Saxophones How many saxes does one really need?

Different ends of the world, different realities. I only comment on my culture, you comment on yours.
Hmmm, no. Zasterz is reporting his personal experience - not reporting on the culture.

Just like saying "Everyone I know plays only minor pentatonics on Ernie Ball Super Slinkies through a 50w Marshall." Yeah, no. It's a bigger world than that.
 
Yeah yeah, David Gilmour, Mike Campbell, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Paul McCartney— all those unskilled people.
David Gilmore was pretty famously associated with a single Strat for a very long time. Jimmy Page was so known as a Les Paul guy that Gibson made an artist model named for him - based on a ‘59 LP that he bought from Joe Walsh in 1969. Keith Richards was known as one of the few rockers rockin’ a Telecaster for a very long time. Paul McCartney - pretty iconic for his choice of basses.

What side of this conversation are you trying to carry? “Inversely correlated” suggests that the guy using only one guitar is more talented than those that feel compelled to carry more gear to the gig. You were originally carrying water for the case of guitar players that had many guitars.

Like I said- they don’t have to be a big famous touring company. Lots of guitarists take more than one guitar. I know more guitar players than saxophonists who do so.

Pick a side…. Or don’t. Just don’t get hurt straddling fences. :confused:
 
David Gilmore was pretty famously associated with a single Strat for a very long time. Jimmy Page was so known as a Les Paul guy that Gibson made an artist model named for him - based on a ‘59 LP that he bought from Joe Walsh in 1969. Keith Richards was known as one of the few rockers rockin’ a Telecaster for a very long time. Paul McCartney - pretty iconic for his choice of basses.

What side of this conversation are you trying to carry? “Inversely correlated” suggests that the guy using only one guitar is more talented than those that feel compelled to carry more gear to the gig. You were originally carrying water for the case of guitar players that had many guitars.



Pick a side…. Or don’t. Just don’t get hurt straddling fences. :confused:
I don’t need to “pick a side” of some ridiculous nonsense lol. Many highly skilled guitarists have lots of guitars, play lots of guitars and many are one-guitar types. The foolish statement would be “If they have a lot of guitars it means they probably aren’t very skilled!” I can point out that that’s wrong without saying the equally absurd “You gotta play lots of guitars or else you can’t play!” Neither of these things are true.

Keith tours with around 15 of his 1000 guitars. (I don’t care how many he was “associated with.”)

Is he doing it because he “lacks skill?”

Here’s Gilmour’s current touring stable:

How bout this guy? He has 63 guitars. Is he skilled okay?

Sorry that you chose to come down on the side of “Every guitarist with more than one guitar is an incompetent fool!” But ah well- ya gots to pick a side otherwise it’s “straddling”! 🙄
 
I don’t need to “pick a side” of some ridiculous nonsense lol. Many highly skilled guitarists have lots of guitars, play lots of guitars and many are one-guitar types. The foolish statement would be “If they have a lot of guitars it means they probably aren’t very skilled!” I can point out that that’s wrong without saying the equally absurd “You gotta play lots of guitars or else you can’t play!” Neither of these things are true.

Keith tours with around 15 of his 1000 guitars. (I don’t care how many he was “associated with.”)

Is he doing it because he “lacks skill?”

Here’s Gilmour’s current touring stable:

How bout this guy? He has 63 guitars. Is he skilled okay?

Sorry that you chose to come down on the side of “Every guitarist with more than one guitar is an incompetent fool!” But ah well- ya gots to pick a side otherwise it’s “straddling”! 🙄
I am wondering, when did many become every?
 
When you’ve got more than a handful of horns, it is more akin to a flock of pigeons gathering ‘round your feet.
Hey, when the Internet gets knocked out by (insert some world changing event here), you'll be glad that you have such easy access to a trainable messenger. I'm kidding... I think. And if it's an economic ending event, be glad that you have those horns to busk for... whatever currency we may be using. Still kidding... I think.

Regarding saxophones, they're tangible assets and even the lesser models of known brands appreciate in value over time. I mean, not if you buy new. A Selmer Supreme, for instance, is going to take years to command a price greater than what they're going for right now. If you find good deals in the used market, yeah you can flip a nice profit. Not saying that I'm even looking to sell any of my collection, but it's something I absolutely do keep in mind.

I do have 2 similar Yamaha altos. A Vito 21 alto, which is a rather unique prototype instrument, and my primary just because it looks cool, and a standard 23 that can use about $70 worth of maintenance to get it up to snuff. The 23 was given to me, and I can easily fix a few things in order to flip it. I already have spare altos. Now, what I don't have is another similar model to my primary that will play identically, because the 21 and 23 are exactly the same where it counts. Not only is it convenient, but it justifies my keeping both.

So, I'm kinda a fan of your collection already. That 25 legitimately appeals to me, because of its somewhat unique nature and vintage. You know your situation better than I do, and I've most certainly sold a few horns and have given away others. In regards to Yamahas, they're all going to basically play the same. If you're looking to get rid of anything, get rid of the less unique varients, as outliers can be hard to come by. From a playability perspective, rest assured that you can easily find another Yamaha that plays as well as what you previously got rid of. They don't change much, and their QC is pretty incredible.

Frankly, doing what you're doing, I'd only sell one to get funds in order to buy another pitch. There's a few reasons for that. Firstly, let's address the elephant in the room. There are very few gigs that justify bringing the S,A,T,B lineup. Still, they happen, and people will see what you do on all 4 pitches. Sometimes, you get the soprano and bari gigs just because someone discovered that you have them. Sometimes, you get album session gigs, because you have all 4 horns. There's more than one way to make money out of playing the saxophone, and all avenues are valid as long as the check clears. Besides, going to the other pitches opens up ideas on your preferred primary. So, the more horns, the merrier.
 
When Dr. G said you gotta “pick a side” so as not to straddle- I don’t make the rules. 🤷‍♂️
Oh, damn. Now I gotta find that Etsy seller that makes replacement needles for my B.S. meter again. Pegged.

Yeah, baby. Swing hard. If that doesn’t work, double down. If that doesn’t work, flip flop. Iterate. :banana:

Hey, it’s all good. You like to buy stuff? Consider the consequences and make an informed choice.

Be well.
 
How many saxes does one really need?

As player, I need a tenor and a baritone? And if they a not playing well I can sing instead of honking sax. I'm a hobby player, in the woodshed, and just playing for fun. Like many other members here on CS. I don't need a back up horn.

As saxophone owner: I can't get enough ..... .
 
Keep them all I’m currently up to 40 saxophones but I do regard it as a pension scheme too

That was my reasoning, at least to justify my collection to myself. But I'm finding it very difficult to bring myself to sell any of the saxophones, flutes, clarinets and mouthpieces. Do you collect mouthpieces too ?

Regarding saxophones, they're tangible assets and even the lesser models of known brands appreciate in value over time. I mean, not if you buy new.

Maybe it depends on where in the world you live, but that's not really my experience here in the UK over the last 25 years. With one or two exceptions I think I would struggle to get back what I paid for used saxophones by makers such as Buescher, Conn, Martin, Buffet Crampon, SML, Grafton, Olds and Keilwerth. The used Selmers seem to have done OK in terms of appreciating value and I'm not sure about Rampone, Yanagisawa and Yamaha.

Rhys
 
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I agree to a point.
I have a song list of close to 250, do you really expect to learn all of those in 12 keys, its not going to happen.
Well it doesn’t work that way. Once you do it with a few, you realize the majority of those tunes have the same repeating patterns of changes in large chunks.
 
Oh, damn. Now I gotta find that Etsy seller that makes replacement needles for my B.S. meter again. Pegged.

Yeah, baby. Swing hard. If that doesn’t work, double down. If that doesn’t work, flip flop. Iterate. :banana:

Hey, it’s all good. You like to buy stuff? Consider the consequences and make an informed choice.

Be well.
No idea what you’re talking about. Who said anything about buying stuff? And double down on what exactly? That number of guitars used/owned is no indicator of skill or lack thereof? Sure, no problem. I stand by that. Either prove it wrong somehow (you can’t) or stop bothering me.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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