My Simple Question!

You know it's best to try the horn first. If that is really not possible, as you say, then in my opinion it's fine to order a horn: as long as you trust the source. A reputable dealer should allow you to return an instrument if it's defective or not as advertised; that's one safeguard. Do you have a reliable horn technician who can check the instrument for you when it arrives? I'd strongly advise that, too.

A trustworthy source for the instrument is imperative.

It depends on your demands. If you are a professional musician who does this for a living, absolutely not. But if you were, you'd know that no two horns will play exactly the same. They'll often all play well, but every once and a while you'll run into a lemon or a star.

Also...make sure the horn receives a proper setup by a skilled tech. Sometimes adjustment can be screwy a little bit on a new horn in general, especially on a shipped one, although Yamaha is a bit better than many other companies.

If you must, yes, ship the horn and in all possibility you'll love it. Just make sure you have some sort of return policy available.

Shady: Welcome to SOTW. You have already received some good comments.

I have purchased several saxophones sight-unseen, both new (from reputable dealers) and used (from ebay). I have never been stung (meaning I received what I expected).

It is true that some saxophones play better than others, but in my experience, even though there may have been differences, that's all it was - differences, not better or worse. This pertains to saxophones by the Big Four makers (Selmer, Keilwerth, Yamaha, and Yanagisawa). I probably wouldn't take such risks if the horn was an unknown brand (meaning Taiwanese or Chinese, etc.).

Still, I could afford to take a hit (even though it would have displeased me). And, I could afford to pay for repairs should that have been necessary. DAVE