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Saxophones best place to test saxophones near me in Basingstoke, hampshire, england

oldblower

oldblower

Senior Member
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Location
basingstoke
The loan jupiter 500 alto has to go back so its time to get my own sax. I still have the tenor but have really enjoyed the alto a lot and want one of my own.
Taking the advise of people on the forum the best thing would seem to be to go to a supplier and try as many as possible without too much regard to labels and find one you like.
Was really tempted to look for an old one as with my trumpets i love the look, feel and tone of the older trumpets, plus I'm older.
The simple thing is where is the best place to go, my local chain music shop, dawsons, only stocks 2 brands.
Any advice much appreciated.
 
Hi Oldblower from just round the corner from Basingstoke. Around here the best shops to try new saxes are Dawkes in Maidenhead, and Howarths and Sax.co.uk in central London. There is also Woodwind & Brass down in Cowplain near Portsmouth.

Allegro in Oxford (watch out for Roger, the owner who is a character) is good for used saxes and has new as well.

Good luck

Rhys
 
from personal experience I couldn't praise Sax.co.uk in Denmark street in London more highly.
really helpful.
they are not round the corner to me being in central London and I live out in deep dark Essex so it was planned days visit which involved arranging to get the kids to there grand parents but it was all worth while and the guys at Sax.co entertained me for 3 hours on the Sunday morning I visited them.

rgds Lee, and good luck with the hunt.
 
It will partly depend on your budget and partly depend on which saxes are available at which shops - be useful to have some idea of your price range and which saxes have impacted on you in any way. Quite a few alto saxes have a bright sound; less have a warmer/darker/mellower sound - so depends what sound you would prefer to have. The shops mentioned have a fairly wide stock but it is worth checking their websites out and checking what they have available before arranging a visit.

Kind regards
Tom
 
TomMapfumo said:
be useful to have some idea of your price range and which saxes have impacted on you in any way.
Kind regards
Tom
Click to expand...

Thats a very good point.

You are embarking on exciting times...choosing a new/another horn I'm envious :(
Just a hunch....but if Jupiter is in the price ball park, I have suspicions that some Trevor James fans will move on their altos as they aspire to grabbing the TJ 'Raw" making their other models like 'The Horn' a plentiful used bargain.

Thinking of older sax's, there is a wide spread here right now.
I have no idea about the prices though except they don't look particularly cheap to me. I honestly don't know.
When it comes to Tenor I'm nuts about things but on Alto I have found it easy to settle and with that in mind my suggestion is that if you managed to get with the more premium brands for the right price there should be little to worry about. They have horns aimed at every level.
i.e. Yanagisawa, Yamaha, Selmer (Mark VII???? a very under rated horn for the money) and a lot of good players rate the lower end Yamaha's for example.. Thats not saying that you couldn't pick up something cheaper and be just as happy, many lower cost options are pleasing a lot of people.

So going back to Tom's post I suppose, budget is the starting point.

Looking forward to see how you get on.
 
Thanks for the replies,

The budget depends on what i can sell to finance it, have to part with a couple of trumpets, cornets and guitars plus other domestic and sporting stuff. Don't want to part with all the spare trumpets but if the sax that floats my boat is more then i guess they will have to go. Plus i have a little saved. high end could be around 1K.

On the sound i like i guess it would be more mellow as predominately like west coast jazz, and tend to play the sax to relax and chill out.

I must also state that i like to play but my first love will always be the trumpet so the sax will be secondary and i have no real intention to play with a band of perform.

Hate to add this but its about me, the only trumpet i won't part with is my besson 10-10, its old been bent and dented and repaired, its tarnished and people say not the greatest ever made but its mine and i love it, its harder to play that a modern horn but i don't care it does wander out of tune but i have learned to work with it. i have played most top end trumpets and yes they are easier look prettier are some would say are more desirable. But i want something like my besson if i can. maybe I'm asking too much.

The jupiter has been great but find it goes out of tune on the higher notes, palm keys, and although i can make it in tune it bothers me so tend to pick music that avoids it, maybe I'm just not good enough yet or maybe its the sax.

thought i should add the mouthpiece i use, its a rico royal C5 and use a 2.5 reed from SR usa someone gave me a box of 20! I found the reeds a bit rough on the lip so i scrape them with a razor blade lightly and they seem fine.

Its school holidays i have 2 sick kids so am waffling sorry for that thanks again.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi OB,

If you would be interested in trying out some altos that I have (and might be willing to sell) then just drop me a PM. I've got various horns that you might find useful to blow or to hear and possibly get ideas from.

Rhys
 
oldblower said:
The loan jupiter 500 alto has to go back so its time to get my own sax. I still have the tenor but have really enjoyed the alto a lot and want one of my own.
Taking the advise of people on the forum the best thing would seem to be to go to a supplier and try as many as possible without too much regard to labels and find one you like.
Click to expand...

I agree, and you have had some good suggestions. However right there in Basingstoke, I would recommend a visit to Academy Wind Instruments.

Not many people know this, but they've just received a shipment of a new model, a step up from their current student model. Stephen Howard mentioned this to me as he thinks it's very comparable to a YAS62. I got a review model today, and have to say it is absolutely very very good.

I know you might prefer vintage, but this is really worth trying as you are local and the site says visitors are welcome by appointment..

I'll be reviewing it some time soon.
 
Well i went to the local store and tried the best they had, yamaha and own brand, tried a friends B&H 400 and Trevor James ‘The Horn’ Revolution II, went to robbie at Academy Wind Instruments and came home with a brand new Jericho, simply it was better than the others less than 1/2 the price of the yamaha.
It had a sticking b flat pad out of the box but he sorted that with a quick clean and all ok. You get a 3 year guarantee and 45 days cool off period although I'm sure this is not going back.
Will let you know how i get on with it.
If any of you live near me and want to try it bring a mouthpiece and have a blow.
Thanks for all the advice.
 
Pete Thomas said:
I agree, and you have had some good suggestions. However right there in Basingstoke, I would recommend a visit to Academy Wind Instruments.

Not many people know this, but they've just received a shipment of a new model, a step up from their current student model. Stephen Howard mentioned this to me as he thinks it's very comparable to a YAS62. I got a review model today, and have to say it is absolutely very very good.

I know you might prefer vintage, but this is really worth trying as you are local and the site says visitors are welcome by appointment..

I'll be reviewing it some time soon.
Click to expand...

This might help...

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/Alto/academy_alto.htm

I'll look forward to the passaround Pete - or should that be fly-around...:)))

Looks like more G.A.S. for Rhys and Davey...:)

Cheers,

Greg S.
 

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