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Saxophones Hanson’s what a service and gesture left me speechless

Punchysax

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Well where to start ?
I recently bought a customised raw brass YTS 23 from Hanson’s fully overhauled etc as per my previous posts re me not being able to play low C.

I took to my tech who said the bell was slightly twisted probably in transit. I rung Alistair from Hanson’s explaining the issue. He said do not worry I will send you a replacement . After arranging collection of the yts 23 he said I tell you what I have 1 deep gold lacquer Hanson’s series 8 tenor in stock ready to go . I will send that down if you like it you can keep that no extra cost . If not I will repair the yts 23 and send it back to you. Now the Hanson’s series 8 tenor costs 1750 pounds new so this man as a gesture and for my inconvenience of buying from him and receiving it damaged has given me a brand new horn never played fresh out of his workshop 550 pounds more than I paid for the Yamaha has let me have it for the 1200 I initially paid. Wow .

The horn itself is gorgeous deep golden lovely engraving and plays so beautifully mellow . I love it honestly plays better than my conn tranni tenor , my previous yani bronze , even my previous mk 6 tenor. It’s just what I love soft mellow easy blowing.

Thank you Alistair Hanson for a most generous and kind gesture yo7 have made my Christmas .
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What a result!

I was thinking of buying a Trevor James SR alto from them as it has been mentioned that they have very good customer service.

Enjoy your lovely looking Tenor:cheers:
 
What a result!

I was thinking of buying a Trevor James SR alto from them as it has been mentioned that they have very good customer service.

Enjoy your lovely looking Tenor:cheers:
They are very nice people - he serviced my sa8 for free a couple of years ago, even though it was outside of the 5 year free servicing period.

If you're able, try out their own altos too - I used to have a TJ alto but swapped it for an ex demo Hanson SA5, the difference was amazing. I later part exchanged that one for an even nicer SA8.
 
I have the very same Hanson Series VIII and I think it's great. I had a YTS 275 before and I definitely prefer the Hanson.
 
I have Hanson Mkv111 tenor and Hanson alto and have found Alastair a gentleman to deal with.
 
Anybody got any links to reviews of Hanson intermediate/pro alto saxophones?

Or experiences?

Cheers
 
I bought an SA5 (intermediate), which replaced a Trevor James 'the horn' alto. It probably wasn't a completely fair fight as the TJ was in need of a service, but the Hanson was so much better. My bandmates certainly noticed the improvement. I kept that for around 7 years I think. Gigged regularly, it never gave me any problems.

Hanson have a policy where if you part exchange one of their instruments to a higher spec model, they'll give you what you paid as the kart exchange price, so when I felt like my SA5 needed a service I thought I might as well part ex it for an SA8. Alistair sent me two of those to try in the post, I kept one and sent the other back with the SA5. Since then I've never been tempted by any other altos. Like the SA5 it's been gigged a lot and never let me down. It still looks good as new. If it ever gets run over/falls off a cliff I'll probably replace it with an LX.

I've also got an ST8 (which also displaced a TJ) and recently acquired a monarch tenor, plus a T6 clarinet. The SA/ST sax models have I think now been superseded by series V, series VIII etc.

downsides - as they're not that well known, resale values aren't as good as Yamaha, selmer etc...but you might feel that the 5 years of free servicing and full price part ex policy offsets this. Also, although they are nice people they are terrible at replying to emails, so best to phone or visit.
 
I have sent a couple of emails to them. The first answered next day, the second nothing.

I will think about the Hanson horn options. Maybe leaning towards Trevor James SR alto brand new or a Yas- 62 for a bit more dough but used.
 
Concur about e-mails. Fine by phone, e-mails are hit and miss
 
The horn itself is gorgeous deep golden lovely engraving and plays so beautifully mellow . I love it
Merry Christmas and many congratulations...

Such service

I shall be looking at the (notoriously flakey) Hanson website with renewed interest
 
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