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Saxophones Bari shopping

marc1024

marc1024

Senior Member
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Locality
Belgium
Hi,

After a 10 years pauze, I will be starting to play the saxophone again.
I'll be out to shop for a bari and have a budget of 4-6000€ (I got a really nice tax return this year).

I am looking for an instrument with a good intonation and build quality,
and not having to go to a repair store all the time for regulation or leaks.
Before I played on a Yani, and liked it a lot, so I tend to go for that again,
unless you guys can talk me into something else.
Selmer is too expensive (10000€)

Does anyone her have some experience in what is the difference between a B901
and a B991 ?
I went to a shop and played 3 B901s and a B991.
It was surprising to see that there is so much difference between the same model
B901s straight from the factory.
The first B901 had a blocked Bb valve, the second one was flat on high C,
the 3rd one was OK, as was the B991.
In my opinion, the difference was not the sax type, but bad regulation on the B901.
Is this also your opinion ?

I also wonder what would be the difference between the Yani start model B901
and for example the top Jupiter model.
When googling around, I also saw that Pmauriat saxes seem to become popular.
Are they any good, and how do they compare to a Yani ?

So before buying, I intend to visit a shop or two and look to all of your comments.
Also tips on how to check out a new saxophone are very welcome.
I suppose playing it will be the best way, but any other tips are welcome.

Grtz

Marc
 
I'm a novice on a bari, but I've got a Mauriat 302g low Bb bari that I love. here's a sound clip, but like I say, I'm a novice on this thing so I'm not doing it justice. I hope you enjoy the clip.
DeadAudiolink Removed
 
I liked the low Bb Mauriat that I tried at sax.co.uk a few years ago, but I don't think their low-A baris are distinctive enough - especially as Mauriat bari prices have gone through the roof in the past couple of years.

I have a Taiwanese low-A that is almost indistinguishable from a Mauriat that I bought new for less than half of a Mauriat. There are plenty of really good Taiwanese and Chinese saxes that can beat, or come close to beating, the Big Four. At least, you can say that the best of them provide 90% of the refinement for 50% of the money.

If you're hell-bent on spending your tax rebate on a 5k-6k bari, get a new B991 or 62. Selmer baris are crazy expensive and don't offer anything truly different.
 
Perhaps they are both made in the Chilterns. I'll have to email the chap in System 54 to see if there is any link.

Kind regards
Tom
 
I guess we are talking about a low A bari? A late Selmer mark six low Bb is for sale in Sweden. And when you're in town you can grab a mark seven tenor as well!!

Here is a differnt shopping guide for the low Bb bari. It's David Woodford who is telling us how he got his low Bb bari. Woodford is a monster on both tenor and bari. His is also called the Rock & Roll Gunslinger! I listen a lot to his saxophone!
http://youtu.be/_0arR_sTX0k

Thomas
 
baritonesax said:
That System 54 Superior bari looks to be absolutely identical to my Howarths bari. Weird that.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the Howarths Chiltern range bari.I have a System 54 superior class low A bari and its not the same as the pics on Howarths site.As for the system 54 its a great big sounding beast and well worth the cash.Happy with mine.
 
Hi guys,

In the mean time I visited some shops and tried out some stuff.
Thanks to TomMapfumo, I found a wonderful shop, Dep is really worth a visit.
Very friendly people, giving lots of advice without pushing you.
I completely lost track of time while trying out things and talking about repairs, saxes and mouthpieces with them.
When I left their shop, I noticed I had been there quite a long time and it already was an hour past their closing time.
I'll definitely go back there to buy my sax.

I kind of fell in love with a system 54 bari.
It just felt very comfortable, as if the keys were just right for my hands, and the action was very good.
was very easy to play, from the lowA, up to F#, I was surprised that after 10 years, I still was able to play
the entire range so easyly and with a nice sounding tone.
I need to get back up to speed with my fingers, but I suppose that will come back when I start playing and exercising.
The only negative thing I can say is that I did not get along well with the stock mpc that comes standard with it.
The low register sounds fantastic, but I was not able to play the higher notes in tune.
I tried a number of mpcs and found that I was most comfortable with the stock Keilwerth mpc.
An fairly open Vandoren mpc also sounded very nice, but it was difficult to play silently on it,
so I think I'll stick to the stock Keilwerth mpc, or first build up my chops again on my old Selmer E,
and after some time look for something with more punch.

One question though:
Until now I never heard of the brand System 54.
How is the build quality and durability ?
I would like to buy a sax you don't need to take back to the shop
because it frequently goes out of regulation, or pads not closing well.

My first idea when thinking of buying a new sax was to buy a reputable brand
and buy the most expensive one I could afford (for example a Yani B991)
to be sure I don't buy a crappy sax, but now that I tried out the system 54 Bari
I would rather go for that one (It just feels incredibly good),
unless you guys tell me that quality could be an issue.
 
I have a System 54 Tenor sax and it is superb - a number of people would rate them as among the best of the Taiwanese horns. Mine came with a guarantee, which is 3 years, I think. My tech Richard Hamer, plays one, swapping it for his Mauriat - he thinks it is exceptionally well made. Previously I played a Yani T901, and was so pleased with my new sax in most departments, though found the Yani key work excellent.

Hopefully daveysaxboy can say a bit about his System 54 Bari.
 
TomMapfumo said:
I have a System 54 Tenor sax and it is superb - a number of people would rate them as among the best of the Taiwanese horns. Mine came with a guarantee, which is 3 years, I think. My tech Richard Hamer, plays one, swapping it for his Mauriat - he thinks it is exceptionally well made. Previously I played a Yani T901, and was so pleased with my new sax in most departments, though found the Yani key work excellent.

Hopefully daveysaxboy can say a bit about his System 54 Bari.
Click to expand...

Like Tom i also had the System 54 superior UL tenor plus the 1 piece curved neck 54 soprano and they were both fantastic horns.I agree with Tom that there build is tops and sound is very big,beefy and dark.Theres a growing number of top players now using these great horns.My bari 54 horn is a great horn also.Its solid and intonation is as sweet as can be.Great bottom end.Mine is the superior class unlacquered 54 bari.I am very happy with mine and i enjoy playing it alot.I had my 54 soprano a while and it never needed any tweaking,same with the tenor and bari.They stay in regulation very well.I'm a lost case in the gear gas buying stakes and have owned or blew most of the top horns and i rate System 54 in the top flight list with the other great brands.Go with what you like most but i am a very happy system 54 player.
 
daveysaxboy said:
Do you mean the Howarths Chiltern range bari.I have a System 54 superior class low A bari and its not the same as the pics on Howarths site.As for the system 54 its a great big sounding beast and well worth the cash.Happy with mine.
Click to expand...

You're quite right. I hadn't noticed the double keypad arms on the "Superior" saxes. The System 54 "Premier" bari is the spitting image of the Chiltern.
 
I came across 2 pro players, who also both teach at a conservatory.
They were shopping for new instrument themselves and offered me to come along with them
to go and test play a number of saxes.
They told me to choose the instrument that plays in tune the best, is the most important factor for them,
because it means you have less work correcting intonation while playing and so keep a more steady embouchure
which is beneficial for a good tone quality.

The only downside is that it will take a few weeks :( , but I guess having pro advice in picking out
a good instrument is worth waiting for.
I also asked them to give me a few lessons to correctly start up again (embouchure, breathing).
When the basics are OK, the rest (speed, note reading) will come back again with more practice.
 
Sounds good Marc. But pay attention to ergonomics and tone as well. You may end up with a compromise...
 
Well, they are taking me along to the Yanagisawa importer to pick out the one we like best.
Unfortunately, we'll not be able to buy there directly at wholesale prices,
but we can pick out a horn we like from their large stock, note the serial nr
and buy that one via one of their dealers.
I gues this is a nice oportunity that not so many people get, I'll feel like a kid in a candy store.

As I used to play a Yana before and was very pleased with it, I suppose I cannot go wrong with this,
certainly with 2 pro's giving advice on which one to pick best.
After years of not playing, I probably cannot rely on my embouchure to check out a horn
intonation wise.

Once I'll have the horn, I know I'll have a good one, and it will be up to me
to practice and get up to speed again,
and I'll not be able to blame the horn >:) if things do not go the way it should be.
 
Yanag make the best baritones (and sopranos).

<other opinions may exist>
 
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