[JfW]

Congrats on the horn purchase. I've owned a few student-level Yamahas and do think they are pretty good.

 

[AndrewGVT]

Thanks. The horn arrived this morning, and everything appears to be in good shape. There is no sign of mites. The pads look decent. Looks like three brand new pads. Most of the rest still have plenty of life. A couple of them look like they'll need to be replaced before long. The must have been adjusted by a tech as indicated. The keys seem to be very well set up and eveything is moving perfectly.

Otherwise, there's age appropriate rust and the pad under the B key is popped out. It probably popped out in transit. I popped it back in place, but I'm not sure how much of a play test I'll be able to do, but the good news is that I was able to see the body of the pad and confirm that there was no sign of bug damage.

I suspect that with the B pad back in place, she'll play just fine. I'll probably end up replacing a couple of pads right away, but that will leave me with a real nice set of pads up and down.

As soon as I'm able to put her through the paces (keep in mind that I've only been playing for a year, so we're not talking about screaming on altisimo or 100 mph bop...), I'll make a final report out.

 

[AndrewGVT]

Okay, I couldn't wait for the pad to give it a whirl, so I popped the B pad back in place, kept the B key closed, and played long tones up and down the horn. It's fantastic! I'm stunned that such a phenomenal instrument can be had for less than $400. The tone is so nice, and it's so easy to play. I was able sound everything from Bb to E on the first go, and the upper octave soared right out. I usually have to work upper D# and E a bit, but not on this horn. They were right there, fat and happy. I also tried overtones on low Bb and got them all out on the first try, and they also rang out pure and beautiful. I still need to get the pad fixed, but I have a feeling that this back-up horn is likely my new everyday horn and my YAS-200 is headed for the back up role.

Sorry for the naive enthusiasm here, but it didn't occur to me that this would be such an upgrade. Very, very cool!

Thanks so much for everyone who chimed on this thread, even those who counseled me to pass. All of your advice was super helpful! I really appreciate it!