My post regarding a BetterSax - copied from a thread in 'the other place':
I had one of the these come in two days ago. A parent had bought one from Sax.co.uk and was a bit concerned that when her daughter turned up for her sax lesson with the new horn, the teacher seemed rather surprised...but not in a good way.
And here's the thing; her daughter is quite a good player, and had chosen this horn (as an upgrade from a very cheap one) over the stalwart Yamaha YAS-280...which was around the same price point.
So here are my impressions:
It's a Yanagisawa 991 copy. It's on the pricey side for a Chinese horn but, fortunately, this is reflected in the build quality.
The rod (hinge) screw action was pretty good - no overly-wobbly keys, and only one spot where a barrel end hadn't been trimmed up as neatly as it ought to have been. Fortunately its position made it a cosmetic issue rather than a practical one. The point screw action (it uses slightly spear-headed points) wasn't quite so good, with a handful of keys showing some lateral play - some of which was corrected by tightening up the screws. I marked the rest down as needing some attention, but that it could wait until the horn came in for a proper service.
There was some excess play in the octave mech (Selmer-style swivel mech) - but this too could be dealt with at a later date. The rollers were a little on the short side.
Neat and tidy solderwork - with the toneholes at least passing a visual inspection. Decent-looking pads fitted - and on the whole quite well set, with three or four needing a good tweak. Some double action on the lower stack too along with a couple of regulation issues on the A/Bis Bb and the G# - and this in spite of the shop claiming that all their horns are 'professionally set up'. One cork had fallen off (the low F reg. cork).
Tonewise - well, it's a Yani copy, so it has more than a passing nod to the Yani soundscape. I can see why the student chose it over the 280. While it it doesn't have the clarity and cut of the Yamaha, and isn't as free-blowing, it's nonetheless a broader tone. And a very nice blow. I was pleased enough with it to reassure the client that they hadn't bought a pup, and that it was reasonably priced for the build quality.
The Yamaha pips it for build quality, but it's a viable alternative (at a slightly cheaper price) for a player who wants a horn with a slightly darker soundscape. And being a Yani copy it benefits from the ergonomics.
I would still say that this horn would improve with a proper set-up after purchase (moreso than the Yamaha), but that the structure of the horn is significantly better than a run-of-the-mill Ultra-Cheap horn.
Whether these impressions remain consistent between other examples remains to be seen, of course.
