[asht89]

hi. i have quite a lot of musical experience, grade 8 on keyboard and i play drums and guitar to the same level. i used to play clarinet for a while, but i always wanted to learn saxophone. as i can read music and have sound music theory knowledge, ive decided to teach myself and mabye have a few lessons to get me going. after thinking about it ive decided to go for a tenor sax, as i prefer the sound. so ive been looking around for some student level tenors and i came across the conn-selmer saxes. in particular, the conn-selmer ts700. i was just wondering whether anyone could give me some advice as to what saxophone to go for, or whether this is a good one. im after a good quality student level sax. advice would be much appreciated
thanks
- ash

 

[BYOB]

Well, here's the review of the Conn-Selmer AS-700. Although its not the same horn, I'd expect the build quality and such are around the same.

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/Alto/Selmer_Prelude_AS700.htm

Around this forum, the most highly recommended student horn would be the YTS-23 - the Yamaha beginning line of tenor saxophones.

Are you planning on buying from a local dealer?

 

[asht89]

well i dont know. hopefully, if i could buy from a local dealer that would be great. id much rather buy something from a shop after playing and testing it than buying off the internet, however, thats not to say that i wouldnt do that.

the YTS-23 looks good. done a bit of research and that seems ok would you say that that is better than the ts700? sorry for all of the questions, just a little confused as to what to buy. dont want to spend £300 on a sax and find out later on that an extra £50 would have got me one 10x better. im going to try and shop around and test a few. its hard to get an idea just looking on the internet. there arent too many local dealers near me (wolverhampton, UK) so the next largest place is birmingham and i know a few big music shops around there.

- ash

 

[BYOB]

Well, in terms of build quality, its usually general consensus that the Yamaha YAS-23 is better than the Selmer Prelude. But go around and try all the horns you can play basically. Try Keilwerth, Yamaha, Selmer, Vito, Antigua, all of those brands that they sell and see which one you like.

In the end, it's really your own opinion, and the tone that you like the most .

 

[Jonathan C.]

You might try a Kessler Custom. Those have a pretty good reputation here. Though I personally haven't played one.

 

[BYOB]

Yeah.

I haven't heard any bad things about Kessler Custom horns.

http://kesslermusic.com

 

[bluesaxgirl]

I take back my post. It didn't make any sense.

 

[Bernards20040]

I take back my post. It didn't make any sense.

:? :? :? :?

 

[asht89]

thanks for the advice. ill definetley try some of those. the reason why i asked about the conn-selmer ts700 is because i saw one being sold for £270 ($540). does that seem pretty reasonable? ive looked elsewhere and they seem a little more expensive. really i wanted to spend £300-£400 ($600-$800) max. so yeah, ill keep looking. thanks again

 

[Jonathan C.]

Does it matter if it is Vintage?

 

[asht89]

not really. i dont mind. im just looking for a good entry level tennor sax at a low price. im pretty new to this whole area of music so im not sure what is what :? ill get there eventually though

 

[Jonathan C.]

I know where a Conn Pan American is. It is a Vintage Horn from probably the late 50's. $400.

 

[BYOB]

Intonation?

 

[BYOB]

thanks for the advice. ill definetley try some of those. the reason why i asked about the conn-selmer ts700 is because i saw one being sold for £270 ($540). does that seem pretty reasonable? ive looked elsewhere and they seem a little more expensive. really i wanted to spend £300-£400 ($600-$800) max. so yeah, ill keep looking. thanks again

$540's about right for a beginner horn made in China. Make sure you buy it from a dealer though, not online. They'll probably have the horn set up right.
And when you're looking in town, also check out the Yamaha YTS-23 and the Keilwerth ST90. Remember though, you'd probably have to buy a decent mouthpiece to go with it.

If you can find any other beginner horns, see how you like them.

 

[Stephen Howard]

thanks for the advice. ill definetley try some of those. the reason why i asked about the conn-selmer ts700 is because i saw one being sold for £270 ($540). does that seem pretty reasonable? ive looked elsewhere and they seem a little more expensive. really i wanted to spend £300-£400 ($600-$800) max. so yeah, ill keep looking. thanks again

You can do a little better than the TS700.
Gear4music.com do a nice, basic tenor at around the £200 mark - Studentmusicsupplies.com do a slightly nicer one at around £250 - and woodwindandbrass.co.uk are doing the phosphor-bronze Walstien at around £300 ( and this is an exceptional horn for the money ).
The advantage the Conn-Selmer has is that you can try one out in a shop - but all the other horns come with at least 14 days trial...and just because a horn is sold via a high street shop there's no guarantee that it's been set up ( in fact it's even less likely ). That said, it's a decent Ultra-Cheap horn.

If you can find a decent used YTS25/23/21 then this too would be an excellent choice - and for £400 you might even find an old YTS32 ( slightly posher ).

Regards,

 

[asht89]

i'm begining to rule out the idea of the ts700. simply because of the fact that i know im going to take the instrument seriously and i dont want one that i will want to upgrade after 5 minutes. the yts23 seems like a good sax, but its a little out of my price range. have been shopping around for used ones too

 

[BYOB]

How much is it out of your price range, btw?

For the YTS though, all you have to worry about after purchasing the horn would be the choice of reeds - and thats not really a worry at all.

 

[asht89]

How much is it out of your price range, btw?

For the YTS though, all you have to worry about after purchasing the horn would be the choice of reeds - and thats not really a worry at all.

well my price range is anything up to say £450 (about $900), but i would spend a little extra if it meant getting a better sax. The YTS saxes i have looked at seem really good and from what ive read they seem excellent. im just about to go to the shops, so ill try and find some and have a play on a few

 

[FrankB]

A couple of months back I (a complete newbie) bought a new YTS275 (the current Yamaha student offering in the UK) from http://www.netmusicalinstruments.co.uk The price was the lowest I could find from a UK vendor who would set the horn up for me and shipping was free. My experience of this dealer was very good and the horn (in the hands of my teacher!) plays really well.

Since then the Walsteins have come on the market and I haven't heard a bad word about them. Would I still pay the extra for the Yammy? Erm, dunno. Possibly, as I had the extra budget and I am one cautious camper! Then again, the Walstein comes highly recommended and at half the price...

Whatever you decide, all the very best to you and I hope it works out well.

Best regards,

Frank

 

[asht89]

however nice it is, the yamaha seems a little out of my price range.
just a quick question. would you guys say this seems ok? ive looked around, looked at the company and it seems to be a good deal:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Selmer-Prelude-TS700-Tenor-Saxophone_W0QQitemZ190128843162QQihZ009QQcategoryZ16234QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD7VQQcmdZViewItem

im not obsessed with the ts700 or anything, im just on a bit of a tight budget, as university is fast approaching and all my money will be spent there :S

thanks