Yanagisawa Tenors

I've played a handful of Yani tenors, with mixed feelings. A 991 and a 992 that I tried were just OK, a 901 that I tried had a great sparkly sound, but I didn't like the ergos.... However in the last couple of months I tried two 990 tenors that were very very similar to each other (one was regular lacquer one was black) and both were just fantastic - felt just like my MkVI in my hands, maybe a bit better action even, and the sound was excellent (didn't have the "selmer core" or the vintage sound, but a nice thing of their own). Most of the newer horns I've played (many taiwanese) play very well, but are so heavy they just get uncomfortable playing for long periods.

I ended up buying one of the 990s, and I got to tell you, they are a bargain.... in great shape for $1600! I sold the Cannonball Vintage tenor that I liked very much (but was heavy) in order to fund the purchase, and I haven't had a single pang of regret. The 990 is just a joy to play, and I can get a good enough sound on it (albeit I haven't dialed it in as well as either my MkVI or my Buescher TH&C sound-wise). For someone looking for a solid, day-in-day-out workhorse, these are a steal, IMO.

I suppose that they don't get as much attention as they just arent as common, and they don't have a ton of their own "personality"... you kind of get out of them what you put into them, which is OK by me.

Pete

andre251 said:

I also wish I could find more videos or sound clips of pros playing on yanagisawas 99X models.

Click to expand...

Here's one, looks like a T99x, sample at 2:36


... another at 1:40


fwiw, I play an '80 T880.
Excellent, don't care much for the deep dished pearls though.
Play a Keilwerth SX neck on it sometimes, or the underslung.

I compared a T901, 902, 991 and 992, and also play tested against a Mauriat 76, Yam YTS62, Trevor James Sig Custom, Selmer Series 2 and a Keilwerth SX something. I bought the T992, because it was simply the best of all of them. My views on the Yanagisawas. Firstly, they were all excellent, with outstanding ergonomics and a superb finish, better than all the others.

T901 - Bright, fizzy horn, sort of lively character. Felt quite light in my hands.
T902 - Very similar, a bit more richnes to the tone. Felt exactly the same in the hands as the 901
T991 - Great sax. Bright put powerful. Solid, slightly heavier feel
T992 - Fantastic. Not so bright, more complex tone, powerful and capable of going very loud. Very rich and characterful tone. Easy to play smooth or raunchy. Flattered my playing. Felt the same in my hands as the T991. Anyone who thinks Japanese horns have no character should try one of these.

None of the other saxes I played were anything like as good as the T992. I was particularly disappointed in the Selmer and Yamaha. I had high expecations of the Selmer which weren't met, and fond memories on an older YTS62 I played years ago. The new Yam just wasn't as interesting. The Mauriat was nice to play but the standard of the finish was unacceptable on a sax costing half what the Mauriat did. The Keilwerth just didn't play well. So, I splashed out a load of my own money on the T992. Three years on I'm still delighted with it. It hasn't needed any adjustment at all in that time.

Jon

OK I'm going to chime in here. At one time I owned and played the set of Yanagasawa's S<A<T<B. I now only have the sop. The tenor I had for nigh on 8 years and usually used a Link STM or T.E. The horn was a 992 which I silver plated. Yanni's are to be compared with Lexus cars, fast, smooth, reliable, and luxurious-- in a nutshell --quality. When my son was at university, studying industrial design a group of students spent some time at Jaguar cars when the XK8 coupe was being developed, a fabulous sports car intended to match the legendry E Type of the early 1960's. As a model, Jaguar bought in a Lexus from Japan and instructed the apprentices to strip it down to the last speck of paint to discover why it was so good! the brief then was to build the XK8 to a similar standard--but to be MORE EXCITING !
Are you getting the picture now? Yanagasawa's are a little too conservative When I sold my 992 I bought a Selmer serie3 which I still use along with my beloved Conns. Compared with the Yanni's these horns can be capricious and have 'bad hair' days but they are more 'exciting' or should I say excitable?
Incidently the alto I had was an 880 Elimona which was seriously good -I parted reluctantly with that after buying a Serie3 alto for 'a song' from a friend who had given up alto after many years in the business. A pupil of mine still has that horn. The Baritone was 901 but I have given up playing Bari these days.
These horns were in daily use plus gigs.
I would never be afraid to recomend them--they do everything it 'says on the box' but if a guy wants a tenor for Rock&Roll or Jazz I usually steer them onto another brand either vintage or modern.