Currently, I own a student alto sax, and I am looking into buying a professional one. I have heard a lot of different things about the Selmer series II and series III. I was just wondering what your thoughts would be on the better model. Which one would you recommend? And what about a professional yamaha sax? Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!
Selmers are great quality horns, but are very expensive, and IMO have a very dull, dry sound.
Yamaha`s Custom line horns are amazing. They have a lot of projection, and can be used in a variety of styles. The action and response is lightning fast. http://www.saxforte.com/saxophones/Eb_Alto/Eb_Alto_Yamaha/eb_alto_yamaha.html
You might also want to check out the Yanagisawa A991, I chose it over the Yamaha 82Z (It was a difficult choice). Just to reiderate Selmers are great horns but in my opinion Yamaha`s and Yanagisawa`s are better, and less expensive.
I have a piano and bass (electric and doublebass) background and am new to the world of saxophones. I know the difference between a cheap piano/bass and a more well-made pro quality piano/bass.
But how does that apply to saxophones? For example on the rare occassion, you might find a cheap non-pro bass or violin or doublebass that is a gem. When I hear or play one of these gems I can tell the difference between this one and the other cheap instruments. How do I do that for the saxophones? Are the cheaper saxophones more prone to the buttons and mechanics falling apart?
In all classes of saxophones, there can be good and bad horns. This mostly applys to selmer horns, which while always good, are sometimes a bit below or just plain amazing. Cheaper saxophones of course arn` built or designed to par with pro horns (the china horns to) but sometimes, espeacilly there are real good ones that show up, but regardless, they usualy (I`ve never ran across one, but it`s possible I guess) don`t end up measureing up to par with pro horns. I mean sometimes they turn out to hae a real nice tone, but the keywork is still worse, ect. hope this helps a bit.
Selmers are the best horns made, period. I've never heard anyone say they had a dull sound, they don't when I play them anyway. Yamahas would be a nice second option if you can't afford a selmer.
Cannonballs are not a good option at all. They are terrible and are way overpriced for the piece of crap that you get.
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