Saxophones hello everyone. i am in the process of purchasing my first saxophone and i would like advice

[DEAN]

I have loved the sound of the sax for as long as I can remember. I am not musically talented but have made a decision to buy an alto sax and learn to play. I am not getting any younger and feel if I don't do it now I never will. just the sound of a well played sax makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Any way I was in the music room in Brighton the other day and had a good discussion with their staff, they were ever so helpful and not pushy about the instruments they sold.
I have narrowed my search down to a few and this is where I need a bit of advice from someone that has either learned on one of them or has one and could give me that information I need to get on with it and buy one.
so her is my options the trevor James classic II alto sax which is priced around £480 or go for something like the Jericho mentioned in taming the saxophone. its not a big difference in price but if it was better for me to purchase the more expensive one that is not a problem.
I would appreciate some advice or comments on these two or if you have any other idea of another make.
The only problem with that is I end up back at square 1.
thank you.

 

[Jeanette]

Welcome to the café Dean 🙂

You might find this thread useful. I deliberated for some time when buying my alto and chose a Yamaha 25 in the end 2nd hand.

I had a Trevor James Rev 11 sop that was ok but haven't played a Jericho.

Jx

 

[Tenor Viol]

Hello and welcome. There will be plenty of advice along shortly, but there are similar threads around. I think that both you mention are deemed OK.

 

[aldevis]

They are both fine. Students of mine had them both.
See which one technicians and your teacher prefer.
You can check Rupert Noble to see if he has a YAS 25 (or similar).

Hopefully some Brighton members will chime in

 

[Saxlicker]

Hi Dean and welcome.

I'm going to stick my neck on the line here and offer you some of my opinions.
The reason I say 'neck on the line' is because at the end of the day everything either suits you personally or it doesn't and when you couple that with fan bases for some equipment its difficult to not sound biased with out sticking with entry level inexpensive stuff aimed at the masses.
The fact this stuff is aimed at the masses means it will suit some aspects for you.

So,
My first point, (quote) you are not getting any younger.
Sure enough some of the grey matter may suffer and make things a little more difficult to remember and master than when you were 14 but so what? You know you want to get one and your mature years will help you where your youth could not of.

My second point, is to encourage you to be as sure as you can be about whether alto is the right choice.
In 1988 I liked the alto and I liked the tenor. I could not form a long term vision of which would please me more over the coming years. So when I hung each of them around my neck my first thought was that the alto felt as big as the I imagined the tenor would. Then it was slightly cheaper than the tenor and I had the false impression it would be quieter than the tenor because of its size. Yep! I bought the alto and I can't say I really have regrets as such and i still play alto today.
BUT BUT BUT....
The more skills I developed the more I heard the calling of the tenor and my story is fairly common. I can't recall too many stories where people go the other way from tenor to alto. May be thats just my experience though.
Please make sure you give the choice your thought and yeah, consider this post as trying to sway you slightly😱.

Now, perhaps the most significant point in your post about which alto?
Well you may have guessed by now I may not be much help with this except, did you try them or just look?
You may feel better with one than the other in your mits. They are both appreciated horns and offer more than entry level sax's did in that price band a few years ago.
Are there other shops in your area that can provide you with more choices?
Can you get to sax.co.uk? They would surely be able to assist you with your choices.
My own opinion is to stick with reputable brands but both of these are. TJ have been in the business for a long time and Jericho have quickly established a good vibe (I haven't tried one and against my own typical behaviour I'm going with the flow here).

I am a sucker for vintage horns but i'm not suggesting thats necessary but if I could gauge your enthusiasm vs long term plan vs budget, I may have suggested raising the bar (runs for cover) and getting a pro level sax that has been used and well looked after. This of course may be difficult unless you can have it checked by someone you trust. But maybe you do? so I have put it out there.....
You are (should be) to some degree, looking for a safe option I guess.
If part of that safety is avoiding wasting money (incase you have a change of heart) this may come from lower cost instruments but it can also come from investing in more sought after horns. Which ever route you take there are risks but maybe £500 to £900 on a used ..um ...lets say intermediate to pro yamaha, it could return you close to those figures if you moved it on at some point.

OK its all starting to go over top a bit now (once I get started its hard to stop )


Good luck as things progress, the main thing is you take all the advise that you get, filter it and feel good about your eventual choices.

All the best

PS just seen this....
I know its a distance from you but well worth considering
http://cafesaxophone.com/threads/stephanhouser-sas1500vn-alto-saxophone.14717/

 

[nomad]

Hello welcome to the cafe ignore me I'm the least useful member here, and am probably the one person in trouble the most.

Usually I'm the last person on Earth you would want to take any advice from, so I usually don't offer any, lets face it, if you're asking somebody like me for advice the preverbal has hit the fan and made the big bang look rather luck lustre. However I would strongly suggest, in fact double that strength and give it a whisky chaser, that you get a lesson or two using the teachers extra or a rented for the duration of the classes alto saxophone before you buy a saxophone of your own, infact I would keep renting while having lessons until you can comfortably play a tune or two and comfortably sight read simple musical passages, then take your near enough £500 and some simple passages of known music with you into a saxophone shop with you and spend the day playing and trying everything in your price range irrespective of brand name or price, just because you have £500.00 to spend on your first saxophone does not mean you should pass up that opportunity to try out that £275 Joe Bloe brand, or because you can afford brand X, and all the cool kids play brand X, that you ignore brand Y, try everything, try everythung at least twice.


Enjoy being a beginer, once you start getting a bit of experience behind you people get less forgiving, yet all musicians seem to want to rush through this phase.

Remember I'm the sort of person you want to ignore.

Nomad.

 

[kevgermany]

Hi. Welcome to the sax world. I'd say go with the advice above, especially about teachers and technicians. I started with a tenor, but expanded to get the others. They've each got a different sound, so whichever calls you.

On your choices, whichever feels best in your hands. Especially the positions of the keys and how easily your hands go to the right position. Don't forget a good mouthpiece, it makes a world of difference.

 

[ProfJames]

There is a Stephanhouser 1500 for sale on this forum which would be ideal for you.

 

[trimmy]

Hi Dean

Firstly get the alto, then the tenor, then the.... It will happen so don't fight it 😉

 

[DEAN]

Thank you for the reply and the advice.
I had no idea so many people would get back to me. Your message would have took me an hour to type. 🙂

 

[ProfJames]

Thank you for the reply and the advice.
I had no idea so many people would get back to me. Your message would have took me an hour to type. 🙂

Have a look at DavidUK's Stephanhouser 1500 for sale on this forum. It is an ideal purchase, almost brand new cost £1100 new. I play one and rate them very highly.

 

[Vlad]

I would tend to say go for an alto as a total beginner ( imho ! )