[tennecmelodyman]

I am hoping to persuade the music program at the community college where I teach in Tennessee to purchase a low A baritone saxophone to be used in the jazz band I lead. Funds are limited, naturally. My “working budget“ is $1500-$3000. I would consider purchasing a used baritone, if a quality instrument could be found at a reasonable price. The brand names I am considering for a new baritone are Accent, Allora, Antigua, Kessler Solist and Magenta Winds. The latter is a “store brand“ only available from Matthews music in the Netherlands, as far as I know. Any suggestions about other manufacturers I should include in my search are welcome. I have read older posts about problems with the Accent baritones. I would be interested to hear any comments from those who may have played a recently made Accent bari, as well as any of the other brands I am considering. Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[milandro]

It will be very difficult to buy a low A baritone for $1500 and it is highly unlikely that you can buy one from a shop.

Buying a Secondhand horns makes your odds much better but most probably for an horn that has been previously owned by a school and treated badly.

You already know that the Magenta is probably the cheapest Taiwanese made (and guaranteed from a good shop) baritone out there , but of course you do have Chinese options and they are cheaper.

Taishan would be one of those.

https://www.ebay.com/b/Taishan-Baritone-Bass-Saxophones/16231/bn_25159791

If you buy directly from China they may arrive to you in good playing state.

 

[StuartSax]

Here's a private party in Atlanta with a Jupiter 593 in your price range.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Member brasscane is selling a phenomenal low A horn. I'm very surprised nobody snapped this up:

https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?352206-Bauhaus-(low-A)-baritone-saxophone-%96-excellent!

These are really good baritones. I'm using one professionally in preference to the Selmer Series II.

 

[swperry1]

Member brasscane is selling a phenomenal low A horn. I'm very surprised nobody snapped this up:

https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?352206-Bauhaus-(low-A)-baritone-saxophone-%96-excellent!

These are really good baritones. I'm using one professionally in preference to the Selmer Series II.

If I lived closer and had the extra bread I'd have jumped on this already!

Original poster: Have you tried sourcing a good instrument within the community? Get the word out locally, you might be surprised what people have sitting unused in their homes. A high school band director friend of mine sourced several quality instruments for not a lot of money (many donated) for his under-funded program.

 

[Scott E]

When I was shopping baritone saxes in January, the Kessler Solist baritone was highly recommended as a great value. It is made in the style of the Yanagisawa B901.

In auditioning many saxes in New York, I found that the actual Yanigasawa B901 was pretty good, but not great.

I can say that my Kessler soprano was a fine horn for its price point, and so I seriously considered saving a ton of money by buying the Kessler Solist. My Kessler soprano didn't compete with Selmer, Yamaha, or Yanigasawa saxes side by side but certainly sounded nice and gave me absolutely no trouble in a year of ownership.

If I were in your shoes, I would look for a used Yamaha Ybs 52 first and if not available at a price you can swing I would go for the Kessler Solist.

Regarding Allora, WWBW has an excellent return policy, so if the horn doesn't play it can be easily returned for the cost of return shipping. I've bought quite a lot from them and returns have been hassle free. I haven't tried their Allora horns, but I do know that at least some of their horns are manufactured in the same factories used for the Kessler saxes. The set up and parts are different though.

The other horns you mentioned may not play well and can't be easily returned so I would avoid them.

 

[tennecmelodyman]

Thanks, StuartSax! I found John Liles' Jupiter on FB and messaged him about it.

 

[tennecmelodyman]

Thanks for the tip, Pete. I clicked on the link and got a message saying that I lack permission to access the page. Any ideas?