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AdamBradley
Member
- 131
Request: Please list any alto sax that you would recommend someone try when buying - price range is anything up to £3000. Aiming for a sax that will last a lifetime, rather than something that will last 'a few years and then upgrade'. All suggestions welcome, further backing someone else's suggestion is also greatly appreciated!
Next month, I’m going to start trying out saxes with the aim of buying one in late April. I’m an engineering student working at a science lab, so being a scientist at heart I’ve come up with a system that will hopefully find the right instrument for me, and serve as an interesting experiment to boot! I want to try as many as possible, however there's such a huge range playing them all is inpractical. Hence narrowing it down with recommendations!
Essentially, I could afford anything up to about £3000 for the right sax. I don’t really care what it costs – I’m not trying to spend that much, but if I find one that truly stands out and I fall in love with it, then price isn’t an issue. £3k is my absolute upper limit, so I won’t even touch anything over that 😛
The Plan. (I have a plan!)
When picking a sax, I don’t want to be swayed by perceived quality due to the make, or price of an instrument. By asking as many saxophone players as possible, on this good site, ones I know myself and through my family, I will populate a list of all the saxophones that people suggest I ought to try. Then, a musician friend and I will seek out and play as many instruments on the list as possible. However, I’m not going to know what it is I’m playing.
The idea is I’ll sit in the practise room, my friend will bring me a sax from the list and without telling me what it is, I’ll play it. Won’t blindfold myself or anything silly, will just make a point of not looking at the badge! We’ll make short recordings of each and keep a note of our opinions on the sound. I’ll also note down what I thought about how it felt to play. Hopefully I’ll identify a few saxes that really stand out for me and go about making a final decision from there.
However, if I find I can’t tell enough difference between them to make good decisions then the whole experiment will tell me that I’m not experienced enough to know what I want yet, and will proceed to buy the cheapest ‘good’ sax that I know I can’t go wrong with. I will then stick the rest of the money in an ISA and try not to spend it until I am good enough to differentiate!
I’ve been playing a few months on a rental, my situation is a little unusual for a beginner - I’ve played the oboe and piano for coming on about about 13 years, and along with these have picked up guitar and bass with the usual teenage craze. I come from a generally musical family, so I’m teaching myself without too much difficulty, and resources such as this and Pete’s other sites are exceptionally useful. As such I’m progressing faster than a ‘typical’ beginner.
I’m working an industrial placement this year however in September I go back to Uni, and commence being a skint student again. Working now means I can afford to treat myself while it lasts, but I won’t be able to afford such luxuries as instruments for years to come. For these reasons, my current line of thinking is that I’d prefer to get a sax that’s above me, and grow into it. Whatever I get has to last me a long time and I don’t want to buy something that I might feel I’ve outgrown a few years down the line, because chances are I won’t be able to afford an upgrade (and the chances of any saved money staying intact and 100% earmarked for a sax is slim).
Thanks!
Adam
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Next month, I’m going to start trying out saxes with the aim of buying one in late April. I’m an engineering student working at a science lab, so being a scientist at heart I’ve come up with a system that will hopefully find the right instrument for me, and serve as an interesting experiment to boot! I want to try as many as possible, however there's such a huge range playing them all is inpractical. Hence narrowing it down with recommendations!
Essentially, I could afford anything up to about £3000 for the right sax. I don’t really care what it costs – I’m not trying to spend that much, but if I find one that truly stands out and I fall in love with it, then price isn’t an issue. £3k is my absolute upper limit, so I won’t even touch anything over that 😛
The Plan. (I have a plan!)
When picking a sax, I don’t want to be swayed by perceived quality due to the make, or price of an instrument. By asking as many saxophone players as possible, on this good site, ones I know myself and through my family, I will populate a list of all the saxophones that people suggest I ought to try. Then, a musician friend and I will seek out and play as many instruments on the list as possible. However, I’m not going to know what it is I’m playing.
The idea is I’ll sit in the practise room, my friend will bring me a sax from the list and without telling me what it is, I’ll play it. Won’t blindfold myself or anything silly, will just make a point of not looking at the badge! We’ll make short recordings of each and keep a note of our opinions on the sound. I’ll also note down what I thought about how it felt to play. Hopefully I’ll identify a few saxes that really stand out for me and go about making a final decision from there.
However, if I find I can’t tell enough difference between them to make good decisions then the whole experiment will tell me that I’m not experienced enough to know what I want yet, and will proceed to buy the cheapest ‘good’ sax that I know I can’t go wrong with. I will then stick the rest of the money in an ISA and try not to spend it until I am good enough to differentiate!
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Background, for those interested in the reasoning!I’ve been playing a few months on a rental, my situation is a little unusual for a beginner - I’ve played the oboe and piano for coming on about about 13 years, and along with these have picked up guitar and bass with the usual teenage craze. I come from a generally musical family, so I’m teaching myself without too much difficulty, and resources such as this and Pete’s other sites are exceptionally useful. As such I’m progressing faster than a ‘typical’ beginner.
I’m working an industrial placement this year however in September I go back to Uni, and commence being a skint student again. Working now means I can afford to treat myself while it lasts, but I won’t be able to afford such luxuries as instruments for years to come. For these reasons, my current line of thinking is that I’d prefer to get a sax that’s above me, and grow into it. Whatever I get has to last me a long time and I don’t want to buy something that I might feel I’ve outgrown a few years down the line, because chances are I won’t be able to afford an upgrade (and the chances of any saved money staying intact and 100% earmarked for a sax is slim).
Thanks!
Adam
