[milandro]

I see often in the NL people advertise cheap (and probably not so good) saxophones as “ study saxophone “ as if a saxophone meant for studying the instrument was in a category of its own.

There is such a category and that is “ Carnival “ saxophone , meaning a saxophone played, often in the south of the NL, Belgium and parts of Germany with the catholic festival when it is customary to party for “ Mardi Gras” with small marching bands. Of course this latter definition has a rationale, nobody really cares too much how these instruments sound or play (to an extent) because they may be easily damaged by drunken people.

But a Study saxophone, if anything, should be a very good saxophone because you certainly don’t want a bad start for a student. Especially a student should have a very good instrument which plays well and in tune.

 

[LostConn]

Sounds like another way of saying "student horn." In that sense, it's obviously a well-recognized category of instruments, although of course there are always debates about the level of cost/quality that is appropriate for a student sax.