Walstein bronze alto

[alonwolman]

I am thinking of getting a Walstein bronze alto. The price is right and I feel it may offer some improvements over my current A901 setup. I like the idea that it appears to have a larger bell and bow design, also it's a copy of the 992, and made of bronze, which I like based on my experiences with the bronze 92 neck. And it would be new from the factory and pretty. Overall I am intrigued and hopefully will order one in the near future.

[rhysonsax]

I just bought a secondhand Walstein alto in as-new condition for £200 ($400). I am very, very impressed and am playing it on gigs in preference to my MkVI. That's not because it is better, but because I am not worried about it being knocked around or taken for a one-way walk.

Action and build quality are first rate, as is intonation. There is just something about the sound that needs a bright mouthpiece to set it "alive". I think that Walstein were talking about doing a slightly higher spec version with better pads and possibly reflectors. I would be interested to hear whether that makes the horn really sing.

Of course "Walstein" is just a name attached to a sax from some Chinese factory. There could be identical horns from the same factory with a different name, or the "Walstein" badge could be put on different horns that weren't so good.

Rhys

[Jdude01]

I too, am interested in this seemingly needle-in-a-haystack quality China manufactured saxophone. Can anyone give more info, maybe some comparisons? I've seen the review from Howard i believe it was. But i'd like to hear from others.

rhysonsax, was that the first batch of the altos, or is that one of the ones from after the delay? Or are they all the same? Idk what i'm saying anymore, i just wanna know about it.

[fluteypiccolosax]

they have a website

http://walsteinsaxophones.com/index.html

[Jdude01]

I know they have a website. But i wanna know more of what u peoples think

[ianhart]

My opinion:

The Yani A901 is much better than a Walstein. While Walsteins are very good student horns, the Yani is MUCH better. While I would use a Walstein as a back-up horn, I would not use it as a main horn. Too many unknowns (build quality/attention to detail, how long it will last, etc.).

To put it simply, your A901 is more horn than most people will ever need.

[alonwolman]

My opinion:

The Yani A901 is much better than a Walstein. While Walsteins are very good student horns, the Yani is MUCH better. While I would use a Walstein as a back-up horn, I would not use it as a main horn. Too many unknowns (build quality/attention to detail, how long it will last, etc.).

To put it simply, your A901 is more horn than most people will ever need.

My A901 is kind of dry sounding and uninteresting to my ears. I was hoping to get a little more warmth from a combination of the bronze and the larger bell and bow. Although maybe not quite as good in build quality as the bigger names, I think the Walstein looks good enough for my needs. I'm a hobbyist right now and am just looking for a better sound and since it's not too much money I figure if I like it I can still keep the Yani for backup. But, my expectations may be too high and I may be better off saving for a nice vintage sax. But at that price, I can see myself getting the Walstein first.

A few other things influencing my decision are the ugly looks of my particular A901, repair history, and condition of the pads.

[rhysonsax]

My opinion:

The Yani A901 is much better than a Walstein. While Walsteins are very good student horns, the Yani is MUCH better. While I would use a Walstein as a back-up horn, I would not use it as a main horn. Too many unknowns (build quality/attention to detail, how long it will last, etc.).

Presumably you have seen and played a Walstein and a Yani A901 in order to say this.

Steve Howard's review of Walstein vs Yani 991 tenor is very interesting and very fair: http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/...Yanagisawa.htm

As Steve's review says "On the one hand we have £2000's worth of pro Japanese horn, and on the other £350's worth of a Chinese copy. In theory there ought to be no comparison at all - chalk and cheese. In fact the difference is something in the order of 10%."

Owning the Walstein, I can say that the build quality looks very good (for any horn, not just a budget horn) and I don't have any concerns about how long it will last.

I'm convinced that the world has already changed, from when low price automatically meant poor quality of design/materials/manufacture. Now really good horns are available cheaper than some mouthpieces, but you do have to be careful or lucky in choosing which cheap sax to buy.

Rhys

[Pete Thomas]

My opinion:

The Yani A901 is much better than a Walstein. While Walsteins are very good student horns, the Yani is MUCH better. While I would use a Walstein as a back-up horn, I would not use it as a main horn. Too many unknowns (build quality/attention to detail, how long it will last, etc.).

That's odd because my Walstein appears to actually have a very good build quality, and the metal is extremely strong. This is also born out by Stephen Howard's test

Do you use one as a back up or did you just try one out?

(EDIT) I compared a Walstein tenor which I borrowed to a T901 and have to say that the Walstein would be my instrument of preference out of the two.

[Nick880]

I have a Walstein soprano. I haven't owned a soprano previously, so I don't have much to compare it with like for like, and I don't therefore feel qualified to comment with regard ease of playing in tune, for example.

I do, however, have a Yani 880 tenor (about 22 years old) and a Yani 991 alto (2 years old).

I like all 3 saxes, and the build quality of the Walstein is really very good.

[madmonk]

My opinion:

The Yani A901 is much better than a Walstein. While Walsteins are very good student horns, the Yani is MUCH better. While I would use a Walstein as a back-up horn, I would not use it as a main horn. Too many unknowns (build quality/attention to detail, how long it will last, etc.).

To put it simply, your A901 is more horn than most people will ever need.

The statement is very emphatic and black and white. I have been waiting for a reply to the quite reasonable questions posed as to how you can be so certain of a comparison between two saxes, one of which is unavailable to you in your neck of the woods.

[WallyD]

Sorry if this is a rather late post, but i hope it helps anyway. I own a Walstein alto and have also tried one of my friends Yani A901 and been able to compare side by side. My opinion; the tone of the walstein really nice and warm, build quality is great (i took it to a tech repairer for just a general maintenance after a year of having this sax and he told me nothing really needs doing to it and can be played for another few months before he does a bit of repadding/recorking/ key regulation adjustments. But main thing is that there are no bent keys, which i believe most skeptics of chinese saxes would be concerned) Bad things: for a relatively inexpensive sax, don't expect mother of pearl keys, also it does have cheap springs (but i've had no problems with them so far, none of them have come out yet) and cheap but adequate pads. In comparison to yani a901, i think tone is more personal preference and i won't lie, i still like the A901 a lot, but i preferred the warm tone of walstein to the yani. I thought the walstein had more character in my opinion. The action of the yani is that bit better, but the walstein isn't far off. One thing also great about the walstein is that it can be loud and it projects well (even more so than the yani, when i compared them together). But in addition to that, the walstein can be played very softly (and i do mean very softly) right down to the low notes, (not as quiet as the yani, however i haven't seen that in any other saxes of this price range) So overall a great sax and one that i would keep after trying many others out there i.e. TJ, yamaha, elkhart. If you want something that plays well for a good price (for a back-up/if you're and intrigued beginner), i would recommend this sax, but if you want something even more specific to your preferences and don't mind spending thousands for a top quality sax, go for the more well known brands, keep searching, i'm interested in trying one of the P.Mauriat saxes. I don't think many people mention Selmer anymore because it's just given that it is gunna play great and they really do play great!!! Is that true still or have the sax community just made a paradigm shift to other brands and have got bored of the selmer paris brand? Because i don't see them get mentioned in blogs so much these days. Also a note to add, because the walsteins do come from china, you still have to be careful. Coming from experience, you can never guarantee that you get consistently good quality saxes from china and so there may be a few bad walsteins out there. So do check the sax that you buy before you make a decision to keep it. But i think, through what pete thomas says, they are checked and set up properly before they are despatched anyway, so i don't think that should be a problem.

[Step Hen]

I like my Walstein alto. It feels very solid, though might benefit from a good set-up.

[WallyD]

Yeh, same here. Mine could of done with a better setup, although it still played fine, it still needed to be fine tuned.

[Stephen Howard]

I'd say that Wally's comments are a fair assessment of the Walsteins. They're decent horns for the money, and although they're not tip-top quality they're certainly much better than they ought to be for the price - and again, it's interesting to see how well they stand up in comparison with a horn that costs around a couple of grand more.

It's an improving brand too - I understand the new models are to be fitted with Italian pads, and there's an entirely new upmarket range planned soon. I hope to be able to review both products quite soon.

The comments about the setup are about right too. They're checked and tweaked before dispatch, but that's not what I'd consider to be a setup ( it gets a bit confusing because a 'set up' could be considered to be a basic check and a few tweaks, and a 'setup' a more involved job where the horn is balanced and adjusted to your preferences ).
Shouldn't cost more than £20 to have one properly setup by your repairer if so desired.

Regards,

[mhoyoux]

I'd say that Wally's comments are a fair assessment of the Walsteins. They're decent horns for the money, and although they're not tip-top quality they're certainly much better than they ought to be for the price - and again, it's interesting to see how well they stand up in comparison with a horn that costs around a couple of grand more.

It's an improving brand too - I understand the new models are to be fitted with Italian pads, and there's an entirely new upmarket range planned soon. I hope to be able to review both products quite soon.

The comments about the setup are about right too. They're checked and tweaked before dispatch, but that's not what I'd consider to be a setup ( it gets a bit confusing because a 'set up' could be considered to be a basic check and a few tweaks, and a 'setup' a more involved job where the horn is balanced and adjusted to your preferences ).
Shouldn't cost more than £20 to have one properly setup by your repairer if so desired.

Regards,

I've seen the web site of woodwindandbrass.co.uk : They announce a change in the name and mechanics of the WALSTEIN horns... They will be caled "BAUHAUS WALSTEIN" instead of "WALSTEIN" + steel adjustment screws + YAMAHA mouthpiece + ROVNER ligature... : http://woodwindandbrass.co.uk/

[AntonVonWebern]

I don`t like the marketing, Walter Gropius would not be pleased (Bauhaus had a specific design ethic, it wasn`t just a typeface that looked 'cool').

[Pete Thomas]

I've seen one of the new Bauhaus range (ie the new pro model, not the upgraded existing model), in fact I managed to borrow an alto for a while. (They got some advance stock to test out) This appears to be very very similar to the top end Mauriat, I'm just about to go off and give it a play test. It looks really beautiful - it has a dark honeyish colour lacquer keys and silver plate body. Black kangaroo pads and mothers of pearl. First impressions seem to be that the sound quality, consistency and intonation stand up really well compared to all the Mauriats and Rampones I recently tried out. I'm weighing the idea of getting this one instead of the Rampone I was thinking of but will need to do some more testing...

They also had a tenor model there, which had a very MKVIish feel to it. Different to the current Walstein.

[mhoyoux]

WOWOWOW !! This seems very interesting alternative to YANI, MAuriat...

But I am disappointed by the attitude of this store (woodwindandbrass.co.uk). I' ve read the review of WALSTEIn horn on shwoodwind.co.uk and mr Stephen HOWARD had already spoken about the new model short coming... I've asked Woodwindandbrass to know the delay for this new model (on january). They told me nothing before more than one years, perhaps 18 months...They would have had to say to me that the delay would have been shorter...Snif...