Im thinking about bying a cheap chinese alto?

[luciano]

Im thinking about bying a cheap chinese alto, what should I look out for im a total begginer, should I avoid cheap chinese sax's

 

[jambo]

I perosonally wouldn't.

I had a Bently Saxophone. Even though they are assembled in the uk, the parts were made in china. To put it simply, the sax wasnt very nice. Every not seemed to need to be forced out.

I would look on ebay. There are loads of cheap saxophones that are not from china, that should be quite good!

Although, you still have to be careful because (like with my bently), it often says they are made in england, but they dont mention that the parts are form china.

I would suggest a good Tiwanese made student sax, for example Elkhart, Earlham, Arbieter. These can be found on ebay for quite cheap.

How much were you lookin at spending? What kind of sax (Alto, Tenor)?

p.s why did you post this in 3 different sections?

 

[tengu01]

I had an earlham alto for a number of years and it worked just fine and sounded cool. I think it was a Selmer series 2 copy. Also had a trevor james tenor. Also good. If you get a chance to play it first, do so. Yamaha student models are legendary for their longevity. I have heard of arbiter saxes but know very little else about them.

Just think.....with hundreds of moving parts, many of which are interlinked, a little quality control goes a long way.

The few pounds you do save in getting the cheapest may well be at the cost of playing enjoyment. Additionally, if you are a beginner, there may be things wrong with it like tuning that you won't spot and just think it's hard to play.

Good luck

 

[griff136]

I would steer clear of the majority of chinese saxes althouth i have been impressed with some that I have seen.

If you buy a sax off ebay then the likelyhood is that it will not have any warranty.


earlham, arbiter, elkhart aren't bad either but with Jupiter and Yamaha there is a good spares system if god forbid anything should happen to your sax.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Some Chinese instruments are very very good. If you buy from a reputable dealer with money back guarantee there's nothing to lose by trying one out.

 

[Bobby G]

I have an Artemis soprano which works fine, maybe their alto would be ok? They are part of the Trevor James range; I owned a TJJ The Horn Revolution 2 which was good, until I got my YAS-62.

Cheers, Bob

 

[peter_fitton]

[No message]

 

[peter_fitton]

Further to my last post:

http://tinyurl.com/ydkeb9

(URL tinied by admin)

 

[quercy]

Peter Fitton wrote:


Cheers

Peter

I think Normans is one of the most reliable of the ebay shops (apart from employing the couriers from hell) and I was very happy with the soprano I bought from them. Like everybody else says here, it's a question of caveat emptor with chinese saxes, so go for a proper dealer rather than a fly-by-night, and if you are looking on line just filter out the instruments direct from China. It reduces the number of saxes on offer by more than half!

 

[Linky Lee]

I myself have a Selmer prelude tenor saxophone.
All i can say is how fabulous it is!

If the alto holds true to the Tenor then:

Intonation: this impressed me, with minimal work the sax plays true throughout the 3 octaves I can get from a sax consistently. Mine was slightly flat around the bottom B and Bb and the D seemed to want to go slightly sharp but nothing large enough to warrant concern.

Mechanics: a little bit loud, and slightly clunky but they do feel in the right place for a modern horn, and open and close smoothly without any silly bending or delays. You can tell it's not pro but it's certainly good, especially for the price.

Tone: at first I thought it was too bright for my liking (most modern horns are brighter nowadays). Once I got used to playing it and started being able to get the best out of the mouthpiece supplied I can make the sax quite warm and is really starting to hit deep getting me more and more into my tenor as each day passes (I'm now going to upgrade to a pro horn in March). The tone gets a bit thin up around the palm keys unless you really keep that support going strong. It's workable but again you can tell it's not a pro horn but still great for the price.

Everything else: The case is nice, well sized and seems to work a treat with a decent sized pocket inside for storing things.

The big negative: The mouthpiece is awful. utterly awful.
It isn't branded and that's most likely because the company are ashamed of the product 😛 it's incredibly soft and is nasty to play on. is quite resistive and doesn't react well to subtle differences in playing like a better mouthpiece does. Upgrade ASAP. unfortunately I can't fund an upgrade yet. I'll be waiting for a Christmas present.
- that would be a Jody Jazz HR with a large tip opening extra rich generous forum members ;P

 

[Jules]

Pete Thomas wrote:
Some Chinese instruments are very very good. If you buy from a reputable dealer with money back guarantee there's nothing to lose by trying one out.

The catch is that if you're a total beginner you're probably not in positon to work out if you've got a total dog. I agre there are some good chinese horns but the above is a pretty serious consideration for a learner.

 

[jambo]

I agree with that Nachoman.

Also you have this question.... what is cheap and what is cheap?

I would certainly steer clear for the ones on ebay that are advertised as "Beautiful, Excellent Saxophone" with a buy-it-now price of 99p and a postage cost of 150 quid!!!

 

[greg_strange]

For additional information about the pros and cons of Chinese made saxophones check out the thread that is currently running on alt.music.saxophone newsgroup with input from Pete, Stephen Howard, another UK repair guy Steve Marshall and various other parties. The title of the thread is gear4music soprano. Some interesting comments from people who know and from some people who think they know.

Happy hunting and blowing.

Greg Strange,
Rockin' and rollin' in the South Pacific.

 

[robaldo]

I had an Elkhart for ages, and that was fine.
Arbiter I had for two days, and bits were falling off it.

 

[AlistairD]

One make that gets some good press is Bentley. I had a tenor for a year and it was fine....

You see them on eBay all the time (but suggest buying from Bentley Music as you get a guarantee.) I believe that Stephen Howard has seen a few and he doesn't think they are too bad.... Check out Bentley on SOTW.

 

[jambo]

I also had a bently (curved soprano).

But mine wasn't that nice. It was sturdy and has a nice action, but it seemed that every note needed forcing out. Getting it in tune was also a mission.

Yes, they have a guarantee..... but they really didnt want to take a look at mine when I spoke to them. They just said it was "new sax blow"

 

[Bobby G]

'New sax blow'? Is that a recognised condition or just the sound of someone being fobbed off? I realise that a lot of horns need some setting up when they are brand new, but 'new sax blow' sounds a bit dismissive to me.

Cheers, Bob

 

[jambo]

I think its the latter.

He really did seem sure that his saxes are the best in the world and that it will break in soon!

He even sent my an e-mail with a page of intructions for making sure all the right pads open when buttons are pressed ect!

They were quite sturdy, but deffinatly arnt worth 500 quid!!!

Lucky I won mine for 160quid on ebay 😉

 

[jonf]

If you're stuck with a budget of around the 200 mark (which realistically is what a chinese sax from ebay will cost when you add in postage and the inevtiable tweaking you'll need from a music technician) try used2you.co.uk. It's the used sax shop of a long established music business called Dawkes, and they usually have a few reasonable Taiwanese saxes around that price. They'll be checked and guaranteed, and are a much less risky bet than getting one off ebay.

 

[jon_turner]

I just bought my first ever sopsax (first sax ever, period) on ebay (horn BNIB). It's a Maxtone made in Taiwan. Paid $129 US for it and am quite pleased with it. I've played flute 40+ yrs, bassoon 30+, bagpipes 20+, sax 5 weeks so I'm not a neophyte to music, just the sax. The mpc was kind of shi__y so I replaced it with a Yamaha 4C and that made a world of difference. Also got a Rovner lig for it as well. I am trying Rico cane and plasticover and Fibracell reeds. All work sometimes and all don't work sometimes. Gotta' get that embouchure built up. Anyway, just my $.02 worth.
Y'All have a Happy New Year and hope '07 brings you all the toys you're hoping for.
Jon