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Saxophones Rosedale Saxophones?

MellowD

MellowD

Lost In Theory
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544
Location
Sturton by Stow, Lincoln
Has anyone tried the new Rosedale saxophones which claim to be intermediate soprano and professional alto standard at basement prices? I found them on the Gear4music website and I'd like to know whether they really do stand up to their claim so that I can make sound purchases and avoid them if they don't.

Cheers
 
I've got a Rosedale tenor (I think they call it "intermediate", whatever that means) which I'm still very happy with after two years. Had a couple of corks drop off in the early stages, and a pad got a hole in it a couple of months ago, but otherwise no mechanical problems. When I'm playing well, it sounds nice (to me, at least). It's the only tenor I've owned, though, so I couldn't really tell you if it's bettor or worse than anything else.
 
They freely offer the information that it is a premium own-branding. However, I'm always wary of own-brands unless I can be sure of what kind of quality the company's original brands are like. They seem very good prices from the get-go but only if they come up to the standard that they are promoting/claiming. If I'm going to spend £500, then I'd rather add more to it for a secondhand known brand if the own-brand isn't what they say. Hope that makes sense!
 
MelRSB said:
They freely offer the information that it is a premium own-branding.
Click to expand...

It is likely to be a stencil. They probably have their name stenciled on a saxophone from a factory that produces horns for many brands.

It is quite a common procedure. I personally would trust a retailer a bit more specialized, hence my Jericho advice. They are probably the same horn, for the same price, I would chose the one that put his telephone number on this forum, ready to be named and shamed if something goes wrong.
http://cafesaxophone.com/showthread.php?7879-Academy-Jericho-alto-passaround/page3


Second hand is a different story...
 
Sorry this is a bit late (but I only joined yesterday). I have a Rosedale "Pro" Alto (£429) which I bought 3 weeks ago. I went to the York shop having tried a few altos elesewhere without feeling comfortable with them. Bear in mind I'm a real newbie and have only been playing my old King tenor for a few weeks. At the Gear4Music shop I arranged to try: A Rosedale Alto, Odyssey Alto, and a Rosedale Gold tenor (their most expensive Rosedale that they liken to the dark sounds of Coltrane for whatever that's worth). You need to tell them in advance if you want to make sure they have the models you want to try in the shop, as a lot of the stock is kept in the warehouse elsewhere. Anyway I ended up ordering the Rosedale Alto (technical "issues" on the day meant I couldn't take one home with me and never actually got to try the tenor!). Not much point in giving my own opinion of the horn as I'm too inexperienced for it to be worth much but I've shown it to a couple of sax tutors and also to a very experienced repairer who's servicing my tenor. Both teachers were happy with it liking its features (copied from Yanagisawas I think). The repairer pointed out a few things including that one of the tone holes wasn't perfectly flat but when I said I could send it back as it was on 14 days approval (a good plus point to remember with Gear4Music) he quickly said he wasn't wanting to put me off it as he felt it was amazing value for money. So take from that what you will.
 
I can't see what they'd add to their standard range to justify the price difference. £230 for standard £330 for intermediate and £430 for professional.

I have the standard tenor, alto and sop. The sop was ex display and in a right state. Sticking pads and the action fouling on itself. It plays fine now with a bit of fettling. The tenor was ex demo and had a loose pad that fell out. Refitted it and it plays fine. The alto was a stock piece and played great straight out of the box.

They are a taiwanese copy of a yani. I recently got my hands on a yani and the difference was very noticable. It made the G4M action feel heavy and clunky in comparison. Normally I don't notice it and it does everything I ask of it.


I can't see how you get from a good cheap instrument to a pro for £200. Better pads, different springs, thicker lacquer, better case, better sling, free cork grease. Maybe they just pick out the good ones on a normal production run and stamp them Rosedale.

There's a lot of adverts on the web for professional instruments from China for £150. I don't think many pro's buy them.
 
Hi Colin,

I think there's a bit more difference than just picking out the good ones from a production batch. As a beginner I don't understand the difference on many of the things, nor the value or importance of them, but I went for the "pro" model alto on the basis that I felt my budget could accommodate it and anything that was a bit better might help me in the long run. I probably should have bought a second hand older quality horn but that's a minefield for a complete novice and buying new with a guarantee and a returns policy just felt safer. The pro model has things like rolled tone holes, adjustable high D and F keys, extra struts on some of the hole covers (forgive me I don't know the correct term for them), and of course they claim quieter keying action and greater tone range (I couldn't possibly say). I guess anything they can do to get the feel and sound even a bit closer to a true Yani has to be worth a little extra. Whether or not it was worth £200 more is of course a subjective thing.

I'm not experienced enough to give a qualified opinion but all I can say is that after 3 weeks I'm getting more and more comfortable with it and, unsurprisingly compared to my 85 year old tenor, am finding the keys very fluid and comfortable and easy to get around and the tone more and more pleasing even with the standard mouthpiece that it came with. But then, I've never tried a Yani!

With current issues trying to bring the tenor up to full playing standard I'm getting more and more tempted to try one of their Rosedale tenors on 14 day trial too.
 
I'm not having a go at the G4M saxes. On the contrary. I love all 3 of mine. Just the calling of a £400 instrument a professional. Their basic models are exceptional value in my opinion and play well. I suspect the labels are more about marketing than performance and build quality. The dark sounds come from the mouthpiece and you not the sales pitch.

I would try a bog standard horn from them and use the money you save to invest in a quality mouthpiece or two.
 
I couldn't agree more that calling it "pro" is a bit much. I would have thought that the definition of a "pro" horn should be that its actually bought and used by pro players. I've not seen any endorsements to that effect so I doubt its the case. Hence I only ever refer to it as "pro" in inverted commas.

I did try 3 altos in another shop but didn't feel the love with any of them (none of which were G4M) and then at G4M's York shop tried their "pro" alto along with 2 of their cheaper models and also Odysseys "premiere" alto (all using the Rosedale's mouthpiece). The Rosedale "pro" came out top for me for feel and tone but as I say, I'm a newbie so it would be great to get a more experienced player's view of the horn having tried it. Incidentally I was actually expecting/planning to buy the Odyssey "premiere" but was swayed on the day by the clearly better tone I got from the Rosedale. I also suffered motor-boating on the Odyssey but had never come across the term before and didn't know the solution then. (No-one at the shop seemed to have a clue).

If I go to the shop to try out tenors I'll definitely try to arrange 2 or 3 different models to try again, but if I buy via the internet on the 14 day sale or return I may just buy the hype again and go for the Rosedale, but anything could happen between now and then as I'm sure there's still a world of horns out there for a newbie like me to discover yet.
 
Probably a wise choice to pick a tenor matching your alto. You'll know all the bits and bobs are in the same place. My old baritone, being a different make, feels a little odd for the first few phrases but I've had it since the 80's so it's like old boots.
 
Rosedale saxophones are not made for G4M. I tried out a new alto at my local music store and compared it with a yangi that they also have on sale, I was blown away with the similarities. i didn't buy it though as although it felt the same and sounded almost as good with a Yamahah c4 mpiece. Looking at the workman ship, it was a serious let down. but it still gets 8 out of 10 for effort. i would recommend it though to any student or intermidiate player. its definitely worth every penny.
 
tomangus1975 said:
Rosedale saxophones are not made for G4M.
Click to expand...

Can I ask what shop it was Tom?

On their website Gear4Music say; "Rosedale Woodwind is a premium brand of Gear4music, and the Rosedale woodwind range includes Saxophones, Clarinets, Flutes, Piccolos and Oboes.Our Rosedale instruments are hand crafted, providing professional level playability and quality whilst retaining a competitive price.
Many Gear4music premium brand names are taken from local landmarks around our home county of North Yorkshire. The Rosedale Woodwind range was inspired by the oustanding natural beauty of this unique area of the North Yorkshire Moors. Other premium Gear4music brands include 'Coppergate' brass instruments and 'White Horse' drum kits and guitar amplifiers."
 

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