of my budget yet but its not going to be massive.
In short i'm looking for a good value quality sax that will last at least a couple of years before i upgrade.
Your request is a perfect description of these horns and most music shops and eBay are loaded with them. eBay price for the US Market is about $400 (755 GBP) to $600 (1132 GBP) for a good used one. I'm sure the UK Market is similar.
YAS23 or any other Yamaha is good advice. I started with a Trevor James alto for £400 from Ebay. A little more money and I could have had a newer Yamaha alto and may have not felt the need to upgrade 10 months later.
I think I got my exchange rates reversed. I'm new to the "international seen". Well, actually I don't really get out of the woods too much either, but that's a personal problem.
I second Yamaha. The 23 series was replaced here in the UK years ago by the 25 and that too has been replaced by the current model. New or used they are great for your purpose. You will love the sax. Good luck with your choice.
it looks like i'm going for a Yamaha then!
But the only thing im not sure on is the model because bari-gadje said that the YAS25 has been replaced by the current model but im not sure what that is. Is it the YAS275?
Of course good though the Yamahas are, there are other brands where you (or your parents anyway) wont pay for the name as much.
If you are buying used, look out for the Japanese made Vitos, these are Yamahas in disguise, and are a fair bit cheeper for the same thing, they were made by Yamaha.
Other brands like Jupiter can be found in the UK, and are good horns without the top of the line expensive name. There is more to life than Yamaha, especially if budget is a consideration. There are probably half a dozen reputable horn brands now coming from the far east. Antigua is another, and they go on ebay for remarkably little money ($300 or less) for a decent intermediate (better than student) horn.
One nice thing about Yamahas though is that although they cost more, they keep more of that value over time, so when you do upgrade you will get a good resale value...On the other hand, if you buy something for half the initial cost, then there is less to lose anyway.
I guess its really tough to recommend realistically without any budget in mind. For the cost of a Student Yamaha you can get intermediate and even top level horns from other less reputable, but still acceptable brands.
The 21 / 23/ 25/ 275 are all pretty similar. Dont limit yourself to the 275, its been an evolutionary rather than revolutionary progression. In fact the older ones might be better as rumour has it the 275 is no longer actualy made in Japan, and perhaps the 25 wasnt either?
I saw a couple of Selmer Prelude 700 ( a tiawan or chinese? built starter horn from the Selmer group) altos on ebay uk with a buy it now of £180 plus shipping. The same guy has a brand new student Jupiter for £300. The Prelude looks like an OK deal on a brand new horn from a reputable manufacturer, even if its china / tiawan birthplace will perhaps be sneared at.
I saw a Trevor James revolution Alto go for £260. Trevor James is well recognised in the UK for good instruments at reasonable prices too. Not seen much across the Atlantic..where many SOTWers live.
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