[bigtiny]

Hi all,

Had an interesting experience buying a soprano yesterday, thought somebody might like to have the information.

I have been playing saxophone for about a month, after playing the trumpet for 40 years. I've been playing tenor, but I knew I would be getting a soprano in short order...I've always wanted to play one.

Yesterday I went down to Rayburn's in Boston and tried three sopranos:
-a used Yani 902
-a Selmer series II
-a Yamaha (don't know the model)

Of these three, the Yani was nice, hated the Selmer, and the Yamaha was surprisingly (to me) nice. I also took a friend of mine who's an experienced saxophonist and had him play each horn, to get his opinion, and so I could hear the horns played by someone else.

I went back out and asked about the prices of the Yani and the Yamaha:
-yani 2200 (not bad, horn was immaculate)
-Yamaha 1600 (again not bad)

I happened to look in the case and spotted a saxello (which is something I've always dug) and asked to try that. BINGO! I knew after three notes that this was the horn I wanted. Great sound, played in tune, and seemed to blow freer than the others.

It's a P. Mauriat with a flat silverish finish with black mother of pearl (I think) keys. Price was 1900 and change.

Anyway, I'm sure that there are souls out there who are as confused as I was about which horns to try/buy....I hope this information helps.

bigtiny

 

[joelsp]

Glad to hear you found the horn that suited you. But picking a sax is such a personal experience, I have heard this story where the selmer, yani, or yamaha would have won out.

 

[rabbit]

bigtiny,

Thank you for your report.

It helped to remind me that P.M. may be a viable
option when the day comes, even though I have not
even seen one yet.

Enjoy your new horn, I envy you.

rabbit

 

[bigtiny]

Glad to hear you found the horn that suited you. But picking a sax is such a personal experience, I have heard this story where the selmer, yani, or yamaha would have won out.

Joel,

I absolutely agree, I wanted to let people know about the Mauriat and to also let them know that it IS a very subjective thing. I mean, I'm sure there some people read my note and thought "Jeez, what a dufus, he could have had a Yani for a couple of hundred bucks more..." But, you know, I like the Mauriat.....and that's what counts.

bigtiny

 

[betelsax]

Too bad you didn't throw a good old vintage soprano into your mix of choices...

 

[Paul B]

Congrats on the buy. But you may want to revisit the other horns after a year or two of playing, after you know your way around not just the saxophone but the soprano. It's a quirky beast.

Are you and the bigtiny at JazzCorner one and the same?