Is there any sense in buying a YTS-25...

[Konrad]

Here's the dilemma... I'd like to get a pro-model horn. I'm an intermediate player who is primarily held back by a very beaten-up Weltklang and the fact that I don't have a lot of practice time... However, the prices and availability of saxes in Poland are nuts. Used instruments (there are only Yamahas) run 2000 bucks for a 62. A 275 used is more than 1,000 (I'm talking tenors). I can get a YTS-25 in good condition for about 500 bucks...

Should I or shouldn't I. I really dig Lester Young, and the Weltklang is frustrating in that it is slow, awkward, it leans to the left and the tone is pretty bad.

Whaddya think?

K

[MARTINW]

Konrad, I bought a Yamaha YTS25 from new when I took up Sax playing about 18mths ago and I am delighted with it. Everything works well and I have had no problems with it at all. It has a good even tone throughout the entire range. My teacher has a more expensive Yamaha and said he thought mine sounded as good as his (when he played it! ). The only thing I did not like about it was the Yamaha 4c plastic mouthpiece which was supplied with it. After 12months I changed it to a Yamaha 5c Custom Ebonite mpc which is much better.

[Konrad]

Thanks Martin!

[Anonymous]

You could fill a major land fill with the unused mouthpieces that come with saxes.

Think of what you could do with improperly used guitars!

Sorry, I just kinda drifted off to Fantasy Island for a second there!

[Konrad]

Well, I think I'm going to get the 25. It's in good shape and has a good tone. There is no F# key, but I'll live. If I'm going to keep learning, I've got to get something better than the Weltklang.

In the end it's going to cost me about 500 dollars. That's with a bunch of accessories and a great case, so I guess it's okay.

[tyler_terlecki]

a 25 with no F#???

probably just a 23, but still a very good instrument, a good buy for the buck

[jazzmasta123]

LMAO..ROFL..LOL Berg ...thats the funniest thing i ever heard ..and the funny thing is ....its..T-R-U-E

[Konrad]

After a month with the 25 (probably it is a 23) I'm really psyched. I'm playing things I've never played and I actually can get a really, really big tone out of it. My sax buddy/teacher plays a Yani and while my tones are not as... see if I can get the lingo here, complex--he's pretty impressed with both the horn and my sudden progress. What can I say. I get up in the morning and jam with Robert Cray before I go to work. Then I come home and work on scales...

My only complaint is that I would move the thumb rest if I could, and the left hand Bb is a bit of a stretch. I can get it, but it's awkward for me. I know Yamaha's are ergonomic, but the old Weltklang I had had a great left-hand layout. Unfortunately, it was a crap horn, unbalanced, heavy, dead, etc.

Also the 23 doesn't have a high F or a couple of trill keys, which is a drag.

Oh well. On the other hand, I could actually gig with this tone in a rock band. I get good growls with this weird B&S mouthpiece I found.

It also really plays in tune, although I have to push the mpc on.

Anyway, if I had the cash, I would buy an expensive horn. IN the meantime, this is probably the best musical investment I have ever made.

K

[electricninja]

Automatically including junk mouthpieces with saxes is a waste of resources for the company, no? Why not sell them separately as an option, the way monitors are sold separately with PC's?