I'm in Dallas TX and went to Brook Mays and this manufacturer is their "in house" sax. I was a bit leary about them because, like you, I have never heard of them and a google search only brings up items that Brook Mays carries. So, as of yesterday, instead of taking the $1,600 plunge I decided to rent it for a month and give a try. I played it for about 30 minutes last night and I found it to work just fine...only time will tell on how long it will last or if I'll take it back after next month and get something that I know is tried and true...

 

Hey, I was wondering if anyone knows anything about the J Michael Japanese Technology saxophones. Do they last and do they have a good tone? I am considering purchasing one of the tenors [can't afford a Yamaha or Selmer etc =( ] Thanks!!

J Michael are Chinese horns - and not too good IMHO. The Chinese brands used to have names like Lark, Skylark, Parrot and Shinghai. They ditched these and went for something European sounding and came up with J. Michael.

I have no idea what Japanese Technology is supposed to mean. Could be anything.

Some of the saxes work OK but quite a lot have bits drop off them and set-up problems that need sorting. (I get the job of trying to sort our local music shops problem instruments.)

I would recommend buying something else. For a cheap sax I recommend second hand Selmer Elkhart series II altos which can be got very cheaply on Ebay. They are basically much better than a lot fo the Chinese stuff.

 

I would recommend buying something else. For a cheap sax I recommend second hand Selmer Elkhart series II altos which can be got very cheaply on Ebay. They are basically much better than a lot fo the Chinese stuff.

Actually that's more of an alto recommendation. In tenor I'd look for things like the Jupiter 767 but also look at some of the new horns. Here in UK I've seen Vietnam built tenors by Cranes which was very impressive for the price. Also Gear4music do a Yanagisawa copy which is supposed to be very good. For a bit more money you can buy a Walstein which are also very good.

 

Thanks for all the advice =) in the end i found a 2nd hand YTS 23 in good condition for a reasonable price, after reading more info about buying saxes it seems a safer option.

 

Much safer choice --very sensible
Regards BF

 

$1600 sounds outrageous to me. I had a J Michael tenor a few years ago. I actually gigged with it. It got the job done but it really wasn't that good of a horn. I did have a few little problems with bent keys, corks falling off and stuff like that. I bought that horn brand new in 2003 and I can't remember how much I paid for it but it seems like it was around $500 or so. I was poor at the time and that was all I could afford. I think "Japanese technology" means that it's a copy of a Yamaha 62. At least mine was. I own a 62 now and the keywork is pretty much the same. The only thing I don't like about my 62 is the location of the side C key in relation to the octave key. They're too close together. It isn't a problem as long as everything stays in adjustment but there's little room for error. I know that because my J Michael didn't stay in adjustment very well. Sometimes the octave key would actually get stuck underneath the side C key. I hate when that happens.