[bholder]

Not content to be lousy on just tenor sax, I just bought myself a baritone sax! RS Berkeley BS509 for $2500 starting bid. Fair enough price? Baris are way more expensive than tenors, for sure! Yikes! Should arrive later this week. Seller's pics are all just pieces, so I'll take some when it gets here. My inspiration:

 

[milandro]

Your inspiration is good.

Frankly speaking $2500 buys you a lot of vintage baritone and unless you specifically require a Low A baritone, you could have saved you a lot of money with a vintage horn. In any case asking after you bought already something about the price is only going to fuel possible buyer’s remorse so, be happy. Good Luck!

 

[buddy lee]

I've no experience with their baritone saxes, however, I have played their altos/tenors/sopranos and they're all very solid players.

That being said, you will probably lose a bit on this if you go to re-sell it later.

If you just bought it to play it, I'd think you'll be happy enough.

 

[bholder]

I did check recent completed auctions, and they mostly seem to be going for much more (around $3500). I'm happy with my RS Berkeley tenor, so decided to stick with them - but I wasn't going to chase it beyond the opening bid, either.

I probably could have scored a better vintage horn for less if I really knew what to look for, but I don't, so here I am. Happy enough.

 

[KeithL]

The RS Berkeley Virtuoso altos and tenors are pretty nice horns and comparable to a lot of the other stuff of similar origin. I played one of their Low Bb baris several years ago and it had serious intonation issues but I think you'll be fine with the Low A model as it's probably just the typical Taiwanese Low A bari being offered by a bunch of different brands with various options and finishes.

I agree with your point of going with something newer as vintage baris are a very tricky business. You really need to be able to either play them and assess the condition first hand before buying, get one for a very cheap price, and/or be able to work on them yourself if you end up with one that needs a lot of work.

 

[bholder]

Well, here it is, I'm already kind of able to make some fat, happy bari noises on it! I'm a happy camper!