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Saxgizmo

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Location
Kingman, AZ
Hello from beautiful Arizona,
I am 33 years old and have never studied music before in my life; but, I decided that 2011 would be the year I learned to play the instrument I love to hear the most. I live in a small community (we don't even have a music store) and I knew getting started was going to be a challenge, especially since my budget is also very small. In late February I happened upon a church music teacher that has a Yamaha Alto and he has been willing to let me rent it, while giving me lessons, until I am able to purchase my own saxophone. I have decided I would like a tenor sax and I hope to be able to purchase one within the next month or two.

Which of these 3 Saxophones (that fall into my price range) would you suggest? :confused:

Orpheo Tenor (AL-308FPR)
Roy Benson Tenor (RBTS302)
Kenny G E Series (KGETSBS) (The older e series, not the E series II)

All are brand new. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm very excited to learn as much as I can and hope to play in our community orchestra one day.
 
Big welcome from me as well. Hope you have a lot of fun here, and gets lots of help.

I don't know any of the saxes you mention. But it would be a good idea to get your teacher to help you with the choice. There's a recommendation in another thread for saxes from Kessler that you could consider.

It'd also be worth considering a good used instrument, these can often give you more for the same price, but buy with your eyes open, and also with a teacher/expert.

You'll find the tenor quite different to the alto and you should expect to spend a month or so getting familiar with it before making progress in the lessons again. Fingering's the same, but breath and embouchure are very different. I prefer the tenor, it's tone suits me better, but the altos are lighter, faster, higher... Each to his own!
 
Hi Saxgizmo, welcome to the Cafe :)

Roy Benson makes decent instruments. I have tried an alto that was quite all right. The other two is unfamiliar. I doubt they are for sale in this neck of the wood. Not under those brands any way.

As Kev said: get assistance from someone who knows. And always (not optional) try before buy.

Good luck
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi SaxGizmo!

Welcome to the forum from someone who lives in Wales, a COUNTRY that used to be too small to have a music store. I also think that a decent used sax is the way to go - used Conn/Martin/others are available around $500 - 600 and lots of folks are very helpful in this area such as Dave at Junkdude (who I've used in the UK). I look forward to hearing about what you get and am very happy to answer any questions, as I'm sure are others at the Cafe!

Kind regards
Tom
 
Hi Saxgizmo

Welcome aboard hope you enjoy your new found musical hobby,loved the type face you used on your post it was like reading a book,as for the buying advise I think you tend to have quite a few models over there that are different to models available over here in England,one of the tenors that are loved by a lot of the members is the Bauhaus Walstien a real quality sax at a great price I don't know if they are sold in the USA but it may be worth checking it out...all the best...john
 
Welcome to the Cafe Saxgizmo,

I live on a small Island and by rights we are too small to have the two music shops we've got! The Isle is only 32 miles long and between 8 to 15 wide ;} Lucky so and so :)))

If money is tight look at buying a better second hand model such as a Yanagisawa, Yamaha, etc ... Some great bargins to be had. Try to get one from a reputible dealer that has given it a service to ensure it plays well.

It's hard enough to start playing on a sax as it is without it having a badly set-up sax!

Best of luck with your journey and enjoy the ride!

-Paul
 
Hi Saxgismo, and welcome to the Cafe - A new Saxophone player! Brill
I would ask your church music teacher if he would assist you in your quest to find a good tenor within budget!
Keep us informed - We are nosey peps here lol.
Good luck,
Les.
 
Thank you all for the kind welcomes. I have been doing my search with my teacher and the 3 I mentioned were the best we could find. We did look for Bauhaus Walstien and found one dealer in the US but they are still just a bit over my price range, at least for now. I might be waiting a bit to try and save some money but I am pretty anxious to get my tenor.

I am leaning toward the Kenny G e series because from my research I found it is made by JinYin, which is supposed to be one of the more reputable chinese makers.

No matter the way I go I am very excited to be apart of this beautiful hobby and community.
 
Hi Saxgizmo: Welcome from above in wet British Columbia. They have a music store in El Centro!!! which I thought the town was very small..... and it is just by the Mexican border and maybe we can smuggle one across!!! Anyway will be in El Centro next Jan 15th to Feb 15th so come and visit!!! and we can talk Sax............

Richard
 

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