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Sax on the Web Forum Archive / Baritone Saxophone / Which cheap Bari

Next 20 Messages

Jprince
User ID: 9063723 Jan 25th 5:53 PM
I am a 17 year old High School Senior who is going to college on a scholarship playing Baritone saxophones (Wooooooooo!!!) My uncle is wanting to buy me one, but not pay a lot of $$$.... so which should I get, an EM Winston WBS155BL for $1,995 or a Jupiter 593GL for $2,000? Both look really good, but I must say I am atracted to the look of the Winston. Any ideas? Thanks.

Bari Player
User ID: 1878484 Jan 25th 6:03 PM
If you are to a real music school...neither of the baritones you mention are anything more than an upper level student model, therefore, not good enough. If you are serious about playing look for a better bari. Yanagisawa makes a great bari at a resonable price. Also...Yamahas, or search for a used one.

9063723
User ID: 1453344 Jan 25th 6:10 PM
Well, I have been playing my schools Yamaha YBS-52 for 3 years.... I know her inside and out, but the tone stinks. I wouldn't mind a Yani, but can't find one for $2000..... How aboout a Jupiter Artist 893? That be any good.

Jprince
User ID: 1453344 Jan 25th 6:10 PM
oops..... Ithe last post was mine

Jerry K.
User ID: 1696934 Jan 25th 6:14 PM
I have heard here from other people here that the Jupiter Artist series bari is a really good bari for the money. They go for around $2700 at Woodwind & Brasswind. I would stay away from the Winston if I were you. Also, the new Buescher baris seem to get good reviews and I've seen a couple new ones listed on eBay for under $2000.

Jprince
User ID: 8339223 Jan 25th 6:53 PM
Do you meant the Buescher BU-6?

MPL
User ID: 0471064 Jan 25th 10:47 PM
A couple of fellows who post here often liked the BU-6. One had a variety of minor mechanical issues with his, the other thinks it's built like a tank.

If you can find a used Vito VSP in good condition, that would be a good horn for the money. It's a carbon copy of the Yanagisawa 901...sells new for $3K, but I've seen them used for a little under $2K.

I've tried the Jupiter 893. Liked the sound - a little meatier than a Yamaha 52 - but hated the ergonomics.

DD
User ID: 9070813 Jan 25th 11:50 PM
Check the Yama 61 on ebay which goes off on Jan 26 - it's at @2200 now. - I got one for around the same price and its a gem.

Jprince
User ID: 1920144 Jan 26th 8:42 AM
Thanks guys. I'll check around. My uncle wants to buy me one, and I found a Conn 12m for $1200 (I didn't get it becuase he wanted to wait, and it turns out it was a Nogales horn), but when I told him that, he still wanted to find a better deal. I wonder if he has even seen a Bari.... maybe if I show him my YBS-52 I play on at school he will see why they are expensive. Well, I know the 61 is out, as he wants to wait about another week before he does anything, so When I ask him again then I'll push the Jupiter Artist, the Yani 901, and the Vito. If he doesn't go for those I might have to fall back on the Jupiter Deluxe 593.... if I didn't need the stupid Low A I could just pick up a Buescher 400....lol. Funny, I never used it in the 5 years previous I played bari (Been playing a Bari since I was 12) but no I can't live without it!

solflare100
User ID: 9579203 Jan 27th 11:29 PM
Lol, why do you need the Low A?
A Buescher 400 is a sweet horn.

ON the other hand... if you can't do that, well, a Vito VSP is a very good copy of the Yani 901, or might actually BE a 901, according to the rumors.
The Jupiter Artist is a very good horn, with it's solid silver neck. The new Buescher Bu-6... well, it has received some good reviews from people, so you never know, ya'dig?

Check around on eBay... sorry to hear that you missed the -61, because the 61 is a GREAT horn, barring some intonation issues in the palm keys. Not much people play it, but the reviews from them have been great.

Oh yes, I forgot, but look for Martin Baritones too. There are some on eBay, and properly set up, these horns can be a KILLER. But better ask some experts on that, such as Bootman or others, who own Martin Baritones.

DD
User ID: 1160984 Jan 28th 7:58 AM
JPrince, Why don't you contact Garrett at Saxophone.com. He plays Bari and he can tell you all about their brand and well as Jupiter, Winston, etc.

stevew
User ID: 8868883 Jan 28th 9:53 AM
I paid $3k for my Yanagisawa B901 bari from Mathews in Holland, and that included local tax. Should be even less for an export to USA. Its been trouble free and a great sax to play.

MPL
User ID: 0867924 Jan 28th 2:37 PM
In case you're not familiar with them, Martins are not new...but they are possibly the least expensive of the true vintage horns, depending on condition of course.

Low Bb Martins can be found almost anywhere, but condition will vary drastically. I got mine from Tim Glessmann at Sax Alley in Windsor CO. Prices are well in the ballpark for what you want to spend - but figure another $500+ for a complete repad and overhaul if needed.

Low A Martins: now you're talking about, as Bootman will tell you, the "Holy Grail" of low A baritones. They are rare and finding one in great shape is rarer still. They have an enormous bell that gives them more of a low Bb horn sound. And, unfortunately for you, they're generally out of the range you want to spend.

I've played Martins for quite awhile, and I'll tell you what...they've got better ergonomics than the Conn 12M, with a comparable sound IF set up properly as Solflare mentioned, great rock-&-roll horn with the right mouthpiece, superb for combo work, great in a big band because the sound carries well. Never played in a classical quartet, but I know mine sounds pretty good with the basic C* mouthpiece and stiffer reeds.

"Needing" the low A is another matter. I'd rather hire a great bari player with a low Bb horn than a lousy player with a low A. I write for big band - a LOT - and I do not write charts just to get a low A in the baritone part. However, since you're going to school on a scholarship, "some restrictions may apply." Good luck!

Bootman
User ID: 7601343 Jan 28th 2:58 PM
The Martin or the Conn's are my personal choice of Baritone. Yes, I have a Low A Magna (with Martin neck now) and the Bell of this horn is huge, the sound is the biggest, baddest low A baritone I have ever played or owned. I personally favour the Low Bb Conn because the voice is strong, loud, robust and will underpin a big band or can be used as a solo horn.

A cheap Baritone is a relative term, most cheap baritones suffer from a small, less complex sound if they are a modern horn or need to be fully rebuilt if they are a vintage horn. As with any horn purchase, play as many as you can before you commit to buy one or else buy it cheaply enough so that afford to have it rebuilt and put into decent playing condition.

Jprince
User ID: 8193053 Jan 28th 8:39 PM
Well, aas much as I would love a vintage horn, I need a high F# and Low A.

As for Martins, when I'm not using my Schools Yamaha YBS-52, I sometimes play on their old "The Martin" Baritone. Of all the low Bb Baritones I have played, it sounds the best. But I think the spatula keys are to small for fat fingers like mine, lol. And if you were wondering, I am the only Bari Sax player in the whole school system, so I get my choice of baris!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... except I have to train a replacement since I am graduating :( and my band director's think Martins suck. Both are Trombonists, one is a Selmer freak for saxes and clarinets, the other thinks Baritone Saxophones are overgrown "Sump Pumps for septic tanks". Of all the insults.... and to the best kind of saxophone ever..... Sops, Altos, and Tenors don't hold a candle to Bari's! WOOOO. Anyway guys, thanks for the info, and I'll let you know what happens in the end.

john mark
User ID: 1237224 Jan 29th 2:31 AM
ask your uncle to help you with a selmer paris model. since you have a scholarship. ask him help you with a downpayment. since you don't have to worry about working to pay tuition. you can work on woeing to make the payments on your horn. if you end up in the music biz for a living, you will end up with having to buy a top notch pro horn. a bari is a big envestment. might as well get it over with and get the horn that will last you a life time. the cheap baris will not hold up and eventually become worthless. good luck

solflare100
User ID: 9579203 Jan 30th 2:34 AM
Depends on what kind of Cheap baris you are talking about...

A good vintage horn can give you lots of years of great playing. Fact. Martins and Conns and Buescher. Lower-priced than their Selmer-vintage brethen, these saxes all offer different but GREAT sounds and personalities and ergonomics, that are not definitely NOT inferior to Selmer, though vintage Selmers, of course with the Mk VI, VII, Balanced Actions, etc, are great saxes too. I just view them as over-priced, however, when I was looking for my sax, compared to those other great brands that were over-shadowed by the hype over the Mk VI.

A new Selmer Paris sax is NOT the ultimate solution, no matter what people tell you. Good Selmers are that, Good Selmers. However, with their Quality Control, you need to look a bit more carefully. And quite frankly, sometimes their quality/level does NOT justify the cost. A Yamaha, for example, is hella reliable, bang-on Intonation, and a sound that you can TOTALLY MOLD to your style, not unlike a Selmer, where you have a "Selmer" sound that could be molded but still around that sound. A Yani works too, another reliable and great horn. Ditto with... hell, there are lots of great brands out there. B&S. Keilwerth. Guardala.

And the main point is, well, you never know what kind of sax you would like, until you tried it out.
You might like that big dark, spready sound of the Keilwerth. You might like that centered "Selmer" tone. You might like that Yamaha tone, which can be molded easily to what you want to, along with their own inherant sound.
It all depends on what YOU like. If you have the chance, go try them all out, if circumstances allows.
You mentioned a Jupiter Artist. Those are killer baris too, so go try it out!
Only through this process can you really tell which horn you like better.

solflare100
User ID: 9579203 Jan 30th 2:36 AM
See what happens when you attempt to reply coherently in the middle of the bloody night?
Gah, spelling mistakes all over the place!!!

George Briscoe
User ID: 9161143 Jan 31st 4:20 AM
Jprince, AFTER you graduate and are accepted to college, feel free to tell your former High School band director who said that baris are "Sump pumps for septic tanks" that at least one professional full time gigging musician out there says that he's a damn moron. You might even want to point out that, as a "trombonist", he is (in the immortal words of Bootman), merely the operator of a "manually operated slide-action pitch approximator". But not until AFTER you graduate!!! ;^)> Then, you can point out that there are no bad instruments, there are only bad intructors...

Bootman
User ID: 7601343 Jan 31st 5:52 AM
Trombone players normally aren't known for their sense of humour and personality. They normally suffer from an inferiority complex and feel that they should have played trumpet. Next time he says something, smile and do what you need to do to play the part right o rblame the trumpet players like everybody else does. :)

Next 20 Messages

Jprince User ID: 9063723	Jan 25th 5:53 PM I am a 17 year old High School Senior who is going to college on a scholarship playing Baritone saxophones (Wooooooooo!!!) My uncle is wanting to buy me one, but not pay a lot of $$$.... so which should I get, an EM Winston WBS155BL for $1,995 or a Jupiter 593GL for $2,000? Both look really good, but I must say I am atracted to the look of the Winston. Any ideas? Thanks.
Bari Player User ID: 1878484	Jan 25th 6:03 PM If you are to a real music school...neither of the baritones you mention are anything more than an upper level student model, therefore, not good enough. If you are serious about playing look for a better bari. Yanagisawa makes a great bari at a resonable price. Also...Yamahas, or search for a used one.
9063723 User ID: 1453344	Jan 25th 6:10 PM Well, I have been playing my schools Yamaha YBS-52 for 3 years.... I know her inside and out, but the tone stinks. I wouldn't mind a Yani, but can't find one for $2000..... How aboout a Jupiter Artist 893? That be any good.
Jprince User ID: 1453344	Jan 25th 6:10 PM oops..... Ithe last post was mine
Jerry K. User ID: 1696934	Jan 25th 6:14 PM I have heard here from other people here that the Jupiter Artist series bari is a really good bari for the money. They go for around $2700 at Woodwind & Brasswind. I would stay away from the Winston if I were you. Also, the new Buescher baris seem to get good reviews and I've seen a couple new ones listed on eBay for under $2000.
Jprince User ID: 8339223	Jan 25th 6:53 PM Do you meant the Buescher BU-6?
MPL User ID: 0471064	Jan 25th 10:47 PM A couple of fellows who post here often liked the BU-6. One had a variety of minor mechanical issues with his, the other thinks it's built like a tank. If you can find a used Vito VSP in good condition, that would be a good horn for the money. It's a carbon copy of the Yanagisawa 901...sells new for $3K, but I've seen them used for a little under $2K. I've tried the Jupiter 893. Liked the sound - a little meatier than a Yamaha 52 - but hated the ergonomics.
DD User ID: 9070813	Jan 25th 11:50 PM Check the Yama 61 on ebay which goes off on Jan 26 - it's at @2200 now. - I got one for around the same price and its a gem.
Jprince User ID: 1920144	Jan 26th 8:42 AM Thanks guys. I'll check around. My uncle wants to buy me one, and I found a Conn 12m for $1200 (I didn't get it becuase he wanted to wait, and it turns out it was a Nogales horn), but when I told him that, he still wanted to find a better deal. I wonder if he has even seen a Bari.... maybe if I show him my YBS-52 I play on at school he will see why they are expensive. Well, I know the 61 is out, as he wants to wait about another week before he does anything, so When I ask him again then I'll push the Jupiter Artist, the Yani 901, and the Vito. If he doesn't go for those I might have to fall back on the Jupiter Deluxe 593.... if I didn't need the stupid Low A I could just pick up a Buescher 400....lol. Funny, I never used it in the 5 years previous I played bari (Been playing a Bari since I was 12) but no I can't live without it!
solflare100 User ID: 9579203	Jan 27th 11:29 PM Lol, why do you need the Low A? A Buescher 400 is a sweet horn. ON the other hand... if you can't do that, well, a Vito VSP is a very good copy of the Yani 901, or might actually BE a 901, according to the rumors. The Jupiter Artist is a very good horn, with it's solid silver neck. The new Buescher Bu-6... well, it has received some good reviews from people, so you never know, ya'dig? Check around on eBay... sorry to hear that you missed the -61, because the 61 is a GREAT horn, barring some intonation issues in the palm keys. Not much people play it, but the reviews from them have been great. Oh yes, I forgot, but look for Martin Baritones too. There are some on eBay, and properly set up, these horns can be a KILLER. But better ask some experts on that, such as Bootman or others, who own Martin Baritones.
DD User ID: 1160984	Jan 28th 7:58 AM JPrince, Why don't you contact Garrett at Saxophone.com. He plays Bari and he can tell you all about their brand and well as Jupiter, Winston, etc.
stevew User ID: 8868883	Jan 28th 9:53 AM I paid $3k for my Yanagisawa B901 bari from Mathews in Holland, and that included local tax. Should be even less for an export to USA. Its been trouble free and a great sax to play.
MPL User ID: 0867924	Jan 28th 2:37 PM In case you're not familiar with them, Martins are not new...but they are possibly the least expensive of the true vintage horns, depending on condition of course. Low Bb Martins can be found almost anywhere, but condition will vary drastically. I got mine from Tim Glessmann at Sax Alley in Windsor CO. Prices are well in the ballpark for what you want to spend - but figure another $500+ for a complete repad and overhaul if needed. Low A Martins: now you're talking about, as Bootman will tell you, the "Holy Grail" of low A baritones. They are rare and finding one in great shape is rarer still. They have an enormous bell that gives them more of a low Bb horn sound. And, unfortunately for you, they're generally out of the range you want to spend. I've played Martins for quite awhile, and I'll tell you what...they've got better ergonomics than the Conn 12M, with a comparable sound IF set up properly as Solflare mentioned, great rock-&-roll horn with the right mouthpiece, superb for combo work, great in a big band because the sound carries well. Never played in a classical quartet, but I know mine sounds pretty good with the basic C* mouthpiece and stiffer reeds. "Needing" the low A is another matter. I'd rather hire a great bari player with a low Bb horn than a lousy player with a low A. I write for big band - a LOT - and I do not write charts just to get a low A in the baritone part. However, since you're going to school on a scholarship, "some restrictions may apply." Good luck!
Bootman User ID: 7601343	Jan 28th 2:58 PM The Martin or the Conn's are my personal choice of Baritone. Yes, I have a Low A Magna (with Martin neck now) and the Bell of this horn is huge, the sound is the biggest, baddest low A baritone I have ever played or owned. I personally favour the Low Bb Conn because the voice is strong, loud, robust and will underpin a big band or can be used as a solo horn. A cheap Baritone is a relative term, most cheap baritones suffer from a small, less complex sound if they are a modern horn or need to be fully rebuilt if they are a vintage horn. As with any horn purchase, play as many as you can before you commit to buy one or else buy it cheaply enough so that afford to have it rebuilt and put into decent playing condition.
Jprince User ID: 8193053	Jan 28th 8:39 PM Well, aas much as I would love a vintage horn, I need a high F# and Low A. As for Martins, when I'm not using my Schools Yamaha YBS-52, I sometimes play on their old "The Martin" Baritone. Of all the low Bb Baritones I have played, it sounds the best. But I think the spatula keys are to small for fat fingers like mine, lol. And if you were wondering, I am the only Bari Sax player in the whole school system, so I get my choice of baris!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... except I have to train a replacement since I am graduating :( and my band director's think Martins suck. Both are Trombonists, one is a Selmer freak for saxes and clarinets, the other thinks Baritone Saxophones are overgrown "Sump Pumps for septic tanks". Of all the insults.... and to the best kind of saxophone ever..... Sops, Altos, and Tenors don't hold a candle to Bari's! WOOOO. Anyway guys, thanks for the info, and I'll let you know what happens in the end.
john mark User ID: 1237224	Jan 29th 2:31 AM ask your uncle to help you with a selmer paris model. since you have a scholarship. ask him help you with a downpayment. since you don't have to worry about working to pay tuition. you can work on woeing to make the payments on your horn. if you end up in the music biz for a living, you will end up with having to buy a top notch pro horn. a bari is a big envestment. might as well get it over with and get the horn that will last you a life time. the cheap baris will not hold up and eventually become worthless. good luck
solflare100 User ID: 9579203	Jan 30th 2:34 AM Depends on what kind of Cheap baris you are talking about... A good vintage horn can give you lots of years of great playing. Fact. Martins and Conns and Buescher. Lower-priced than their Selmer-vintage brethen, these saxes all offer different but GREAT sounds and personalities and ergonomics, that are not definitely NOT inferior to Selmer, though vintage Selmers, of course with the Mk VI, VII, Balanced Actions, etc, are great saxes too. I just view them as over-priced, however, when I was looking for my sax, compared to those other great brands that were over-shadowed by the hype over the Mk VI. A new Selmer Paris sax is NOT the ultimate solution, no matter what people tell you. Good Selmers are that, Good Selmers. However, with their Quality Control, you need to look a bit more carefully. And quite frankly, sometimes their quality/level does NOT justify the cost. A Yamaha, for example, is hella reliable, bang-on Intonation, and a sound that you can TOTALLY MOLD to your style, not unlike a Selmer, where you have a "Selmer" sound that could be molded but still around that sound. A Yani works too, another reliable and great horn. Ditto with... hell, there are lots of great brands out there. B&S. Keilwerth. Guardala. And the main point is, well, you never know what kind of sax you would like, until you tried it out. You might like that big dark, spready sound of the Keilwerth. You might like that centered "Selmer" tone. You might like that Yamaha tone, which can be molded easily to what you want to, along with their own inherant sound. It all depends on what YOU like. If you have the chance, go try them all out, if circumstances allows. You mentioned a Jupiter Artist. Those are killer baris too, so go try it out! Only through this process can you really tell which horn you like better.
solflare100 User ID: 9579203	Jan 30th 2:36 AM See what happens when you attempt to reply coherently in the middle of the bloody night? Gah, spelling mistakes all over the place!!!
George Briscoe User ID: 9161143	Jan 31st 4:20 AM Jprince, AFTER you graduate and are accepted to college, feel free to tell your former High School band director who said that baris are "Sump pumps for septic tanks" that at least one professional full time gigging musician out there says that he's a damn moron. You might even want to point out that, as a "trombonist", he is (in the immortal words of Bootman), merely the operator of a "manually operated slide-action pitch approximator". But not until AFTER you graduate!!! ;^)> Then, you can point out that there are no bad instruments, there are only bad intructors...
Bootman User ID: 7601343	Jan 31st 5:52 AM Trombone players normally aren't known for their sense of humour and personality. They normally suffer from an inferiority complex and feel that they should have played trumpet. Next time he says something, smile and do what you need to do to play the part right o rblame the trumpet players like everybody else does. :)