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garyoke157
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- 9
- Location
- Staffordshire/Cheshire
I wasn't sure where to write this as the original J6 Review thread kind of went off topic and moved towards quality control issues, though I suppose that's the point. Anyway, since the MKII is technically a different instrument and since I've bought a MKII I thought I'd start this thread.
Having ordered a matt finish J6 MKII for £329.00 I couldn't wait for it to arrive and, as promised it duly arrived the next day.
When I opened it I was pleasantly surprised. It looked well made and even the stock mouthpiece didn't look too bad. When I looked closer, however, there were a couple of issues.....
There was quite a bit of play in two rods on the lower stack, and when I came to blow it there was not even the slightest chance of hitting the bottom two notes. That said everything else seemed fine, no nasty blobs of solder, ill fitting posts etc and the key guards and octave mechanism all looked good and sturdy, so I took it off to Dominic Ball's in Stoke to get a setup. I was in no hurry so asked them to call me when it was ready.
When I picked it up the tech said that he'd tried it out and it was a great sax for the money and needed so little doing on the setup that he only charged me £10.00 instead of the £30.00 for a full setup.
From what I could tell they had taken out the play in the 2 rods, eased off a couple of springs on the palm keys and adjusted the regulation on the lower keys. The Tech did advise that it would probably need another setup after I'd played it for a while, but I would expect that with any new instrument.
So now the acid test, how does it play?
The short answer is very well indeed.
Granted I haven't played for a few years but did play to a good standard so my review here is from what I would call an advanced intermediate player who's gone a bit rusty!
First and foremost, under the fingers it is very comfortable, the action is smooth and very assured and certainly better than the old B&H I played in my student days! My fingers aren't as quick as they were but I still managed some good little riffs and it was not only very responsive but forgiving.
How did it blow?
I tried the supplied mouthpiece and a new Yamaha 4C both with the supplied ligature and reed and a rico royale 2. My chops need strengthening, however, with both mouthpieces and reed combinations the sound and "blowability" was very similar, though without a doubt a complete beginner would find it easier with the 4C and a rico 1.5. Incidentally the supplied unbranded reeds (there were 2) were softer than the Rico Royale 2, and actually not too bad.
It blows well from top to bottom without any tuning issues and I actually find it quite versatile in tone, though lacking a little depth. That's not to say it's bland or woolly, I would say that the tone is on the bright side of fairly rounded. It is bright but not as bright as I expected from the MKI reviews I've read, but that said very little work was needed on my part to take it from medium bright, to outright raunchy and back down to smooth and airy, it just doesn't have that smoky 50's jazz bar sound to it, or maybe that's just my lack of ability to make it sound that way and perhaps a different mouthpiece would help. What it does do is make you want to push it to see what you can make it do, if that makes sense, and in that respect it's a fun instrument to play.
I've played the mk1 YAS62 and from what I remember the Jericho MKII isn't quite as punchy or as versatile, but I honestly couldn't say that it's worth paying the best part of a grand difference for the difference in tone and versatility either.
The bottom line is the J6 MKII is easy to play, and having tried a couple of tutor recommended student saxes at a local high school, I can honestly say that it has a much better tone and is certainly more fun to play, and on that basis I guess youngsters starting out would love it. The only issue is that it didn't play straight out of the box. However, if you accept that you will need to pay up to £30.00 or so for a setup, and if anything more than that is needed you can always send it back, it's one heck of a sax for someone starting out.
So in summary I would say that, as some posts on here have indicated, the QC at Academy seems to have diminished. However, that only brings them into line with other retailers like G4M. The minor issues of the MkI Jericho have been addressed and, certainly in my case, the quality issues were very minor to the point where it didn't even need a full setup, which is something you should expect to pay for anyway.
In terms of playability and overall build quality, for the money the Jericho MKII Alto is excellent value and I would recommend it to anyone as a first sax or indeed as a backup. The jury is out as to whether it will be a keeper, that will come down to how well it holds its regulation and the amount of work needed on it in the future. If it does hold up well then I see no reason why I wouldn't hang on to it for a good few years even if I did upgrade to something else.
Having ordered a matt finish J6 MKII for £329.00 I couldn't wait for it to arrive and, as promised it duly arrived the next day.
When I opened it I was pleasantly surprised. It looked well made and even the stock mouthpiece didn't look too bad. When I looked closer, however, there were a couple of issues.....
There was quite a bit of play in two rods on the lower stack, and when I came to blow it there was not even the slightest chance of hitting the bottom two notes. That said everything else seemed fine, no nasty blobs of solder, ill fitting posts etc and the key guards and octave mechanism all looked good and sturdy, so I took it off to Dominic Ball's in Stoke to get a setup. I was in no hurry so asked them to call me when it was ready.
When I picked it up the tech said that he'd tried it out and it was a great sax for the money and needed so little doing on the setup that he only charged me £10.00 instead of the £30.00 for a full setup.
From what I could tell they had taken out the play in the 2 rods, eased off a couple of springs on the palm keys and adjusted the regulation on the lower keys. The Tech did advise that it would probably need another setup after I'd played it for a while, but I would expect that with any new instrument.
So now the acid test, how does it play?
The short answer is very well indeed.
Granted I haven't played for a few years but did play to a good standard so my review here is from what I would call an advanced intermediate player who's gone a bit rusty!
First and foremost, under the fingers it is very comfortable, the action is smooth and very assured and certainly better than the old B&H I played in my student days! My fingers aren't as quick as they were but I still managed some good little riffs and it was not only very responsive but forgiving.
How did it blow?
I tried the supplied mouthpiece and a new Yamaha 4C both with the supplied ligature and reed and a rico royale 2. My chops need strengthening, however, with both mouthpieces and reed combinations the sound and "blowability" was very similar, though without a doubt a complete beginner would find it easier with the 4C and a rico 1.5. Incidentally the supplied unbranded reeds (there were 2) were softer than the Rico Royale 2, and actually not too bad.
It blows well from top to bottom without any tuning issues and I actually find it quite versatile in tone, though lacking a little depth. That's not to say it's bland or woolly, I would say that the tone is on the bright side of fairly rounded. It is bright but not as bright as I expected from the MKI reviews I've read, but that said very little work was needed on my part to take it from medium bright, to outright raunchy and back down to smooth and airy, it just doesn't have that smoky 50's jazz bar sound to it, or maybe that's just my lack of ability to make it sound that way and perhaps a different mouthpiece would help. What it does do is make you want to push it to see what you can make it do, if that makes sense, and in that respect it's a fun instrument to play.
I've played the mk1 YAS62 and from what I remember the Jericho MKII isn't quite as punchy or as versatile, but I honestly couldn't say that it's worth paying the best part of a grand difference for the difference in tone and versatility either.
The bottom line is the J6 MKII is easy to play, and having tried a couple of tutor recommended student saxes at a local high school, I can honestly say that it has a much better tone and is certainly more fun to play, and on that basis I guess youngsters starting out would love it. The only issue is that it didn't play straight out of the box. However, if you accept that you will need to pay up to £30.00 or so for a setup, and if anything more than that is needed you can always send it back, it's one heck of a sax for someone starting out.
So in summary I would say that, as some posts on here have indicated, the QC at Academy seems to have diminished. However, that only brings them into line with other retailers like G4M. The minor issues of the MkI Jericho have been addressed and, certainly in my case, the quality issues were very minor to the point where it didn't even need a full setup, which is something you should expect to pay for anyway.
In terms of playability and overall build quality, for the money the Jericho MKII Alto is excellent value and I would recommend it to anyone as a first sax or indeed as a backup. The jury is out as to whether it will be a keeper, that will come down to how well it holds its regulation and the amount of work needed on it in the future. If it does hold up well then I see no reason why I wouldn't hang on to it for a good few years even if I did upgrade to something else.
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I use everything that I have ever bought for my horns!!!! Pa ha ha ha!
