[JoAnnPeeler]

I just purchased a Yanagisawa Soprano on eBay that I believe is an S-880. It has the pearl high F# key, modern LH table keys, the "bullet" shaped front F, a soldered on Yanagisawa coin on the bell which is also engraved with "Elimona", and a plastic thumb rest and thumb hook. Several of the pictures were terrible but a couple of the lower half of the instrument were good. It comes with three(?) necks. Two of the necks are curved with one being more curved than another. The horn was described as follows:

Excellent playing Yanagisawa soprano sax "ELIMONA" model great intonation. Comes with hardshell wood case. Three necks. Two stands. Otto link hard rubber mouthpiece cap. ligature and box #4 facing 7 boxes of reeds and two stock mouthpieces plus neck strap\\\\ includes free shipping​

I'm trying to figure out where the third neck came from. Is it possible this neck is from a Yany curved soprano?

Here is the eBay item link

From the item description it is also described as Used "excellent condition". Since the item is also described as "Excellent playing" and with a condition described as "excellent" if I receive the instrument and it is not excellent playing or has mechanical issues will the eBay Money Back Guarantee make me whole? Has anyone here ever used that guarantee? I should have asked the seller for better pictures, but this isn't the first time it has failed to sell. I suspect it is due to the bad pictures. So either I will get a good deal or I'll have to look for a refund.

I've been looking for a good deal on a Yany soprano that has a curved neck option. I currently play a Yany S-901 but its not as comfortable as a curved neck soprano. Fingers crossed that I will be putting the S-901 up for sale.

 

[LostConn]

Yes, the neck with the extra curvature is probably from a Yanagisawa curved soprano from the same era. E.g., SC880 or SC900. I assume you can tell from the octave key mechanism that it is indeed a Yany neck, and not a neck from some other company. The necks of older Yany curved sops are more curved than the curved necks on Yany straight sops, but not as sharply curved as the necks of Yany curved sops starting with the SC991. (Whew.)

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

I assume you can tell from the octave key mechanism that it is indeed a Yany neck, and not a neck from some other company.

I'm not sure I can tell. I don't believe the Yany necks pre WO series are marked in anyway are they? I'll ask my horn tech to see if he can verify the make of the extra curvy neck when I get it.

 

[LostConn]

I'm not sure I can tell. I don't believe the Yany necks pre WO series are marked in anyway are they?

No. I have both an SC901 neck and an SC992 neck, and neither has a "YANY" or any other trademark on it. But the octave key setup is distinctive, and also clearly of the same family as the octave key on my A990μ.

Edit: I just looked at the photo. I think all three of those are Yany necks. Yanagisawa is good at keeping the tenon size consistent, so necks are transferable.

 

[saxcop]

Looks like it has a dent in the body in the pic that shows the strap ring and green felt. It is not hard to return something on Ebay as item not as described. The most you have at risk is return shipping. If it is a dent its not a big deal and can be removed. I purposely look for auctions with bad pics. I have go my best deals that way. Everything else looks nice.

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

Looks like it has a dent in the body in the pic that shows the strap ring and green felt.

I noticed that too and I also thought it could be removed easily. Of course maybe its a reflection too. The picture is of bad quality so until I can look it over I'll hold out hope.

It is not hard to return something on Ebay as item not as described. The most you have at risk is return shipping.

I was hoping someone would confirm that. The seller says he will not accept returns so I'm not hopeful about his cooperation. He does have over 500 ratings with 100% positive feedback so I hope that counts for something.

If it is a dent its not a big deal and can be removed. I purposely look for auctions with bad pics. I have go my best deals that way. Everything else looks nice.

Agreed. I've always wanted a decent condition S-880 (or any 880 for that matter). Hopefully this works out.

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

I just looked at the photo. I think all three of those are Yany necks. Yanagisawa is good at keeping the tenon size consistent, so necks are transferable.

Good to know. Thanks for taking a peek.

 

[Reet McVouty]

Wow! You are a brave soul. Or, you're a bit of a gambler. I cringe at the word eBay. I just don't think I could buy a horn without trying it first. However, if I could find a nice King Zephyr Special alto at the right price I might take a chance. Yes, we all have our weaknesses ...

 

[Govinda]

I have an 880 Elimona Soprano and it is a wonderful, wonderful horn

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

I just received the S880 by first class mail about an hour ago. I was a little disappointed with the packing, but the Yanagisawa case for this horn is so heavy duty there was no visible damage from shipping. After cataloging everything I put my mouthpiece on it and gave it a blow. My first impression is that its tone is noticeably warmer and more focused than the S901. It really surprised me as I wasn't expecting to hear such a lovely, pure sound. I like it. There was no major mechanical issues with the horn other than the very small dent that saxcop noticed in the pictures. However, the pictures, because of how blurry they were made the dent look much larger than it actually is. I may not even get it removed. The pads all look serviceable. All the pads for the open keys are very good, but some of the closed key pads are just starting to darken. The horn definitely needs to be regulated. There is a very noticeable leak that affects G. The hinge rod tube for Bb has a tiny bit of play in it. I'm not even sure it is meaningful, but everything else looks great. The seller described the horn as being in excellent condition and I would have to agree. There is a couple of places where the solder is starting to bleed through the laquer, but other than that laquer is like 99.9% intact with no blemishes (other that the previously mentioned dent.) Oh, while the soprano did indeed come with 3 necks, a straight neck, a slightly curved neck and a neck from a Yany curvy soprano. I can't imagine ever using that last neck since it would have me hold the horn too close to my body. I would suffer RSI galore if I used it for very long.

Now for what I found strange... The seller sent me 7-8 boxes of reeds including 4 Vandoren blue box #1 (that's right #1!!). I have never seen a #1 reed! Also a box of 1.5 and 2.0 plasticovers and a box of Vandoren Java red box #1. I don't think you could read the strengths of any of these boxes in the eBay pictures, but I had been hoping for something I could at least play. I'll be pitching these reeds out. I'm not even sure what I could use them for anything except to spread glue or something like that. All the mouthpieces sent with the horn have smaller tip openings to what I currently play (Otto Link #4 and a Yamaha 3C.) A couple of other mouthpieces were included that were unmarked. Lastly I got a whole slew of soprano ligatures. Seems like the seller just wanted to clean out his music drawer. Lastly, someone had glued little pieces of brown felt to several places: covering the G key pearl, covering the LH thumb rest and lining the RH thumb hook. I pulled them all off but not I have this glue residue all over. I'll see if my horn tech can easily remove this. I'm not sure what to do about the glue on the plastic thumb pieces. I might be afraid to apply any solvent since that might damage the plastic.

So far so good. I can't wait to get this horn back from the shop. If everthing works out the way I expect I'll be putting my S901 up for sell.

 

[saxcop]

Glad it worked out. That dent would be easy to remove.

 

[twocircles]

Ya’ know, it's a good plan to have anything you buy on eBay go to a good tech. With a quality built horn like a Yanagisawa, even if you needed a full overhaul, if you don’t pay the crazy prices the Japanese scalpers are asking, you are going to have a great horn for years to come for a decent expenditure.

 

[B Flat]

I bought a Yanagisawa A991 off eBay a while ago.
It to was packaged incredibly badly.
The seller literally wrapped it over once with Glad wrap and threw it in the mail.
Thankfully it arrived unharmed due only to the quality of the Yanagisawa case.
There really are some absolute morons selling horns on eBay.
You’d have to be to wrap a saxophone only in a plastic sandwich wrapper and entrust it to a postal service.

 

[soybean]

… someone had glued little pieces of brown felt to several places… I pulled them all off but not I have this glue residue all over.

Glue residue comes off easily with lighter fluid (available at any market). Sounds like a great horn. I'm surprised you prefer it to your 901.

 

[BOPITY FUNK]

All the 880 range were excellent horns and a warmer sound than later models. To my mind the the construction was more robust as well.

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

Sounds like a great horn. I'm surprised you prefer it to your 901.

The horn is with the horn tech being looked over now, but I'm not sure I do prefer it to the 901 in terms of response and scale, but I really need a curved neck to address some back and neck issues I have. It just turns out that the 880 was a better purchase in terms of price than a 991 or WO10 would have been.

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

All the 880 range were excellent horns and a warmer sound than later models. To my mind the the construction was more robust as well.

It is certainly a well built horn, but I would have to say that in no way did Yanagisawa go backwards with the 9XX and the WO series. I would say that the 880 is more artistic, but the mechanism for my 901 seems better designed to me. It does sound really sweet though.

 

[Reet McVouty]

If those reeds haven't been used don't toss them out. Donate them to a school. Beginning soprano students usually start out on softer reeds.

 

[JoAnnPeeler]

If those reeds haven't been used don't toss them out. Donate them to a school. Beginning soprano students usually start out on softer reeds.

I have never seen anyone use a #1 reed. Beginners usually start out on a #2 or #2.5, right? Plus beginners don't usually start out on soprano. Regardless they are sitting on my workbench. I'll probably use them for something, just not for making sound.

 

[lostcircuits]

Glue residue comes off easily with lighter fluid (available at any market). Sounds like a great horn. I'm surprised you prefer it to your 901.

Yes, lighter fluid or WD40 but apply it on a paper towel and then rub off the glue residue rather than trying to apply either one to the areas, it could seep in and unglue the pearls