[Saxplayer1]

Thoughts? Comment? Preferences?

 

[speyman]

The Ref. 36 sound has soul. The Yamahamer has nothing in it's sound.

 

[sinkdraiN]

Yeah I agree...Those who can't play with soul will look good holding a selmer

 

[benedictbranca]

Too right sinkdrain my brother!

 

[RandyJ]

Thoughts? Comment? Preferences?

Another cherries to strawberries comparison… two different sounding and feeling horns.

Personally, the 36 for me it’s the first sax I really like since I bought my MKVI in 1968.

 

[Budget Explosion]

The 36 (along with a Yani 992) is my favorite modern horn...I love the classic sounding tone...I can sound like Scott Hamilton on it. BUT it is way too expensive...if I had that money laying around, I'd buy an actual Balanced Action...Last year I owned a Z tenor - it was fun to play with a neutral tone (not vintage to my ears) but I sold it to buy a Conn 10M. In retrospect, I should have tried some other mouthpieces on my Z before I abandoned it.

 

[speyman]

Let's hear it again from the Yamahamer section. It's not about looking good, it's (music) all about sound which you apparently haven't found out as it looks like your both playing the Yamahamer. They do make good motorcycles.

 

[kage62]

Speyman, please try not to be so critical of Yamaha. Even if the 36 is a better horn (which I can't comment on since I've never played one) the pro Yamahas are about $2000 less and are certainly excellent alternatives if you don't have/want to spend the money.

 

[speyman]

Hey kage, I was only expressing my opinion and that's what this forum is all about isn't it?

 

[kage62]

Ya, you're right.
But I just found the comment to be slight degrading of the players as well, which I didn't think was necessary.

 

[speyman]

I'm not here to degrade Yamaha players. I'm here to say that the Yamaha Tenors that I played had little charachter in their tone as compared to the 2 Selmers that I own. I have a Ref. 36 and a 1932 Cigar Cutter. I believe that they both have about the same amount of character in their tone and a [email protected] of a lot more than any Yamaha that I've played.

 

[Datsaxguy]

I own a 36 and prefer it over the Yamaha BUT (You gotta watch them butts) I really like one great thing about the Yamaha. The Ergo's are the best in the business. That is the most comfortable horn (FOR MY HANDS) I have ever played. For the Yamaha lovers out there, do yourself a favor and try the Limited Edition Custom Z. It Reminded me of the brighter Mark VI's of the seventies. If that horn played darker it may have changed my mind.

Datsaxguy

 

[Joe Jazz]

I'd have to agree that for that Selmers have a richer sound, but Yamaha has improved lately. My silver 875EX with the G3 neck is a lot closer to the Selmer sound than my previous silver YTS-62 was. Plenty of good saxes out there to please everyone.......rich and poor alike!

 

[Morry]

I'm not here to degrade Yamaha players. I'm here to say that the Yamaha Tenors that I played had little charachter in their tone as compared to the 2 Selmers that I own. I have a Ref. 36 and a 1932 Cigar Cutter. I believe that they both have about the same amount of character in their tone and a [email protected] of a lot more than any Yamaha that I've played.

Perhaps, then, the proper response would have been "My sound doesn't have much character when I play the Yamahas". I've heard plenty of guys with character coming out their *$& when playing them.

 

[speyman]

No Morry, your wrong. That is not the proper response but it is interesting what you have said.

 

[Joe Jazz]

No actually, I think that Morry is right, as usual. You talked about giving your opinion. So, your opinion is that when you play Yamaha's you don't sound as good(less character)as when you play on Selmers. That's your opinion, and who could have a problem with you expressing it on this forum? But then I think you kind of generalized it to everyone else and everyone else's Yamaha's, saying basically that anyone playing on Yamaha's can't play with any character(perhaps we just misunderstood?). I remember when Richard Elliot used to play a Yamaha tenor, his sound had more character(to me)than after he switched to LASAX. I believe that Selmer tenors generally sound richer than Yamaha's. I did not say that Yamaha tenors lack any richness to their sound at all. Big difference.

 

[Joe Jazz]

The Ref. 36 sound has soul. The Yamahamer has nothing in it's sound.

I think this statement makes my point...

 

[gary]

No Morry, your wrong. That is not the proper response but it is interesting what you have said.

Oy! Let's not get into the "Yamaha are devoid of soul" thing. There are plenty of players who play Yamahas and get good sounds out of them so why not just admit it.

Me personally? I would rather have a Selmer because I like the core sound I get when I play one - in my hands, richer than any Yamaha I've played. But I think some of this is simply how you play and what your orientation is.

I had a YTS Z for about a year and a half and never really warmed to it. I never really got the sound I wanted. (Previously I had two Conn 10Ms and followed the Yamaha with a Keilwerth, so one can see where I'm coming from). But (another but) - a friend of mine who has been a Mark VI player for over 20 years played my Z and he got a wonderful sound out of it. I interpret that as being his affinity for the Z coming from a VI as compared to my lack of affinity with a Conn sound in my head. My point being that individuals can get a lot out of Yamahas and some don't, depending on their orientation.

Last winter I went alto shopping and tried out all of the major brands and I've got to admit that I really liked the YAS 875 EX. Not as much as the Selmer Serie II I bought, but I could have lived with the EX if someone gave it to me. It was really an excellent sax with a wonderful sound to it - just a little on the bright side for me, but I didn't take time looking for other mouthpiece/reed combinations, either.

 

[Joe Jazz]

I don't know who that was impersonating Gary, but I respect you man!

 

[speyman]

Ref. 36 vs. Yam 82Z

Thoughts? Comment? Preferences?

I just believe that anyone would have a better sound if they were playing the Selmer rather than the Yamaha. I'm not saying that all players will sound bad if they are playing the Yamaha but they will sound better with the Selmer. If they were the same price which one would you be playing?