Saxophones Buy or don't buy M.Gerarda tenor sax

[Saxoflutist]

Was offerrd a M. Gerarda tenor saxophone for A$300. Tempted to purchase. Would only use as fill in player and little bit in pits. Main instrument always flute followed by trumpet and alto sax. Could this M. Gerarda tenor (student model I believe) be okay? Not much info online. Thank you.

 

[Tuppertn]

It looks like M. Gerarda is a house brand of (likely) Asian-made instruments. Basically, they're stencils of unknown origin. I found a brief thread on SOTW that talks about them. Someone said they're Taiwanese, other folks said they're Chinese.

There's one thread here on the Cafe mentioning a Gerarda horn in post #7 (not favorably).

I expect it's going to be a generally low-quality instrument. As a rule these horns can be made to play, but have chronic problems with leaks and loss of adjustment/regulation due to poor quality materials, loose manufacturing tolerances and low to non-existent quality control.

You have to balance the potential issues with your available budget and how much you plan to use it.

 

[turf3]

Especially a third or fourth instrument that you don't regularly play, needs to be a high quality instrument.

 

[Dr G]

Was offerrd a M. Gerarda tenor saxophone for A$300. Tempted to purchase. Would only use as fill in player and little bit in pits. Main instrument always flute followed by trumpet and alto sax. Could this M. Gerarda tenor (student model I believe) be okay? Not much info online. Thank you.

Condition matters. As @turf3 comments, if you are not a saxophone player, you would have to work harder to get a poorly functioning instrument to play. See if you can take the instrument to your local repair shop for a service estimate before purchase to learn how much work it needs to get rid of leaks and regulate the mechanism.

 

[PigSquealer]

Was offerrd a M. Gerarda tenor saxophone for A$300. Tempted to purchase. Would only use as fill in player and little bit in pits. Main instrument always flute followed by trumpet and alto sax. Could this M. Gerarda tenor (student model I believe) be okay? Not much info online. Thank you.

Welcome to the Café.
Condition, Condition, Condition. These don’t usually live long enough to be available second hand.
Owned by friend ? Test play it and have a technician give it a look over. Would it be worth spending another $100 in service ?? What other options are available in your budget ?

I was once offered a VW for $200. “It ran when I parked it” was the seller’s information.