Hi all,
A little background first: Started learning the sax at age 9, and progressed reasonably well through the exams and so on until age 15, at which time I made the lamentable decision to quit. Now it's 10 years on, and I wish to take up the instrument again.
This forum's been very helpful in educating me about the brands/models etc that are out there. All the time I played, I played on a crappy rental alto, so it's really opened my eyes. I never even knew that a mouthpiece could make a difference, for example!
Now, I'm leaning towards buying a tenor, but I do have a few questions:
a) I'm obviously expecting a lot of rust having not played for 10 years - how much harder would I be making it for myself by jumping straight to a tenor having only played alto? I recall messing around on a friend's (equally crappy) tenor a few times when I was 14, and at the time I struggled with the lowest couple of notes (C and under iirc). Is this a concern? Would I be better off getting a cheap alto at first just to ease back in?
b) The used sax market in Australia seems pretty woeful, both in terms of price and availability. This is compounded by the fact that having not played for 10 years I'm not going to be able to test out any used horns in the area, nor do I have any contacts who can. Unfortunately, going by what I've read on this forum shipping cost for tenors from the US is prohibitive. So I guess I'm wondering if anyone in Oz or a similarly god-forsaken place can recommend particular non-US sellers from whom I can buy with confidence? And is shipping a tenor halfway round the world a good idea at all?
c) In terms of particular saxes, I'm a sucker for vintage gear in general so would love to get my hands on an old Buescher Aristocrat or similar that doesn't need tons of setting up/repairs. Again though, I'm finding I'm totally at sea trying to determine the condition of these things by eyeballing the photos. Is there a place on this forum where one could ask a wiser head to glance at the photos to get a rough idea of the condition etc? (this is asking a lot, I know)
Sorry for all the blather, but this is the first I'm telling anyone of my intent to get a sax, so I'm a tad excited/nervous. Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can send my way!
A little background first: Started learning the sax at age 9, and progressed reasonably well through the exams and so on until age 15, at which time I made the lamentable decision to quit. Now it's 10 years on, and I wish to take up the instrument again.
This forum's been very helpful in educating me about the brands/models etc that are out there. All the time I played, I played on a crappy rental alto, so it's really opened my eyes. I never even knew that a mouthpiece could make a difference, for example!
Now, I'm leaning towards buying a tenor, but I do have a few questions:
a) I'm obviously expecting a lot of rust having not played for 10 years - how much harder would I be making it for myself by jumping straight to a tenor having only played alto? I recall messing around on a friend's (equally crappy) tenor a few times when I was 14, and at the time I struggled with the lowest couple of notes (C and under iirc). Is this a concern? Would I be better off getting a cheap alto at first just to ease back in?
b) The used sax market in Australia seems pretty woeful, both in terms of price and availability. This is compounded by the fact that having not played for 10 years I'm not going to be able to test out any used horns in the area, nor do I have any contacts who can. Unfortunately, going by what I've read on this forum shipping cost for tenors from the US is prohibitive. So I guess I'm wondering if anyone in Oz or a similarly god-forsaken place can recommend particular non-US sellers from whom I can buy with confidence? And is shipping a tenor halfway round the world a good idea at all?
c) In terms of particular saxes, I'm a sucker for vintage gear in general so would love to get my hands on an old Buescher Aristocrat or similar that doesn't need tons of setting up/repairs. Again though, I'm finding I'm totally at sea trying to determine the condition of these things by eyeballing the photos. Is there a place on this forum where one could ask a wiser head to glance at the photos to get a rough idea of the condition etc? (this is asking a lot, I know)
Sorry for all the blather, but this is the first I'm telling anyone of my intent to get a sax, so I'm a tad excited/nervous. Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can send my way!