[JayeLID]

It's a weird price point, unlikely to find a used vintage soprano in play shape for $700. Most in play shape are over $1000.

And a used modern one of reputed brand name (Yama, Jupe, Yani, etc) would run around $1000-1300+.....

The Kessler, reputed to be made at the same factory as Chateau....seem to slide in there in that price point. Can't say anything about 'em one way or other, never touched one, but general opinion of them leans favorable...

Occasionally I have seen the Jupe 5XX series sell on eBay for around $600 but cannot say whether those were in play shape. There seem to be none at the moment...

 

[JayeLID]

Musica Soprano Saxophone Made In Germany w Case | eBay

Quality made in Germany. Pads have tons of life left in them. Fully functional.

www.ebay.com

B&S Stencil Soprano Saxophone...made in Germany | eBay

Here's a B&S Soprano Saxophone, serial 05845, made in Germany. Over all is a clean Horn but has its issues. Pads are very good for the most part. It'll need help to be put in playing condition.

www.ebay.com

Interestingly here are a pair of sleepers. B&S/Weltklang's are actually very respectable sopranos, these are bona fide by them, Musica was a common stencil name for them.

If you can pull either in for $500 then put $200 of tech work into it, I bet you'd have a nice horn. These tend to blow darker and rounder, less bright and reedy, than an asian sop. Build is good, ergos are fine.

 

[JayeLID]

I don't think he was being ironic. There are many great fans of Coltrane (myself included) who wouldn't exactly consider his soprano tone as one to emulate.

Not only is it .... let me put it nicely...'not everyones cup of tea'...but my understanding is, it was the intonational squirrelliness and sonic reediness of the instrument which actually attracted him to it...not to 'conquer', but to utilize.....

 

[JayeLID]

Just picked up a Weltklang from Ebay. Baby steps...I'll save(or flip) for the Yamaha YSS-475, seeing that they come so highly recommended. In the mean time, I'll futz around with this one.

That was a GOOD take, listing said it is recently serviced and in play-shape. I usually sell these sorta stencils for $750+. Enjoy.

Yamaha, yeah well....maybe....this one sounds much better than a Yama, for those who prefer a smooth, dark and round tone vs. bright.

 

[JayeLID]

Why? What’ve you got?

Nowwwww..... stop that !

You just purchased a horn which very likely fits your parameters, and is said to be in play-shape.
Ostensibly, mission accomplished.
Wait til you receive it and play it a bit, get a feel for it...before you go shopping for another horn.

Again, your pricepoint zone is a tough one...it's either gonna be one of these German stencils, or a similar Italian stencil of the same period (a bit different but IMHO no 'better' nor 'worse'), or something modern of at least decent quality like a Kessler or Chateau.

So within the likely available options worthy of consideration, you picked one of those options...which again, was pretty wise as opposed to rolling the dice on something else or insisting/expecting you could

a) land a $1200 market value one for $700.
or
b) believe that a company which makes $400 actually would make a $650-750 one which is really significantly better.