Hi everyone,
My apologies if any of this post is done wrong, as this is my first post.
I apologize beforehand for the terrifyingly long post.
So, as the title says, i'm looking to upgrade from my YAS-23 alto saxophone to a vintage sax.
A bit of backstory: I'm going into grade 10 in high school, and i've been playing this Yamaha since I started playing 4 years ago in grade 6. The instrument has served me phenomenally.
Last year, I was lead alto in Jr. Jazz and Jr. Concert band, got onto the jazz festival "Jr. rep band" and got my second straight jazz award (most skilled overall in grades 8 and 9.)
This is going to be my 5th year playing.
I started private lessons this year, and I believe that I have gotten to skill level where a saxophone upgrade makes sense. I have upgraded my mouthpiece and ligature a while ago.
I have a job working tech over the summer, and my birthday is coming up mid-September, so I figured I'll try out some saxophones and go from there.
A little while ago, I stopped my my local music store and tried out a few altos there, namely the YAS-62III (~$3000CAD), and the P-Mauriat Le Bravo(~$2000CAD.) I absolutely loved the depth and richness of the tone with the Yamaha, and the keywork was familiar to me, so that helped as well. The P-Mauriat I tried I didn't like as much as I thought I would, but maybe that's just a matter of getting used to the horn?
However, I was surprised that I didn't feel the difference that I thought I would, the saxes being more than double the price of my YAS-23. Yes, the keywork was smoother, and the tone richer, but I personally couldn't really justify paying that much money (for a student)
for what seems like a pretty minimal upgrade (i'm obviously probably wrong in many people's eyes, but this is just my experience trying the horns.)
Unfortunately, I could only try these, as the other horns they had are all student/intermediate-level, like the one i'm thinking of upgrading from right now (YAS-26, YAS-475, some Alpine off brand.)
So then I started looking on my local (Metro Vancouver) craigslist. More than a month has since passed, and the only horns that i've seen so far that aren't student models, are a few $3000+ Selmers, and a King Zephyr for $1350. To be honest, I don't really want to spend over $700ish (and even that's pushing it) on a saxophone.
Then, however, I found out about vintage saxophones. And so, my last week has been hours a day researching vintage horns and looking them up on eBay.
Since with vintage saxes, you can get a pro-level horn for much less than a modern one, I was thrilled. I've also been hearing wonderful things about their tone, albeit while compromising on modern ergonomics.
I thought I found my sax-to-be a couple days ago, when I found a Martin 1927 Handcraft in "excellent condition" on eBay. It was an auction, that was currently sitting at ~$420CAD with 1 bid, including import fees, and shipping. I was thrilled!
I've read great things about vintage Martin horns. Excellent value, etc. My favourite words to hear!
The auction was supposed to end this morning at 10am Pacific Time, so I got up at 8, to get ready.
When I was what the price of the horn had gotten to, my jaw dropped.
It was sitting at over $1000CAD. Oh well, there goes my dream horn, lol.
After crying myself to sleep, I woke up at 11-ish, to give a final goodbye to the saxophone.
I opened up the the eBay page, and almost chucked my laptop across the room.
It said that the horn sold at it's original starting price of ~$420. It seems that someone either accidentally bid that price, then retracted it, or played a practical joke on us all.
Anyways, so now my question is, what do you guys think I should do? I'm still looking around on eBay, and I'm seeing a few Buescher true tone horns, ranging anywhere from $150-$600.
I saw this one where it says condition is as-is, auction is at ~$150CAD including import fees, shipping, etc. Based on pictures, it has a nice satin silver finish, with minimal (if any) dents and dings.
I don't know, it could be a cool project to take it apart, clean it, get new pads, and then take it to a tech to adjust it. From what i've read, buescher TT's aren't bad horns either.
Thanks so much for everyone's help.
My apologies if any of this post is done wrong, as this is my first post.
I apologize beforehand for the terrifyingly long post.
So, as the title says, i'm looking to upgrade from my YAS-23 alto saxophone to a vintage sax.
A bit of backstory: I'm going into grade 10 in high school, and i've been playing this Yamaha since I started playing 4 years ago in grade 6. The instrument has served me phenomenally.
Last year, I was lead alto in Jr. Jazz and Jr. Concert band, got onto the jazz festival "Jr. rep band" and got my second straight jazz award (most skilled overall in grades 8 and 9.)
This is going to be my 5th year playing.
I started private lessons this year, and I believe that I have gotten to skill level where a saxophone upgrade makes sense. I have upgraded my mouthpiece and ligature a while ago.
I have a job working tech over the summer, and my birthday is coming up mid-September, so I figured I'll try out some saxophones and go from there.
A little while ago, I stopped my my local music store and tried out a few altos there, namely the YAS-62III (~$3000CAD), and the P-Mauriat Le Bravo(~$2000CAD.) I absolutely loved the depth and richness of the tone with the Yamaha, and the keywork was familiar to me, so that helped as well. The P-Mauriat I tried I didn't like as much as I thought I would, but maybe that's just a matter of getting used to the horn?
However, I was surprised that I didn't feel the difference that I thought I would, the saxes being more than double the price of my YAS-23. Yes, the keywork was smoother, and the tone richer, but I personally couldn't really justify paying that much money (for a student)
for what seems like a pretty minimal upgrade (i'm obviously probably wrong in many people's eyes, but this is just my experience trying the horns.)
Unfortunately, I could only try these, as the other horns they had are all student/intermediate-level, like the one i'm thinking of upgrading from right now (YAS-26, YAS-475, some Alpine off brand.)
So then I started looking on my local (Metro Vancouver) craigslist. More than a month has since passed, and the only horns that i've seen so far that aren't student models, are a few $3000+ Selmers, and a King Zephyr for $1350. To be honest, I don't really want to spend over $700ish (and even that's pushing it) on a saxophone.
Then, however, I found out about vintage saxophones. And so, my last week has been hours a day researching vintage horns and looking them up on eBay.
Since with vintage saxes, you can get a pro-level horn for much less than a modern one, I was thrilled. I've also been hearing wonderful things about their tone, albeit while compromising on modern ergonomics.
I thought I found my sax-to-be a couple days ago, when I found a Martin 1927 Handcraft in "excellent condition" on eBay. It was an auction, that was currently sitting at ~$420CAD with 1 bid, including import fees, and shipping. I was thrilled!
I've read great things about vintage Martin horns. Excellent value, etc. My favourite words to hear!
The auction was supposed to end this morning at 10am Pacific Time, so I got up at 8, to get ready.
When I was what the price of the horn had gotten to, my jaw dropped.
It was sitting at over $1000CAD. Oh well, there goes my dream horn, lol.
After crying myself to sleep, I woke up at 11-ish, to give a final goodbye to the saxophone.
I opened up the the eBay page, and almost chucked my laptop across the room.
It said that the horn sold at it's original starting price of ~$420. It seems that someone either accidentally bid that price, then retracted it, or played a practical joke on us all.
Anyways, so now my question is, what do you guys think I should do? I'm still looking around on eBay, and I'm seeing a few Buescher true tone horns, ranging anywhere from $150-$600.
I saw this one where it says condition is as-is, auction is at ~$150CAD including import fees, shipping, etc. Based on pictures, it has a nice satin silver finish, with minimal (if any) dents and dings.
I don't know, it could be a cool project to take it apart, clean it, get new pads, and then take it to a tech to adjust it. From what i've read, buescher TT's aren't bad horns either.
Thanks so much for everyone's help.