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.