Saxophones Tenor Saxophone by Gear4music, Gold - Ex Demo- advice.

[selkie]

Ok. I would like to try a tenor but don't want and can't spend too much. I've read a few comments here about the gear 4 music and am watching one on ebay but would appreciate andy advice. I play soprano. I'm not worried about cosmetic appearance but don't want to buy a untuneable playable sax. Not wanting a TJ or Stagg.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

No experience with this sax, but would guess that a company the size of gear 4 music wouldent sell rubbish...

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

Just checked and those sax's are only £250 new anyway, just get a new one and you'll get a warranty and piece of mind!

 

[kevgermany]

Take a look at Stephen Howard's site, shwoodwinds.

However there are quite a few reprots on the forum sayingthat gear 4 music are OK now. So I guess a lot depends on how old the one on ebay is, and how much it goes for.

The one I can see is offered by gear 4 music, so has warranty and is reaosnably new. Bid has nearly 10 days to run, so it's unlikely to go for this price. Your shout on if the final bid + postage is worthwhile. But if it goes for 2/3rds of new or less, it'd be good value imho.

 

[Colin the Bear]

I've had two so called ex demo saxes from G4M. Curvy sop and tenor. I've also had a regular alto from them.

I wouldn't recommend the ex demo ones. They aren't what they seem. Both sop and tenor needed work to make them play. The sop needed some of the key work reshaping with a grinding tool. The tenor needed regulating and one of the pads refitting. I may be wrong but I have a sneaking suspicion they are returns. Why would a mail order firm have so many demo pieces?

The G4M saxes are good value and well built with good intonation. The alto played straight out of the box and plays great after 6 months or so. The other two play ok now.

If you are good with tools and can do your own servicing, strip down, repad etc you may end up with a good horn at a good discount.

However if you're looking for something to play out of the box, go for one of their regular priced instruments

 

[jonf]

I may be wrong but I have a sneaking suspicion they are returns. Why would a mail order firm have so many demo pieces?

I agree.

Have you seen how many 'b stock' bass saxes they list on eBay? They seem to have a rather large number of imperfect saxes to sell.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Just had another thought to consider.

The ex demo instruments don't come with a full accessory pack. They are sold as seen and by the time you've bought a sling, pad saver, bung etc it may well negate the saving you've made.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

Agree with Colin and John on this, and at only £250 new cant understand why you would want to try and save any more, also sax.co.uk do a budget tenor as do Bauhous walstein (i know i spelt it wrong, it's one of those names that always gets me!) also check out RSR Richard Sax Ross on e-bay.....on the other hand you could shell out 5 grand and have a Selmer....just like mine🙂

 

[selkie]

Hmm. I hadn't realised that. I play with a full bari harness already so no need to buy that and love the one I have. I've actually been steered away the gear4Music sax and probably onto a Montreaux after trying a friends.It's student and intermediate and will get a test probably after Christmas.

 

[jrintaha]

Gear4music's after-sales service seems to work extremely well. I contacted them very recently about my tenor, attached a picture of the fault (G key post soldered wrong, resulting in friction and poorly working octave key mechanism), and they responded in a couple of hours that they'll schedule a courier to pick up the horn. Three days later, as I had to reschedule the pickup once, otherwise it would've been even faster, the courier picked up my horn. I haven't heard from them if they will repair or replace it (my guess is the latter, because desoldering the key post will ruin the lacquer), but it's hardly a surprise with the Christmas holidays and all. So far so good. Very fast customer support response times, especially when you take into account that it's the Christmas season, and they're probably as busy as they can be.

 

[Rick Reed]

I have had excellent dealings with Gear4music. I'm sure their saxophones are on a par with similar saxes of that price range.

Just a bit curious why you have ruled out a Trevor James. For me, (having owned 3 alto's and a flute) I think Trevor James saxes have good ergonomics, with great tuning and are excellent instruments for the price.

 

[Colin the Bear]

I think it may be due to a TJ tenor costing 2 or 3 times the price of G4M tenor.

 

[selkie]

Two reasons really. One was cost and the other was that that a few years ago playing in a woodwind and brass Band the TJ Flutes were good (I have one) but the saxophones did have various problems with keys. It seemed they often needed tweaking. My TJ flute is superb and my daughter has an open holed and closed hole silver headed TJ's and they sound better than the Yamahas we had in the band.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

I think it may be due to a TJ tenor costing 2 or 3 times the price of G4M tenor.

On the other hand, is it worth buying cheap s*** like that and having to send it back because bits have already fallen off in the time it's taken to get to you? wonder what else would have fallen off on it's first gig!

 

[Colin the Bear]

Cheap **** is all some of us can afford. Ingenuity and creativity cost nothing. I get by on wits. I got my exdemo sop for £165 and with a little work it plays fine. The exdemo Tenor was £190 and with a few minor repairs and adjusting plays great. The alto was a regular one on offer for £199 and played great straight out of the box. Yes it would be nice to have £800 to shell out on an instrument. But it would be disappointing to find it wasn't any better than the ones I've got and maybe made at the next workbench in the same factory.

If I win the lottery I may buy a Selmer. But I'll still be busking with the G4M.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

I get by on wits as well Colin, fortunately I'm in a position were i don't have to buy cheap sh1t, i paid about a third of the new cost for my Selmer and am very happy with it, and i'm glad your happy with what you play as well.

 

[jonf]

Hmmmmm.

Well, I've owned over 50 saxes. The best one I've had (still have) was the most expensive, and cost as much as a used car. The cheapest was a vintage Conn, for forty quid (it was a wreck, but still sort of played). In between have been all sorts, but one thing I have found is that, these days, not all super cheapo saxes are rubbish. OK, none of them are as superbly made as my Yanagisawa tenor, and they will never last as long, but some cheapies are workable and durable enough to be worth having. I bought a black enamel Kaeriner tenor, (cheapo Chinese make) for sixty quid off eBay, and I was delighted at how well it played.

OK, that may have been a bit lucky and a bit risky, but I recently play tested a Jericho Alto which was not much more than a G4M, and it was a good sax. Anyone could have one of those, and be confident it would be better than the awful student saxes of the 1970s. And I guess if you were gigging one of these it would be prudent to learn how to replace corks and oil the action (actually, any sax player should learn to do this) but I really doubt whether it would simply fall apart. And I wouldn't call it a piece of sh .... you know what.

(I'm not mentioning G4M saxes specifically, as I've never owned one, but I'd apply what I've said to modern cheapo saxes in general).