Pro vs intermeadiate vs student?
Much of it has to do with the care put into build-quality, but I've played some really nice inexpensive saxophones recently from Taiwan and China. I can't speak to their long-term ability to hold their adjustments, but new they played really well.
I suppose one could list the big names in saxophones (models, too) like Selmer-Paris, Yanagisawa, JK, Yamaha, Rampone, etc. and say they are "pro" quality.
For the most part, they'd be right. But given the continuing and increasing quality of the Taiwanese and Chinese products, I'm thinking that terms like "pro" and "student", etc., are passe. I'd like to just call them inexpensive vs. expensive and let the individual player sort them out.
Another way to put it is to look to what the major saxophone stars play/played. Those folks make/made their living with their equipment, so the equipment would most likely be thought of as "pro." However, in today's market, one could probably go forth with a tweaked Maxtone and play it well enough that no one would care what brand of horn was being used. DAVE
Much of it has to do with the care put into build-quality, but I've played some really nice inexpensive saxophones recently from Taiwan and China. I can't speak to their long-term ability to hold their adjustments, but new they played really well.
I suppose one could list the big names in saxophones (models, too) like Selmer-Paris, Yanagisawa, JK, Yamaha, Rampone, etc. and say they are "pro" quality.
For the most part, they'd be right. But given the continuing and increasing quality of the Taiwanese and Chinese products, I'm thinking that terms like "pro" and "student", etc., are passe. I'd like to just call them inexpensive vs. expensive and let the individual player sort them out.
Another way to put it is to look to what the major saxophone stars play/played. Those folks make/made their living with their equipment, so the equipment would most likely be thought of as "pro." However, in today's market, one could probably go forth with a tweaked Maxtone and play it well enough that no one would care what brand of horn was being used. DAVE
