[Eulipion2]

My new YBS-62 was delivered today, and boy howdy, I'm in love! First time with a bari, but it plays like butter top to bottom! Still haven't figured out altissimo, but I've only owned the thing a couple hours; I'll get there soon enough. Playing a Caravan for classical, Jody Jazz Classic 8 (.120"), and Metalite M7 (.100") and M9 (.110"). Surprisingly, I found the Metalites to be very smooth an mellow, almost Mulligan-esque, with a Legere Signature, and not the roaring raunch fest I was expecting. The JJ was similar, but really beefed up when I added the Spoiler. The Caravan seems in-tune, which has been an issue for others on this forum, but I need to put more time into it to make sure. Still, nice dark tone, and easy, easy, easy to play the whole range.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 

[LostConn]

Congrats on the new horn. If this is your first bari sax, how come you already have four different mouthpieces for it?

 

[Eulipion2]

If this is your first bari sax, how come you already have four different mouthpieces for it?

I'm a planner with an eBay addiction. I've been wanting a bari for a long time so I wanted to be ready for it. Figured I'd look for a Rascher/Caravan to match my other horns, and one appeared. Same with the JJ -- I used to play them across all horns so when this one popped up I bought it.

And it's always a good idea to have a Metalite or two in your case. Unlike some, I actually really like them on the smaller horns.

I've had them all for at least a few years, and have even sold a couple others in the meantime.

 

[KeithL]

Yamaha baris are great horns - most folks believe they have the best Low A mechanism even if they've settled on different horns for other reasons like I have with the Yani B992. What made you decide on the Yamaha?

 

[Gulo gulo]

My new YBS-62 was delivered today, and boy howdy, I'm in love! First time with a bari, but it plays like butter top to bottom! Still haven't figured out altissimo, but I've only owned the thing a couple hours; I'll get there soon enough. Playing a Caravan for classical, Jody Jazz Classic 8 (.120"), and Metalite M7 (.100") and M9 (.110"). Surprisingly, I found the Metalites to be very smooth an mellow, almost Mulligan-esque, with a Legere Signature, and not the roaring raunch fest I was expecting. The JJ was similar, but really beefed up when I added the Spoiler. The Caravan seems in-tune, which has been an issue for others on this forum, but I need to put more time into it to make sure. Still, nice dark tone, and easy, easy, easy to play the whole range.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Congrats on making a new friend!

A warning, I have not been given in advance: if you play bari a lot, your other saxes will shrink and feel ridiculously tiny and light in comparison .
A rather interesting experience, I think.

BTW, your new saxophone plays right out of the box or did it come from a shop where they set it up? And did you try a YBS-62 before? How did you choose it? (Sorry, I am just curious, ignore the questions if you find them intrusive).

 

[B Flat]

Yamaha 62 Baritones are great horns for many.
I’m not one of them even though I appreciate that they are exceptionally well designed and made for those with smaller hands.
What I cannot understand is placing Mulligan and Metallite in the same sentence.

 

[Eulipion2]

A warning, I have not been given in advance: if you play bari a lot, your other saxes will shrink and feel ridiculously tiny and light in comparison .
A rather interesting experience, I think.

I can't wait to pick up the 'nino after playing this thing.

What made you decide on the Yamaha?

BTW, your new saxophone plays right out of the box or did it come from a shop where they set it up? And did you try a YBS-62 before? How did you choose it?

Well, here's the story: SWMBO and I had an agreement that if I put off replacing my '06 Corolla (178K miles, dead AC, but otherwise perfect) I could get a bari. Naturally, if it's replacing a car I'm gonna go for a higher end horn. I wanted a low A horn, and while a high F# wasn't a requirement, it's nice to have. My list included the YBS-62 (and 52,) the Rampone & Cazzani, the Yani WO series, and the Keilwerth SX90, but I didn't rule out others. JunkDude has a really nice Couf I almost went for, and there are a few Taiwanese horns I'm curious about. There was also an SX90 that popped up on Facebook Marketplace for a really good price, but it sold before I could get more info.

The 62 was the top of my list, and while I'd probably be happy with any of the others, I'd have always wondered if I was missing out. My 62 tenor is a special horn. My EX alto is great, too, but the 62 is just phenomenal, and I figured I couldn't go wrong. Also, I have no convenient way to try before I buy without a decent drive, and I figured a Yamaha would be my best bet for that as well.

So when one popped up very lightly used on Ebay -- 8 months old, Japanese model (floor peg), with a very small dent in the bell -- I pulled the trigger, and here we are.

Yamaha 62 Baritones are great horns for many.
I'm not one of them even though I appreciate that they are exceptionally well designed and made for those with smaller hands.
What I cannot understand is placing Mulligan and Metallite in the same sentence.

I'd put my hands firmly in the "medium" range. The YBS keywork feels like a slightly larger version of my tenor. As for the Metalites, somehow I get a velvety smooth sound out of Metalites with Legere Signature reeds, even on alto and soprano, which people on here really seem to hate. Switching to a Fibracell gives them a little more grunt across the board. They really are great reasonably versatile pieces if you take the time to tame them.

 

[KeithL]

Always nice to get a good deal on a lightly used pro-model horn. Kinda surprised you didn't try and make a road trip or two into NYC and try some horns. I take that Port Jervis line train in and out of the city all the time when I'm visiting my folks in NJ I just pick it up in Suffern.

I'd agree your chances are better with Yamaha and Yani having a good factory setup out-of-the-box than most of the other brands but shipping a bari is always a crap-shoot. I was told several years ago by an employee of UPS that boxes the size of one a bari comes in go down a special conveyor belt that has a 4-5 ft. drop at the end. I don't know if that's still true but I purchased a "The Martin" bari many years ago that, despite being packed pretty well, arrived with the type of damage (bent body tube) that would have been consistent with being dropped like that.

As far as mouthpieces go it's personal of course and somewhat of a journey that depends a lot on what type of playing you do. When I got my B992 about 15 years ago I had already been playing alto and tenor for almost 30 years and didn't think much of adding bari. It wasn't until I was recruited by a funk band a few years later to play TOP, EW&F, Chicago etc. horn charts that I realized I was basically playing bari like it was a large tenor. Practicing those funk charts almost daily for 18 months resulted in a big change to the amount of air I was putting into the horn as well as my sound. Went through 4 or 5 different mouthpieces during that time as well. So have fun with it - the more you play the horn the more you'll like it!

 

[Eulipion2]

Always nice to get a good deal on a lightly used pro-model horn. Kinda surprised you didn't try and make a road trip or two into NYC and try some horns. I take that Port Jervis line train in and out of the city all the time when I'm visiting my folks in NJ I just pick it up in Suffern.

Somehow despite living in northeast PA for coming up on 7 years I've still never been to NYC for anything other than drop-off/pick-up at JFK (zero stars; do not recommend). I'd love to hit the city. Someday. My wife has taken the train from Port Jervis and said it wasn't bad, so that's probably how we'll go, when we go, if we go. On the other hand, we tend to go to DC (Chuck Levin's, L&L) and Boston (Virtuosity, Boston Sax Shop) fairly often, but no current plans to visit.

I'd agree your chances are better with Yamaha and Yani having a good factory setup out-of-the-box than most of the other brands but shipping a bari is always a crap-shoot. I was told several years ago by an employee of UPS that boxes the size of one a bari comes in go down a special conveyor belt that has a 4-5 ft. drop at the end. I don't know if that's still true but I purchased a "The Martin" bari many years ago that, despite being packed pretty well, arrived with the type of damage (bent body tube) that would have been consistent with being dropped like that.

I was a little worried about shipping as well. Shipped from California via FedEx in its original box inside another box, with tons of bubble wrap and shipping corks. It was very well packed.

As far as mouthpieces go it's personal of course and somewhat of a journey that depends a lot on what type of playing you do. When I got my B992 about 15 years ago I had already been playing alto and tenor for almost 30 years and didn't think much of adding bari. It wasn't until I was recruited by a funk band a few years later to play TOP, EW&F, Chicago etc. horn charts that I realized I was basically playing bari like it was a large tenor. Practicing those funk charts almost daily for 18 months resulted in a big change to the amount of air I was putting into the horn as well as my sound. Went through 4 or 5 different mouthpieces during that time as well. So have fun with it - the more you play the horn the more you'll like it!

I'm not really into funk, definitely more of a hard/post bopper, though my main bari listening has been Mulligan, Chaloff, and a little Leo Parker. I've been getting a little more into early R&B/rock sax à la Wills "Gator" Jackson, Earl Bostic, and Rusty Bryant, so pursuing a tone with a little more bark might be worthwhile. Are there any bari players stylistically comparable to those guys?

 

[Instrument Attic]

Congrats on your new addition! Those are very fine baris.

It's hard to swallow $6500 for a used sax but it sure beats the new price. With tax that's a ~ $9,400 horn these days.

 

[Eulipion2]

Congrats on your new addition! Those are very fine baris.

It's hard to swallow $6500 for a used sax but it sure beats the new price. With tax that's a ~ $9,400 horn these days.

No joke! That's about the best price I've seen them for lately. I put a WTB ad in the Marketplace thinking I might get a better price, but nobody responded, then this one popped up, so I took it before someone else did. I was looking at Thomann, who was also selling them for $6500 brand new, but apparently their contract with Yamaha won't allow them ship Yamaha instruments to the US. Had that problem with a couple other international retailers as well. If this one hadn't come up I was considering a Yani from Sax.co.uk.

 

[BH9]

Somehow despite living in northeast PA for coming up on 7 years I've still never been to NYC for anything other than drop-off/pick-up at JFK (zero stars; do not recommend). I'd love to hit the city. Someday. My wife has taken the train from Port Jervis and said it wasn't bad, so that's probably how we'll go, when we go, if we go. On the other hand, we tend to go to DC (Chuck Levin's, L&L) and Boston (Virtuosity, Boston Sax Shop) fairly often, but no current plans to visit.

I was a little worried about shipping as well. Shipped from California via FedEx in its original box inside another box, with tons of bubble wrap and shipping corks. It was very well packed.

I'm not really into funk, definitely more of a hard/post bopper, though my main bari listening has been Mulligan, Chaloff, and a little Leo Parker. I've been getting a little more into early R&B/rock sax à la Wills "Gator" Jackson, Earl Bostic, and Rusty Bryant, so pursuing a tone with a little more bark might be worthwhile. Are there any bari players stylistically comparable to those guys?

Paul Williams was an early honker on baritone. Ronnie Cuber has been making tenor players feel inadequate for decades, he's the guy you want to listen to.

 

[Eulipion2]

Paul Williams was an early honker on baritone. Ronnie Cuber has been making tenor players feel inadequate for decades, he's the guy you want to listen to.

Thanks for those! I've heard a little Ronnie Cuber (The George Benson Cookbook), and assuming that's a good sample of his playing I need to find more!

 

[BH9]

Thanks for those! I've heard a little Ronnie Cuber (The George Benson Cookbook), and assuming that's a good sample of his playing I need to find more!

Anything is good. No matter the format, the R&B is there.

 

[JfW]

Oh man,

I'm happy for you.......but also a little jealous

 

[click]

Those baritone metalites can be a big surprise.

Congratulations on your splendid baritone.

Those big horns are a lot of fun.

 

[BOPITY FUNK]

IMO the finest all round Baritone Saxophone out there-the one I would aspire to own. The modern equivalent of the Conn 12M the longevity of both with the minimum of ongoing modification proves the point.

 

[germanwatches]

It sounds like big fun. Enjoy and Congrats.

 

[raindog]

I'm a planner with an eBay addiction. I've been wanting a bari for a long time so I wanted to be ready for it.

That's solid life planning right there! I got my first bari (nothing fancy, a jupiter) a week ago, with no mouthpiece. Local shops here have pretty much nothing in the bari department, so ordered a mouthpiece (ponzol) from faraway lands, and I'm still waiting for the mailman. From what I can see, it's still sitting in a post office somewhere in germany. Having the bari here and not being able to play at all drives me nuts proper. I can't sleep, food tastes no good, hair is turning gray, my tenor and soprano are not speaking to me, and so on...

Anyway, congrats!

 

[Bari Sax Guy]

Congratulations, you've got a great horn.