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Beginner Sax Recommended Saxophone Brands and why? (List)

geg1700

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These are just some of my recommended brands from my saxophone teaching guide. If anyone has other brands they want to contribute to this then post below :D
 
The three brands you have chosen are unquestionably good, but if your guide is intended for beginners, I think you might want to suggest a few lower cost options too.

The cheapest of the tree makes you recommend will be the Yamaha with the 280, but for a lot of people that will be beyond their means or what they want to spend. There are a number of cheaper alternatives that are getting good comments on this forum, maybe you could include some of them.
 
Yup, add Trevor James, Jupiter, Elkhart (all Taiwanese and make great budget Horns) and Bauhaus Walstein (probably the best of Chinese budget horns) of the common decent cheapies ..

for the record, the commonly used term "Student" I think is outdated, "Budget" fits better thesedays as these horns are fully capable of supporting a gigging musician on a budget, your average TJ, Jupe or Bauhaus is capable far beyond used to learn the basics on ..
 
The three brands you have chosen are unquestionably good, but if your guide is intended for beginners, I think you might want to suggest a few lower cost options too.

The cheapest of the tree makes you recommend will be the Yamaha with the 280, but for a lot of people that will be beyond their means or what they want to spend. There are a number of cheaper alternatives that are getting good comments on this forum, maybe you could include some of them.

Indeed, these were definitely my top end suggestions. I am still adding to the guide so i'll consider the student lines etc and other quality brands which offer suitable low cost sax's for beginners
 
I think for beginner saxophones a table of ones to stay away from might be more useful. Anyone spending large amounts of money on a pro horn will be able to play and make their own decision.
 
As a student/beginners instrument I wouldn't think you can do much better than the Indonesian built Yamaha's....
 
The Cannonball Alcazar is an excellent student saxophone with many of the features of professional models at an attractive price.
 
The Cannonball Alcazar is an excellent student saxophone with many of the features of professional models at an attractive price.

I`ve not heard of that one .. how much is it ? (hoping that you won`t be the victim of a drive by shooting if you tell us :shocked:)
 
These are just some of my recommended brands from my saxophone teaching guide. If anyone has other brands they want to contribute to this then post below :D

+1 for all the comments re more suitable brands for beginners but given that you've called this 'Your' recommended top three brands, you haven't said why you recommend them. I think if you recommend horns, you should say why you do, otherwise I'm not sure why it would be part of a teaching guide. In addition, students need to know what models to consider and why as there are many - particularly in the case of Yamaha.
 
I'm not an expert but I am delighted with my recent Bauhaus Walstein M2 Earth (Taiwanese) tenor. I chose it over a Cannonball (not sure which model), Yanigasawa 901 and several Yamahas including the current 62.
 
In an attempt to be helpful...

I'm a beginner, and I was looking for my first Sax 4 months ago. I had no idea where to start. But I was on a budget of about €1000 (£850).

At least 2 of the sax's on your list would have been out of my price range. Even if their pockets are full of the folding stuff, most beginners will probably be shy of spending Selmer prices on something that they may not use after a few months, if they decide they have no interest or ability in the instrument after all.

I was certainly looking for something of reaonable quality that wouldn't break the bank if I tired of it. I nearly setted for a no-name ("store own brand") Chinese make from a very large German music retailer, mainly because I didn't know where else to look.

Thankfully, I took a bit more time and eventually heard a few names on forums and having made some phone calls to stores. These were: Trevor James; Jupiter; Elkhart and Bauhaus Walstein. A bit more digging took me to Woodwind and Brass and I bought the BW Phospher Bronze AI alto. I have since bought a TS-Y (used).

You might consider making recommendations in pricing categories (The most recommended at this price range; for example). This could avoid beginners from thinking that you have to pay over 2K to get a useable saxophone. It's only good luck that stopped me from think that, too.
 
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I`ve not heard of that one .. how much is it ? (hoping that you won`t be the victim of a drive by shooting if you tell us :shocked:)
Alcazar replaced the Excalibur. Cannonball's intermediate sax. Nice horn. Seen them go for between £500 and £600 second hand in good nick
 
Ahh, right gotcha . yours is the only excalibur I know of to be honest, we seem to see more of the Pro horns over here ..
 
Buffet A400 and T400! Buffet the Yamaha Slayer... Excellent sounding horns - genuine depth of sound and quality of tone, and not even a hint of excessive brightness.
 
Disclaimer: I sell saxophones

I see three price ranges: budget, intermediate, high.
As a budget instrument, sometimes the seller is more important than the saxophone. JP and Jericho come to mind for the UK: they guarantee some quality and post sale assistance.

The intermediate (where my Sequoia are) is a difficult area. Many Taiwanese instruments are in it because regardless of quality, they cannot bring a higher price tag. Here is where bargains are. As an alternative to Sequoia (still best value for money, based on my sound concept) BW, CS and Mauriat can be a pleasant surprise.

I find expensive horns a bit overpriced. Keilwerth, Yamaha, R&C and some Selmer (I would add Yanagisawa for soprano) made at least one instrument that made my heart beat faster, but I would never buy an instrument based on the brand's name. If I had 4k to invest in one instrument, I would probably try everything available, to let people in the shop enjoy my testing.
 
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Buffet A400 and T400! Buffet the Yamaha Slayer... Excellent sounding horns - genuine depth of sound and quality of tone, and not even a hint of excessive brightness.

I didn`t find the tenor was anything special (I`d rather have a Revolution-II or a Jupiter) , the Alto is popular though I`d not swap a Yamaha 32 / 475 or upwards for one - I`d class Buffet-400s as "very good" along with dozens of other contenders in that price bracket, the 100 could be a bit of a hidden Gem if DaveUK`s report of it playing and sounding the same as the 400 for a fraction of the price rings true across all samples .

As for Keilwerths, I guess SX90Rs are safe to buy now if brand new but I ruled used ones out due to the tone hole lottery business, every sample a mystery - they didn`t seem to handle the issue very well over that which is a shame because it`s a lovely sounding horn . the ST90 is just a Chinese horn with an expensive price tag, probably the same as a buffet-400 or even 100.
 
Disclaimer: I sell saxophones

I see three price ranges: budget, intermediate, high.
As a budget instrument, sometimes the seller is more important than the saxophone. JP and Jericho come to mind for the UK: they guarantee some quality and post sale assistance.

The intermediate (where my Sequoia are) is a difficult area. Many Taiwanese instruments are in it because regardless of quality, they cannot bring a higher price tag. Here is where bargains are. As an alternative to Sequoia (still best value for money, based on my sound concept) BW, CS and Mauriat can be a pleasant surprise.

I find expensive horns a bit overpriced. Keilwerth, Yamaha, R&C and some Selmer (I would add Yanagisawa for soprano) made at least one instrument that made my heart beat faster, but I would never buy an instrument based on the brand's name. If I had 4k to invest in one instrument, I would probably try everything available, to let people in the shop to enjoy my testing.

I agree - I find expensive saxophones overpriced - especially in New Zealand...hence why they're expensive...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/music-inst...-instruments/saxophones/auction-666915451.htm

This is not a bad price - considering one local store claims a silver plated Super Action 80 Series III retails for NZ$20,000.00 (or GBP10,000.00) - you can get an Inderbinen tenor sax with Yamaha key work for under NZ$20,000.00...

Greg S
 
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