Baritone Sax - Student Models

[stan_s_fan]

[No message]

 

[spike]

When buying a horn try out as many as possible and for as long as possible and take your time.
I checked out a few Baris earlier this year for my sixtieth, can recommend the Jupiter 593 which is probably inside your limit and the Yanagisawa 901 which is probably on your budget border. The Jupi is a very solid sturdy horn, but the Yani would have been my first choice had I had enough bucks, it just felt and played like a better horn, had it been a price question the Jupi would have been more than adequate for my needs. Ended up very satisfied with a bargain taiwan sop. Maybe I'll get the bari for my seventieth.
gruss - spike

 

[Pete Thomas]

I have heard that some Chinese baris will be on the market soon.

 

[philthd]

is that the underground walstein whisper we've all been waiting for, pete?

if they can knock out a nice playing bari for, say, 500 squid theres no excuse for everyone not to have one

 

[stan_s_fan]

Thank you Spike, I will check out the Yanagisawa and the Jupiter. I too managed my 60th this year. It is good to treat yourself sometimes.


I believe that the Trevor James Baritone is made in Taiwan for the company and sent back to Kent for sale.

I could not justify spending too much on it as it would only be for fun but I would like reasonable quality. I am just not sure about the Chinese makes.

 

[philthd]

ive bought a lot of audio gear from thomann - they have a good reputation for a reason

and i heard a rumour that their saxes were the same as the gear4music ones which pete (at least used to) rate


the general opinion on chinese horns is that some are very nice indeed and some are unspeakably bad - youd have to connect gob and fingers to one before committing i reckon

 

[Pete Thomas]

I wouldn't be surprised if Thomann were the same horns as Gear4music. If so then they are among the very good Chinese instruments.

 

[spike]

Hi Stan - is this the TBS-150 bari? if so I'll post a request for info on the German sax forum, haven't noticed any posts about the horn, maybe somebody's got one, let me know. gruss - spike

 

[jonf]

[No message]

 

[griff136]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the Trevor james baris are made by Jupiter.
Jupiter baris are fine. I have a yanni which is great - a little over 2K tho.

Antigua do a bari for around 1800 which is good value.

 

[stan_s_fan]

Pete,
Thank you for this.

Spike,
Yes it is the TBS-150

Phil,
Many thanks. It could be difficult to try the Thomann Bari of course.

JonF,
It is encouraging to know that I am not the only player who likes a spot of indulgence.

Griff,
That is interesting re the Jupiter link.

 

[Pjonah]

I got one of the last Bently Series V Baritones and its brilliant, not as robust as the old Buescher 400, but perfectly good for playing at home. I wouldn't try a lot of gigging with it though it just feels too delicate, but it plays like a tenor. The ergonomics are first rate certainly better than the B400.

I couldn't comment on the Gear4music Bari, but I have the alto and its pretty damn good, especially for the money. You also get to try it for 2 weeks, if you don't like it give it back for a full refund.

Be interested to hear if anybody had tried the G4M as its got some wierd stand thing going on. Not that thats a clincher, but my guess is it'll be based on a Yani model, so the ergonomics will be good as the are on the alto G4M.

Simon

 

[stan_s_fan]

Simon,

Manythanks. I am slowly working my way through all the options and sending off for brochures now. This whole thing is getting me wanting a Bari more and more. The trouble is, as usual, I start looking at the more expensive models too (which is usually what I end up getting).

Must use more self control :S

 

[jonf]

Why don't you hire one from saxhire.co.uk? He does Trevor James and Yanagisawa baris at reasonable rates, and if you like it the hire charges can be knocked off the purchase price. That's what I was going to do until Jules tempted me with his Buescher.

This way you can justify getting your hands on an expensive Yani, while arguing that you were using rational self control. 😉

 

[Pjonah]

JonF wrote:
Why don't you hire one from saxhire.co.uk? He does Trevor James and Yanagisawa baris at reasonable rates, and if you like it the hire charges can be knocked off the purchase price. That's what I was going to do until Jules tempted me with his Buescher.

This way you can justify getting your hands on an expensive Yani, while arguing that you were using rational self control. 😉

Yeh thats a good idea, I hadn't thought of that, at least that way you're hire purchasing it with a pretty good rate.

Simon

 

[stan_s_fan]

JonF,

I like it . . . especially the rational self control bit.

Simon,

It had not occurred to me either, to hire after all these years.

 

[stan_s_fan]

Just an update . . . particularly for Spike,



I am getting very interested in these chinese makes.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I really wouldn't worry about F# key. Just another thing to go wrong and F# is easy enough to get without the F# key. If anyone really needs to play that high on a baritone, they should be OK to use the altissimo fingering (top F plus side Bb)

 

[stan_s_fan]

Thanks Pete,

You live and learn . . .

 

[Linky Lee]

I played a very early Yanigasawa B-901 and really felt at home with it. It was the nicer of two Yani's I played and far superior to the Selmer, unfortunately I don't know which models these other ones were as they were both rather old and worn.

Hope you get something you like.