[Mazg4182]

Hi,
I am looking for a tenor saxophone. I currently have an alto YAS-23 that I've had several years but would like to branch into a tenor. I'm not sure whether to wait (and save more $$) or jump in at the lower end.

At my local repair store they have a Buescher Aristocrat serial 654XXX for $400. This looks to be a Selmer Buescher per the serial, so not one of the better ones. Immaculate lacquer, Brilhart mouthpiece, and case, but the pads will need replacing in the next few years (it's playable now) - in Canada this is a $600 job. So $400 now plus $600 later = $1000 although I could do them piecemeal over the next few years. I haven't played it yet as it needs a few corks added as they've come off so they will do that before I try it out.

So my question is, is this a better deal long term than going with an ex-rental YTS for $1400, or a new YTS-26 for $1700. Obviously I'll need to play it to see how it sounds... Thoughts on resale value? Will the Yamaha hold it's resale value better? How much would a repadded Buescher be worth?

TIA,
Marina

 

[livingthedream]

the 26 is made in china or indonesia most probably.
why not a japanese made yts23 or yts275.better choice i my book.

 

[Tzadik]

Yamahas are all made by Yamaha.

Nothing is outsourced from their factories... to third party companies.
All necks are all made in Japan.
All instruments are distributed by Yamaha.

 

[dzve]

Get the yamaha, an earlier buescher would have been cool.

 

[Sigmund451]

My vote is keep shopping. If you have a 1700 budget you can get more horn.

 

[Dermot]

My vote is keep shopping. If you have a 1700 budget you can get more horn.

+1

 

[Stuckond]

Keep shopping. Those are both decent horns, but you can do better. You have a sax today, even if it’s not a tenor. Your tenor is out there. Keep looking for it and keep us posted.

 

[Mazg4182]

My vote is keep shopping. If you have a 1700 budget you can get more horn.

Unfortunately I don't have $1700 budget, or even $1400, that was my point. I could spring for $400 now (or maybe go a bit higher say up to $600-700), or wait to save the $1400 for the Yamaha. It would likely mean a long wait - 6 months or more. Of course something better in the same price range could come along in the next while (there is a $675 Conn available on local classifieds), but the Buscher might be hard to compete with simply because it's so clean - looks like it spent a few years in a closet.

A little more about me:
I played clarinet in high school, stopped for several years. My husband bought me a used alto and a few years later I re-started clarinet in community band and got my Grade 4 clarinet. My son (Grade 7) has "stolen" my alto for school, so I'm playing clarinet and bass clarinet and miss having a saxophone. I live in a small town (100k) with only 1 music shop (only used are ex-rental) and 1 repair woodwind repair shop (which consigns).

Current instruments (might give you an idea of my expectations):
Peter Spriggs' Noblet 27, optimum ligature, seller HS* and B* mouthpieces
Vito bass clarinet, optimum ligature, Walter Grabner custom mouthpiece
Yamaha YAS-23 alto saxophone, optimum ligature, Selmer D mouthpiece

Next steps, I am going to have the repair store replace the missing cork so I can at least play the Buschner to see how it sounds. I will also try to get a better assessment on the pad situation. There is a similar serial number Buscher here on Youtube to compare to.

 

[Mazg4182]

I have also found a YTS-23 at a local pawn shop. I am have requested photos and a serial number, before I stop by to try it out, it is $800. I will also try out the Buscher to compare the sound quality.

BTW, a little more about me...
My son has taken my alto for Grade 7 Band.
I am left with a Noblet 27 clarinet (w/ optimum lig, seller HS* and B* mouthpieces) and a Vito Bass Clarinet (w/ custom Walter Grabner mouthpiece, optimum lig).
I don't have much of a budget for buying a tenor. I just happened to be picking up some reeds at the local repair store and asked about tenors and that's what they had. I could stretch to $800, but a $1400-1700 sax is not viable right now.

 

[zelda]

Long & McQuade had a YTS-23 for $1500 at their North Edmonton store a few months ago. The lacquer was in like-new condition. $1500 is a little steep, imo, for a used -23 but this one looked to be in great shape. The horn would come with a 90 day warranty and you can buy a Long & Macquade warranty for around $50 a year. This covers maintenance and repairs even if you drop it down the basement stairs.

I bought a used YTS-875 Custom a couple of years ago for $2700. It was at their Burlington, Ontario store. L & McQ shipped it to Edmonton for me. I’ve kept up their bullet-proof warranty for $67 a year.

 

[MLucky]

Perhaps the market is different where you are, but $1700 for a 26 seems high. Round here, you can often find the YTS 23 for under $1000 and Aristocrats for even less.

 

[Mazg4182]

@MLucky, Looks like you are in the US. The new YTS 26 is $1700 CDN ($1336 USD) , $1400 CDN for the ex-rental, and $800 CDN for a mid-80s ytS-23 located at a pawn shop. That's why the immaculate Buescher Aristocrat $400CDN/$315USD is hard to walk away from.

@Zelda, I'll keep my eye on Long and McQuade. I'm in Kelowna (looks like you may be nearby?) so we are limited on what's available and I'd prefer not to get something shipped unless I know what I'm buying.

 

[zelda]

I'm in Greenwood. A couple of years ago, I put my YTS-23 on Kelowna Kijiji for $650 but no bites other than scammers. Last year I put it on consignment at St. John's Music in Edmonton for $900. If it sold, I would have received around $550. It was inspected, adjusted and received one new pad. A year later, it hadn't sold so I picked it up on my way home from Fort Mac in October. My guitar-playing son had expressed an interest in learning how to play so i 'loaned' it to him.

This is the horn I started playing on in 2006. I purchased it as a used horn for $1000 from St. John's Music in Edmonton and took lessons for a semester. It came with a six-month warranty. It had lots of scratches and worn-off lacquer but it played well. Just my opinion, of course, but a YTS-23 in good playing condition at a reasonable price is a great choice.

 

[JayeLID]

I don't have much of a budget for buying a tenor. I just happened to be picking up some reeds at the local repair store and asked about tenors and that's what they had. I could stretch to $800, but a $1400-1700 sax is not viable right now.

Thanks for that clarification. Your initial post intimated you were willing to spend between $1000-1700.

If really all you have is $800....you can do better with that $800 than buying a Selmer-era Aristocrat which will need new pads in a year or two. I mean, $800 in a vintage Tenor should get you a completely serviced vintage Tenor with no 'issues'. Conn 16M, Martin Indiana, King Cleveland, a Keilwerth stencil (Bundy Special, etc), a Vito or Noblet by Beaugnier, a Kohlert Germany, etc...all of those are $650-850 market value horns (again, serviced condition) and superior to a late 'Crat.

You could manage a used YTS 23, or the Vito YTS-21 equivalent, for that $ as well . You could also pick up a used upper-shelf model Jupiter for that $.

IF you intend on buying a Tenor which will 'need some work'...I suggest you NOT spend more than around $450 for one....because, really....these days $350 of Tech work doesn't get you very far in most places....maybe somewhere between 4-6 hours of work.

A new horn of well-established record and of any quality is sorta out of the picture, really...

That's why the immaculate Buescher Aristocrat $400CDN/$315USD is hard to walk away from.

It's not 'immaculate' if it's gonna need a repad within a couple years however.
But look, if it plays up and down NOW, NO issues getting all notes to speak, then just buy it because yeah, it's a good deal.
But I gleaned that it DOESN'T speak up and down cleanly and smoothly (you just wrote 'playable'...which is a squirrelly little term, actually :bluewink... in which case, again...now you spend $315usd and then another $150+usd on tech tweaks and you are at almost $500. Which is still a reasonable deal. But this'd be assuming the tech tweaks now will keep her purring and those pads are seriously gonna keep doing their job for 3+ years to come.

IF you end up spending $100 on tech tweaks and then after a year the horn still needs a repad or repad-like scope of work...it isn't such a great deal to begin with. It's not horrible, but it's not great.

My 2 cents...

 

[JayeLID]

Yamahas are all made by Yamaha.

Nothing is outsourced from their factories... to third party companies.
All necks are all made in Japan.
All instruments are distributed by Yamaha.

I think the point being made was that not all Yamahas are made in Japan factory/ies any longer. And there is the opinion (with which I concur) that the newer horns (at least in the not-upper-shelf category) which aren't made in Japan are actually not as consistent in fabrication as the older ones made in Japan.

 

[J.Max]

I think the point being made was that not all Yamahas are made in Japan factory/ies any longer. And there is the opinion (with which I concur) that the newer horns (at least in the not-upper-shelf category) which aren't made in Japan are actually not as consistent in fabrication as the older ones made in Japan.

The student horns are fine though. And the 62, 82Z, and 875EX are all made in Japan.