[Wildboy1983]

I have recently started playing around 8 weeks or so and decided to initially dip my toes in with an ammoon Alto sax at around £200. It plays in tune and I don't think I have explored the thing to it's potential yet but I'm cautiously optimistic in looking for an upgrade in the next few months past lockdown.

From what I have seen online I really liked the con selmer Avant 180. It seemed to have a throaty v6 sound. I was recommended by sax.co.uk the Trevor James Evo on that basis but the sound of it online was pretty thin.

Another option would be to go straight for a yas-62 but I wonder if that would be unnecessary expense for the stage I'm at.

I guess I'm just looking for ideas to keep me procrastinating until I can actually try something out. I'm also open to keep the current sax but I don't have anything to compare it to.

 

[datsaxman]

Howdy

And welcome to SOTW.

There is no good reason to hold off on getting a nice sax, as long as you intend to continue to play it.

But you should play yourself in person. Period.


dat
sax
man

 

[Instrument Attic]

Wait until you're able to go test some for yourself in a local music store. Online demos are subject to so many variables that they can make the best playing Mark VI sound worse than a 1980s Bundy.

Have you experimented with mouthpieces yet? The mouthpiece will change the sound more than the sax itself.

 

[JayeLID]

Given that you have a horn which currently 'works' and you have only been at it 2 months...I echo the above suggestions.

No rush, really. Online purchases, horn untested in person, have their place and uses....particularly given situations where a person has very little opportunity to try a variety of horns in their geographic area, or in situations where a particular model of horn is just never likely gonna appear for sale locally....

But as you have one, and as the restrictions will ease up eventually...save your quid for now and just keep playing what you have until shops open again.

The question of jumping to something like a 62 is a bit different....many would suggest you get more experience under your belt first because the more you have been playing, the more you will be able to discern between expensive models and pick the one which feels right to you.

 

[milandro]

I have recently started playing around 8 weeks or so and decided to initially dip my toes in with an ammoon Alto sax at around £200. It plays in tune and I don't think I have explored the thing to it's potential yet but I'm cautiously optimistic in looking for an upgrade in the next few months past lockdown. .....

With the greatest of respect, when I was a few months is playing my Taiwanese " Dixons" , I went to a meeting were some expensive saxophones were demonstrated, so I played Selmer and a Buffet and few more others.

I didn't really see what the fuss about these brands was all about... I sounded pretty much the same on anything.

It is only much later that I thought I could benefit from a much better horn and even then it wasn't any horn's shortcomings that was holding me back.

It is only natural that people feel the " need" for a different mouthpiece or a different ligature and dare I say a different horn. The reality is that you can play for years and years on a horn and never meet its limitations. This is also true of the mouthpieces and surely until you have had the chance to form a " sound concept" , let alone an embouchure to speak of, of your own (It will take a much longer time than you think).

I just listened to someone playing different mouthpieces, whatever it was holding back this player weren't the mouthpieces, it was himself.

A very good friend of mine played on his cheap Jupiter for a very long time ( still does, I think) and still sounded better than most people in a community band sporting more expensive saxophones ( Many on a Mark VI they could never do any justice to!).

Invest in yourself rather than investing in a saxophone. One day if you have money, skill and experience to spare, buy yourself a saxophone that makes you fall in love (you will know when you play it) don't buy on paper. Good Luck!

 

[nigeld]

My feeling is that a beginner should buy the nicest saxophone that they can afford.
You should ignore the notion of progressing form "student: model to "Intermediate" to "professional".
But the criterion should be that the instrument gives you pleasure and satisfaction, not that it is a "better" brand or that some expert player can make it sound fantastic.
It's not just the sound, it's also whether the saxophone fits your hands.

So you need to set a budget and then try out various saxophones and see what suits you best. This is where a shop such as sax.co.uk in London is great, because they have so many different models.
If your budget allows you to purchase a solid silver Yanagisawa and you really love it, then why not? It may not make you sound better, but it may increase your enjoyment.

In the current situation, it will be necessary to wait a bit, but when you have been playing a few months more you should be competent enough to try out various possibilities.

If you are using the mouthpiece that came with your sax, then an upgrade would probably be worth it right away. A Bari Esprit or a Yamaha 4C would not be very expensive, and they will quite likely make a big difference.

 

[turf3]

Of the four horns you've mentioned ("Ammoon", "Trevor James", "Avant", Yamaha) threee of these are essentially the same thing: copies of a Selmer SA 80, built in Taiwan or China by contract manufacturers and private labeled with whatever label the company ordering the minimum batch size wants. The only real differences among them will be QC differences based on how much oversight the purchasing company exerts.

A 62 model Yamaha is built in a Yamaha factory by Yamaha employees (and probably some contract workers) under the direct management of Yamaha supervisors and management. It's a very different thing. Frankly I wouldn't bother trading one private-labeled low-end Taiwan/China horn for a different one hoping to get an improvement, unless it were a pricey version of it like P Mauriat or Cannonball which at least have the reputation of being something above the normal run of these products. Except for a few well known exceptions, the horn you buy with one of these "mystery brands" on it, is likely not to have even come from the same factory this year as it would have last year.

 

[turf3]

From what I have seen online I really liked the con selmer Avant 180. It seemed to have a throaty v6 sound.

That's because who played it on the video, with their mouthpiece, has that kind of sound.

I was recommended by sax.co.uk the Trevor James Evo on that basis but the sound of it online was pretty thin.

That's because who played it on the video, with their mouthpiece, has a thin sound.

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