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Saxophones large differences between same sax types (when new, out of the box) ????

marc1024

Senior Member
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Belgium
As I went shopping for a bari recently, in one shop I tried 3 Yani B901 and 1 B991.
I was very surprised that they were so different, and so badly setup out of the box.

I tried all of them with the same Selmer SA80 C* mpc and a vandoren N° 3 reed.

B901 N°1: had the mid B valve completely blocked
B901 N°2: middle and high C played flat, it had had probably the same valve
as on N°1 badly regulated and not opening enough.
B901 N°3: was OK, but somewhat difficult to play (lots of resistance)

B991: was setup correctly and sounded nice, about the same sound as the B901 saxes,
but without bad regulation.

IMO if all 4 saxes would have been correctly regulated, there would not have been much
difference between B901 and B991, while there is a big price difference though.

A so badly regulated instrument, and even one with a completely stuck valve
seems to me something you don't expect from a well reputated brand.
So what happens here, is Yanagisawa's quality control worse than it used to be ?


In another shop, I tried a System 54 Bari and kind of fell in love with it.
What are your thougths about System 54 build quality,
should I risk buying this brand that I never heard of before ?
 
As I went shopping for a bari recently, in one shop I tried 3 Yani B901 and 1 B991.
I was very surprised that they were so different, and so badly setup out of the box.

I tried all of them with the same Selmer SA80 C* mpc and a vandoren N° 3 reed.

B901 N°1: had the mid B valve completely blocked
B901 N°2: middle and high C played flat, it had had probably the same valve
as on N°1 badly regulated and not opening enough.
B901 N°3: was OK, but somewhat difficult to play (lots of resistance)

B991: was setup correctly and sounded nice, about the same sound as the B901 saxes,
but without bad regulation.

IMO if all 4 saxes would have been correctly regulated, there would not have been much
difference between B901 and B991, while there is a big price difference though.

A so badly regulated instrument, and even one with a completely stuck valve
seems to me something you don't expect from a well reputated brand.
So what happens here, is Yanagisawa's quality control worse than it used to be ?


In another shop, I tried a System 54 Bari and kind of fell in love with it.
What are your thougths about System 54 build quality,
should I risk buying this brand that I never heard of before ?

Check my reply in your other thread but System 54 are solid,top built and fantastic sounding pro horns.Lots of top guys playing them now.
 
One of the other forum members - Birdman - runs Studio Saxophones in Wales. Here is an excerpt from his current website about System 54 saxes, which may help: http://www.studiosaxophones.co.uk/Data/Pages/system 54.htm I think Pete acknowledges that they have not been marketed as well as they might, but are made to a very high standard, after some 3 years of research.

Kind regards
Tom
 
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It's a pity that a top end brand like Yani has so many setup issues showing here. I thought (obviously wrongly) that they were better than this.
 
It's a pity that a top end brand like Yani has so many setup issues showing here. I thought (obviously wrongly) that they were better than this.
don''t think this is likely to be anything to do with Yanagisawa- all horns need to be set up once they come out of their box for the first time (yanis less than most but that's not the point)
 
don''t think this is likely to be anything to do with Yanagisawa- all horns need to be set up once they come out of their box for the first time (yanis less than most but that's not the point)

I agree Chilli man.Plus we all have our own likes on spring tension,height and overall feel.
 
don''t think this is likely to be anything to do with Yanagisawa- all horns need to be set up once they come out of their box for the first time (yanis less than most but that's not the point)

Agreed. My thought was that the original poster's problem is more with the sax shop than the brand.
 
don''t think this is likely to be anything to do with Yanagisawa- all horns need to be set up once they come out of their box for the first time (yanis less than most but that's not the point)

I don't see why this should be surely the fact that the horn has been set up correctly is part of the reason these horns are more expensive, and any adjustment should surely be a preference thing and not to get the thing working at all...john
 
What happens if the sax is bought in shop without a tech that can setup a sax (I guess you have that kind of shops in UK as well)? You buy a horn for £ 4000.00-5000.00 that don't play well!

Thomas
 
I don't see why this should be surely the fact that the horn has been set up correctly is part of the reason these horns are more expensive, and any adjustment should surely be a preference thing and not to get the thing working at all...john

Well, to a point. But then you've got to factor what happens to the sax between manufacture and sale. It will have been chucked in a truck and taken to a port, chucked in a container, then transported over about five weeks 6000 miles or so around the planet. Temperatures will vary all the time, and it's being constantly rattled around. then out of the container and back on a truck again. Afer all this it would be my expectation that a certain amount of adjustment would be required to make it play properly. That's why it's worth paying a bit of a premium to buy from a decent sax shop rather than from an internet bucket shop which hasn't the ability to make the necessary adjustments.
 
This could very well be the case, I think 2 of the saxes I played could have taken a serious beating in transport.
They had the same problem, the first one with a completely stuck middle B valve, and on the second one the same valve opened only partly, making the note out of tune.
When I called the shop to ask if they had some bari s, he said sure, come over and play test them and pick up the best of the lot, but while playing them, It surprised me though that they show these instruments in such a terrible state to a customer, for me this was a big turn off.
I have a sales function myself, and I sure would not offer or show things like that to my customers, it is a sure no sale.

Having played a Yani myself in the past and being very happy with it, this was my first choice, but after having played them
in this shop gave me serious doubts about it.
 
Well, to a point. But then you've got to factor what happens to the sax between manufacture and sale. It will have been chucked in a truck and taken to a port, chucked in a container, then transported over about five weeks 6000 miles or so around the planet. Temperatures will vary all the time, and it's being constantly rattled around. then out of the container and back on a truck again. Afer all this it would be my expectation that a certain amount of adjustment would be required to make it play properly. That's why it's worth paying a bit of a premium to buy from a decent sax shop rather than from an internet bucket shop which hasn't the ability to make the necessary adjustments.

My teacher is also a tech. He sets up all the saxes in the local shop when they come in - he says they vary enormously in the amount of adjustment required from virtually none to a lot.
 
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