Saxophones Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alto

[TimC]

Having read about there being altos around £300 like the Jericho J-6 that are actually fairly good, made me wonder if the market is similar for cheap tenors? For example has anyone tried the J-6 tenor or another brand below £400 that are good performers despite the low price?

And also I'm wondering since I'm currently practising on an alto, would it be benificial to try and learn the saxophone on both alto and tenor simultaneously to kind of broaden your range early or would that mostly be disadvantageous?

 

[aldevis]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Jericho horns are fairly new. I am currently trying the alto and it is a good instrument.
Mostly you will deal with reputable musicians. On this forum we are all looking forward to know more about their tenor and soprano.

 

[Tobes]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

I've given up sharing practice time on alto and tenor. They're in different keys and every time I switch from alto to tenor my sound suffers on the tenor. Now I only play tenor and sometimes soprano, but still find playing soprano doesn't help my tenor sound as pressure is totally different.

 

[aldevis]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

I've given up sharing practice time on alto and tenor. They're in different keys and every time I switch from alto to tenor my sound suffers on the tenor. Now I only play tenor and sometimes soprano, but still find playing soprano doesn't help my tenor sound as pressure is totally different.

Doubling is a thing that needs to be practiced. You will still have one main instrument, but switching will be easier. At the time I found ten/sop as completely different instruments, and switching was fairly easy.

 

[kevgermany]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Funny, I find alto much harder than tenor and so I have to play better. Means that when I go back to tenor my playing's improved. Same with sop...

 

[Colin the Bear]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

I have recently bought a gear4music sop, alto, and tenor, all for under £200each. They're very playable and well built. Chinese and cheap but intonation , action and tone is good and quality is high enough for an enthusiastic amateur.

I have played for many years although this is my first soprano. I major on alto and play baritone and clarinet too.

I find that moving around from instrument to instrument makes me more aware of which one I'm playing. It gives a distinct personality to each one. The saxophones are all very different and require a different attitude of mind to say nothing of the practicalities of mouthpiece and embouchure.

I'm sure that playing any of them keeps embouchure muscles fit for all. I practice mostly on tenor with a little sop and find my alto has improved when I come to play it.

The key change can become confusing if you're playing something new from memory and forget which one you're playing. Doh!

So, in conclusion I would say that a Baritone fits with alto more easily and logically but tenor and alto don't detract from each other.

The only problem will be having time to practice each one.

 

[MandyH]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

I play both Alto and Bari equally - both time and ability.
My tenor and I are another story, still :-/

I'm sure that one day I will feel better about it. In the meantime, I find I am best at the tenor when it gets first play of the day. After the alto or bari, it just doesn't work for me.

I guess that 3 months on Tenor as a 3rd instrument isn't that long really.

 

[TimC]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Thanks for the input everyone, I guess I'll stick with just alto for now since it might get too confusing throwing a tenor into the mix this early. Just saw that they put up a demo video of the Jericho tenor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlAqjtrS-HU . Pretty nice, maybe when it gets close to Xmas as a present to myself....

 

[Justin Chune]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

John Packer saxes are highly regarded and reasonably priced. The ex-demo models are even cheaper.

Jim.

 

[zannad]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

I have a cheap Cranes tenor which is doing well - these Vietnamese Yani copies comes in very colorful lacquers and mine has proved to be reliable enough for busking and other risky ventures. It's a bit heavy and the case is also the heaviest I've ever come across but these are minor nuisances - it's an honest sax and after all these years are still in the market (it's a good sign).

Personally, I find no problems when switching from Alto to Tenor and recently Soprano too...the sop gets my ear ringing cos' is too high (that's all).
Key changing is an non existent issue (and I'm surprised about other players having some issues with that) but that's probably because I play mostly by ear - another good reason for staying away from written score and from the traps of transposition - since I don't transpose (I found "my way" to deal with that) transposition doesn't affect (dare to say "infect") my music.

(psst: see who's having the last laugh now?)

 

[dooce]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

John Packer saxes are highly regarded and reasonably priced. The ex-demo models are even cheaper.

Jim.

+1 from me

 

[TimC]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Read a lot of good things about John Packer saxes, but since one new JP tenor cost more than two J-6 tenors, I'm still curious to hear more about the J-6

 

[aldevis]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Read a lot of good things about John Packer saxes, but since one new JP tenor cost more than two J-6 tenors, I'm still curious to hear more about the J-6

Few reviews of the alto here:
http://cafesaxophone.com/showthread.php?7879-Academy-Jericho-alto-passaround/page3
I haven't tried the tenor, and waiting to try their soprano.

Contact Robbie Fraser, I think they have a no hassle return policy.

 

[TimC]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Yes the alto reviews of the J-6 alto was what led me to the Student music supplies website and saw the tenors that would be great value if they're good. Unfortunately I'm too much of a beginner on sax (just closing in on my 3rd month) to be able to evaluate the quality of a sax by myself. That's why it would be really helpful for me to see some reviews first so I know it's an instrument I can have confidence learning and developing with.

 

[aldevis]

Re: Tell me about cheap but good tenors, and about sharing practice time on tenor/alt

Yes the alto reviews of the J-6 alto was what led me to the Student music supplies website and saw the tenors that would be great value if they're good. Unfortunately I'm too much of a beginner on sax (just closing in on my 3rd month) to be able to evaluate the quality of a sax by myself. That's why it would be really helpful for me to see some reviews first so I know it's an instrument I can have confidence learning and developing with.

If you have a teacher/friend/acquaintance that can evaluate it for you, it would help. I don't think I will put my hands on a tenor for a while. Robbie is a nice guy anyway, and can give you some honest advice.