[mullgrav]

Good afternoon all,

I hope everyone is doing well. I just started back playing my Alto Sax after taking a Hibernation for 20 yrs and it felt great getting back in to it. However, my not thinking tail bought a beginners Alto Sax.. It works great but I hate the sound after I recorded myself and listened. I almost died. So now I want to invest in a higher quality Alto Saxophone.. Can someone give me your top 3 choices of purchasing a Professional Alto Saxophone?? Thanks and God Bless.

Sal Mullgrav

 

[Carl H.]

1, buy a better mouthpiece
2, get some lessons
3, practice

The tone comes from you and your mouthpiece/reed. Work on that first. The horn is about intonation and keywork/durability.

 

[arobi44]

Welcome back Sal!!

I did the same thing after about 28 years. I tried my 1930 Martin Typewriter, but it was very difficult to play. I bought a Cool Reed Pipes sax for the first one. Nice horn, but the intonation was not as good as I wanted. It works for the marching band I am in, but not great for the dance band.

Saxoholic recommended I get in touch with Phil Barone. His saxes are very good and reasonably priced. I simply love mine. It stands up with the Selmers and Cannonballs. Contact Phil -- He will direct you to the right horn.

Alan Robinson

 

[CooolJazzz]

After a 20 year hibernation my gut reaction would be "give it time"...and don't let those first home recordings fool you either. You'd probably think you sound just as bad on a pro horn right now. As far as suggesting pro horns...it would help to know if you have a budget limit. No use suggesting a $5,000-$6,000 horn if your limit is $3,000 or less. I'll offer Cannonballs as a suggestion for a good pro-level horn in the under $3,000 range. I played nothing but Selmer Mark VI's for years, but I'm happy with my Cannonballs now.

 

[Saxland]

What sax were you playing on 20 years ago? How long were you playing for? What playing abilities did you achieve? What brand sax are you playing on now?

Could vintage horns appeal to you, or be right for you? Ergonomics are not as good as modern horns, which may become uncomfortable depending on the person and the sax, but for me they have a better tone and response.

 

[mullgrav]

Wow!! Yup. Listening to everyone's suggestion tells me I've been out tooooooooo long. Ok. I bought a $90 Selmer #C Mouthpiece. I have been practicing, however, deployments are in my future so I slowed down. I will look at taking lessons as you suggest. My reeds are 2 1/2. I have a LB Hutchens Sax Beginner. Just to save money for now. My price range for a Professional Sax will be $2500-$3500. I played since middle school until 1992 in college.The sax I played in college was a Yamaha and it was pretty good. I will say my abilities are level 2, (excuse me) no Level 1 now. LOL.. You guys are great and I really appreciate the feedback..

 

[Chulove]

:toothy7::toothy7::mrgreen::mrgreen:For that price you could get a A992 Yanagisawa. Excellent sax, tone, intonation,etc. Checkout Kessler. For a little less you could go vintage and get a Buescher. I love my '41 Big B. Love the tone and has excellent intonation (unlike my Conns). Plays great for classical or Jazz. I use the Yana mpc on the Yana and a vintage Soloist C on the Buescher with Rigotti reeds. Find a setup you like and stick with it. It will save you a lot of $$$.

 

[artstove]

You can get a lot of good horns in that range, which makes it harder. So much is personal - what sound do you want, what ergonomics feel good to you, etc. You will find people recommending various new saxes, modern used saxes, and vintage saxes. What some love, others hate, and vice versa. You don't say where you are, but the best first step would be to see if you can get somewhere where you can try a bunch of different horns to see what works/sounds/feels best for you.

 

[Harvey]

Your "sound" will change the more you practice. The more you play. And unless that horn of yours (never heard of those before) isn't working correctly AND cannot be fixed you can certainly continue improving your abilties with it.

Your tone will come with shed time. Or I should say, will come back with shed time.

But if I had your money, I would simply buy a Yanagisawa A992 and be done with it. Course it might have something to do with the fact I just played a dream of a horn about a week ago. Yup, A992.

But I wouldn't sell my 67RUL to do it... I'd have to have them both.

Best to you,

Harv

 

[mullgrav]

Thanks Alan. I really appreciate it... Just ready to play again so I can start playing for my family and friends.

 

[mullgrav]

Too Funny.. Thanks Harv. I really appreciate your guidance. And I will admit, I want to woo a certain someone. Sort of surprise them but again, I have to put that on hold for a while.

 

[mullgrav]

CoolJazz, I never looked at it that way. I thought by recording myself I can really hear how my intonation, tonguing etc.. And Its horrible. When I am playing I don't hear that. I did play for a few friends and they said it was pretty decent. And of course you know friends try to be nice. So thats why I recorded myself. Horrible. BUt I will continue to practice. Thanks for the advice.