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Saxual Healer

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7
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Nottingham
Hello all,

My name is Shaun, i'm a 33 year old ASDA delivery driver who has always wanted to learn to play saxophone. Well late last year I crashed my motorbike and decided that enough was enough. I sold all the decent parts on Ebay and ended up with enough cash to buy an instrument. I have recently been in touch with a teacher who has agreed to try to teach me to get a decent sound out of a borrowed sax until I decide which instrument to buy.

I would love some informed opinions on what would be a good instrument to start with (I only have around £750 to play with) and value the expertise and helpfulness of the people on this forum.

Thanks for reading ;}

Shaun
 
Hi Shaun,
Hearty welcome from snowy Yorkshire. You should get a decent instrument for £750, but it would be a good idea to stick to the loaned instrument for a while until you have taken the rough edges off. It will be much easier to try lots of instruments once your technique has developed a little, then you can make a considered decision. That is unless your loaned instrument is a dawg.

Let us know whether you're into Alto, Sop, Tenor or Baritone and what sort of music floats yer boat.

Whohooo the fun starts here.

Andy
 
Hi Shaun

Welcome to the Forum - there'll be plenty of people along to assist with your query. £750 will get you something decent. Don't forget to allow a bit of budget for mouthpiece, a sax stand, a music stand, and possibly a case if your instrument doesn't come with a decent one.

I'm sure you'll soon be having a blast.
 
Welcome to the forum.

Motorbikes are a dangerous hobby. Two of my co-workers have suffered life-threatening injuries riding their bikes. One lost his leg from knee down, crushed between a railing and his bike, while the other one lost his spleen as the fork and handlebar smashed through his abdomen.

750 quid is more than enough to get a decent sax, sling and mouthpiece. A lot of people on this forum like Bauhaus Walstein saxes, and there's always second-hand Yamahas etc. available on eBay (although buying second-hand from a private person is risky if it's your first sax). I've personally been satisfied with my Gear4Music tenor sax. It's nothing fancy, and might not last forever, but it's a decent workhorse for less than 300.

So 750 will get you started fine... that is until you start craving for that baritone, and then that soprano, a couple new mouthpieces and maybe that nice vintage sax you just saw on eBay. :)


Cheers,
Jori
 
Thanks guys, and yes Jori bikes are dangerous lol, however knowing my recent luck i'll end up in hospital with an asthma attack from playing the sax :shocked: I really want to learn to play the Tenor as i love the sound and I also love listening to Chris White play his with the Dire Straits. I am also into blues music and often play a bit of bass guitar in local group.

After reading some threads on here I have narrowed my search for a sax to the following:

JERICHO J-6 £369
BAUHAUS WALSTEIN TS-P BRONZE £699
Hanson ST5 £589

But I am leaning towards the Hanson as they are pretty local and offer the 5 year warranty and service.

Thanks for all your input guys, i know theses questions have been asked a thousand times :)
 
Welcome Shaun. If you are close enough to Hanson to take full advantage of their five year guarantee and free servicing, go for it. The tenor is a nice choice. Have fun.

Jim.
 
We haven't had any feedback on the Jericho tenors, but the feedback on the altos has been excellent.

Very much your choice of instrument. Good move with Hanson, they have a good rep for service.

In terms of accessories, strap/mouthpiece. Cleaning kit. Music stand. Tuner/metronome. Sax stand. In that order. And throw a case in if you need to.

Don't forget some decent reeds as well, you'll get lots of suggestions here, many of them conflicting :thumb:
 
You should get a decent instrument for £750, but it would be a good idea to stick to the loaned instrument for a while until you have taken the rough edges off. It will be much easier to try lots of instruments once your technique has developed a little, then you can make a considered decision. That is unless your loaned instrument is a dawg.

Andy has a very good point here. After a bit of playing you will have a much better idea of what you actually want from your saxophone. Try different saxes to see which one fits into your hands best, if possible. The Hanson after-sales service does probably beat everything else on the market though.
 
Hi welcome to the cafe.

Pay a visit to Hanson they are very helpful and welcoming. Certainly no pressure sales and they sometimes have other makes secondhand you can try for comparison.

I tried their tenor, it felt very solid but a bit heavy for me. I actually decided to leave the tenor alone and stick with my sop but that was nothing to do with their sax.

Jx
 
Welcome to the caff©, Shaun.

Where was the crash, Paddock at Brands, Melbourne Loop? My painful one was sidecar grass tracking.

ENJOY!™
 
I should add I recently bought a second-hand ST8 from them just before Christmas. I am very pleased with it and my teacher likes it.
 
Hi Shaun Welcome to the Cafe I`m new to playing (alto) about a year now. Started life with an Artemis (hired) not expensive to hire. Then after 3 months got my own. Lots of good advice here from people who know what they are talking about. Regds, Proud owner of a Harley Davidson 2 stroke Zimmer. N.
 
Hi Shaun

I see that you are in my region. You will see what I play from the details in my signature below. I too, began with a borrowed sax, Tenor, which I now own, and it was a very good way to feel my way around a while before moving on.

In Nottingham, don't forget Windblowers on Derby Road will be more than happy to have a selection of saxes to hand for you to play around with. They will leave you in a private room to play if needed. There's a couple of us now have done that, and we both came out with the Bauhaus Bronze series! completely separate visits and still never actually met each other until ......... the next Leicester Stax of Sax that is!

Now - mouthpieces ................ feeling the GAS setting in!
 
Hi and thanks for the tips,

I now have a shopping list starting to take shape including a stand, a tuner/metronome (any recommendations?), Decent strap, Looking at a Rico Graftonite B5 mouthpiece and some reeds.

Old git (sorry :/) I had a 50mph low side on the Cat and Fiddle. I was only badly bruised, but my VTR1000 looked a little bashed up :(.

I really am grateful for all your advice, support and warm welcome.

Thanks all
Shaun
 
Welcome tot the cafe Shaun

I was lucky to find a Hanson SA8 on the bay of e at a great price, had it since last year and not had a problem with it. Hanson have a great reputation for customer care, but do try other outlets (winblowers) as you can then play them off each other >:)
result being a discounted sax or a hercules stand thrown in !! ;}

Happy hunting
 
Welcome Shaun. You will never be short of great advice here. I bought my new tenor from Windblowers in Nottingham last November.

I went for the Bauhaus Walstein Bronze, a very pretty horn, and I am sure if you talk to the guys at WB they can probably come up with a good price for you and it will be easy for you to pop in and try one out. Don't worry about not being able to play it. I had never touched a tenor when I went in and they were very helpful and I will be heading back there for things in the future.
 
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Welcome! I hope you'll have loads of fun in the Café, and also with your future instrument!

knowing my recent luck i'll end up in hospital with an asthma attack from playing the sax :shocked:
For what it's worth, I've read all sorts of reports on asthma and saxophones (because I'm a raging asthmatic), and it seems playing the saxophone is actually very good for people who suffer from it. In fact, I believe I read many a case in which the asthmatic person had improved breathing (and some said even were, like, cured) by playing the tenor a lot. So who knows, maybe your luck is about to change ;)

All the best!
 
hi & welcome
maybe keep back a couple of £100 for one-to-one lessons, might be the best investment you'll make.
-A-
 
Hi Shaun!

A Big Welcome to Cafe Sax from the Skabertawe Horn Collective. Regarding mouthpieces I would recommend the Bari Esprit at £14 inc p&p from Ackerman Music, and especially the Runyon 22 , the Windcraft Etude and Clark Fobes Debut, for about £35+ at various online stores.

Anyway, glad to have you on board!
Kind regards
Tom :thumb:
 
Hi Shaun,

And welcome, Last motor bike I owned was an AJS, but I'm still not as Old as Old Git:w00t:, I personally hired an instrument for 6 months, then realised I was hooked and splashed out. Take a look at Sax.co.uk for accessories, (and saxophones) but it seems you are lucky living near Hanson's, I have only heard positive things about their instruments, and service, although the same goes for Bauhaus to.
All the very best to you
Glyn

PS I've never played a VTR1000 before.
 
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