Saxophones Bauhaus Walstein two for the price of one?

Hi all,

Newby member and "late bloomer" here with a nice dilemma!

My work have kindly given me a long-term service gift which I have to spend within the next month or so.

My dilemma is whether to buy two BW Bronze-series saxes (alto & tenor) or either the alto or tenor M2S?

I have only been playing for two years on a cheapo Mistral alto with a Yani 6 mpc so I assume anything would feel & sound better than that?

Any suggestions gratefully received.
 
Hi, and welcome. Congrats on the long service award - I'm sure you've earned it.

Personally, I'd go for the matched pair of both. Such is the law of diminishing marginal returns that, although the M2S will be a bit better than the bronze, it won't be a huge amount better. There's nothing like being able to switch between alto and tenor, so I think you'd get more benefit from the two.

I've got bronze series sop and bari, and have had an alto in the past as well, and I think they're very good saxes for the money.

Jon

PS. One thing. Hang on to the Yani mouthpiece, and get something similar for the tenor - the ones supplied with BWs as standard are awful.
 
Alto and tenor would be my choice too. I've got all sizes from baritone to sopranino, all relative cheapos. Could have spent the same money (about £1700) one on one reasonably "posh" sax, but I reckon my way is more fun and I wouldn't sound that much better on a more expensive horn anyway.
 
Yet another vote for the two. You'll get two great saxes that you can feel really proud of. The rest is up to you!
Jon's advice on mouhpieces is spot on, save a little of your budget for a decent mouthpiece. The stock ones that come with the horns aren't usually much good but I'll let someone else give you advice on them.
 
Thanks so much for all your advice. Really appreciate it. Thought it sounded greedy to get both but really don't know which is my preferred horn yet.

So, should I go for a Yani tenor mpc too or would another brand be even better, bearing in mind I prefer a warmer, darker sound?

BTW I'm very much a woman, sorry I didn't introduce that fact at the beginning!!
 
Hi, re mouthpieces. A lot of folks say start with a Yamaha, and they're OK but I find them a bit dull. They also come with very narrow tip opeinings, so you'd want the 6c if you've been playing for a while. A really good alternative is the Rico Royal Graftonite, which is incredibly cheap. There are a range of options - a B5 would probably be fine. If you want to spend a bit more, a lot of teachers recommend Otto Link Tone Edge as a good first mouthpiece for tenor, but I reckon they're like playing through a sock. My personal favourite easy to play, high quality mouthpiece is the Runyon Custom. They also do a cheapo one called th 22, but I reckon the Custom has loads more character. It's just under a hundred quid, but includes a ligature and cap. Just make sure you get either an 8 or 10 tip opening. Sounds huge, but they're not - Runyon use their own measuring system and even a 10 is not very wide. Their 8 is a conservative 0.095" (they measure in imperial as Runyon is a US company).

If you're buying a pair of saxes (from Woodwind and Brass, or sax.co.uk?) they might do a bit of a deal on a tenor mouthpiece. You never know, it costs nothing to ask.

Jon

Jon
 
BTW I'm very much a woman, sorry I didn't introduce that fact at the beginning!!
Should have guessed as much with your username being claret.... a fine wine = a fine woman 🙂 such a smoothie 😉
welcome
ps.. as what Jon says defo haggle over a mouthpiece especially as you will be buying 2 horns 🙂
 
Welcome Claret. When you decide to change your mouthpiece, keep in mind that Mr Garnett is the official repairer at Ritz Music in Putney. He is a goldmine of advice.
 
If you're buying a pair of saxes (from Woodwind and Brass, or sax.co.uk?) they might do a bit of a deal on a tenor mouthpiece. You never know, it costs nothing to ask.

It's definitely worth asking if you are buying the pair (which I also advise)
 
Sounds like this is a Bauhaus gift token that you can only redeem against their saxes! Have you tried them yet? I wouldn't question that are good bits of kit (I have one of their sopranos) but the one consistent bit of advice that is usually dished out on this forum is that you must go and try before you buy and find the instrument that suits you, rather than just follow recommendations. Bauhaus don't have a monopoly on quality, accessibly priced saxes.
 
Another vote for th 2 for 1 :thumb: you lucky lucky fella


Enter Tom 🙂

Hi There!

On the mouthpiece front I'd recommend getting Windcraft Etude Saxophone mouthpieces for both tenor and alto - getting both with leave you with change from £100 - http://www.dawkes.co.uk/accessories/windcraft+ebonite+alto+sax+mouthpiece+-amw402.html & http://www.dawkes.co.uk/accessories/windcraft+ebonite+tenor+sax+mouthpiece+-amw602.html . Both are available on a week long loan to try first, and are very well made!

I'd also go with the 2 sax option as outlined above!
Regards
Tom
 
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Dear everyone (including Mr Smoothy! Is that Trimmy or Try Me?! Either way I'm sure my husband would have something to say!!!!)

I can't thank you enough for all your extremely helpful and friendly advice.

I have the wonderful sax.co.uk in Denmark Street, London close to me so I can try out everything. (Bit pricey but helpful, non-snooty staff make me feel comfortable.) Have already tried some P.Mauriat & Yamaha kit and ordered in the BWs to try this week. Will not buy ANYTHING until I've tried it but as a relative newbie I don't really have that much of a clue yet.

The only difficult thing is curbing my excitement and impulsive desire to buy A.S.A.P.!! >:)

Clare 🙂
 
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Clare, as a newbie, check they feel comfortable in your hands, especially the little finger and palm keys. They should be set up properly, but get someone from the shop to demo it - a good test is to make them play scales slowly from top to bottom - pianissimo. Each note should speak cleanly, clearly and without hesitation and withoutt he player having to force the keys closed. And then ask to hear the subtones - from as high as the player can do it all the way down to low Bb.

Assuming you're happy with the current Yani mouthpiece, Jon's suggestion to get aother is a really good one.
 
Hi
Welcome to the forum,sax.co.uk are an excellent choice for buying your saxes and accessories,also check out Howarths although
they don't do the BW saxes but they do have a fine selection of horns and mouthpieces.

Good luck and enjoy

Brian
 
Hi claret, here's a complete beginner's 2 penith-worth!

I was directed to this forum by Pete some 7-8 months ago, I did a lot of reading then started asking questions to which I got a very helpful friendly response (certainly no superiority complexes here) or at least not that I've detected!

Based on that advise I started talking to the very helpful staff at Sax.co.UK.

My story was that having decided to give up motorbikes for good I would have funds to divert into something I have wanted to do most of my life (learn to play sax).

Cutting a long story short, the time came to pay a visit to SAX.CO.UK, so got up there for opening time and I was directed into a sound boothe (to protect everyone else's hearing).

You have to bare in mind upto this point I'd never even held a saxophone before.
Adrian very kindly set up the 3 tenors I'd narrowed the field down to, a Yamaha yts62, a Yanagisawa T901 and a bauhaus walstein pro.

Well Adrian spent a lot of time with me, setting me up with some basics and gave me time to defen my wife I mean try them out.

I managed to see my way threw 3 hours like it was a few minutes.
In my opinion the Yamaha and the Yanagisawa were very similar although I think the quality of the Yanagisawa is slightly better? But the Bauhaus which was £500+ cheaper than the two Y's and looked prettier in my opinion BUT, after playing or trying to on the two Y's for some time I picked up the Bauhaus which I immediately felt repelled by as it just felt alien in my hands after the other 2.
I do wonder to this day what would have happened had I picked up the BW first? It sure is pretty! What with the silver plated body and gold key work.

I left with the Yanagisawa T901 and am happy with it but wonder if I'd have been better getting a finish that doesn't require as much polishing as lacquered brass! (I can't stand to see one single spec or spot of dried up moisture).

5 months of lessons and I'm starting to feel not so overpowered by this wonderful mystical marval of engineering and albeit for breif moments when I'm having a really good practice dare I say, I feel like I'm starting to feel at home with it in my hands.

Good luck and enjoy you spending!

P'S, my yanagisawa came with a very respectable m/piece (at £130, it should be) but being a beginner I was advised to start with a Yamaha 4c which I may just have started to find its limits, I also bought myself a yanagisawa metal N05 (as it was cheap, and looked pretty) but I'm a long way from being able to control that.

Rgds Lee.
 

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