support Tutorials CDs PPT mouthpieces

Saxophones Which to choose

Chas

Well-Known Member
Messages
143
Locality
England
Hello to every one I have got a bit of a dilemma, got to choose from blessing elkhart alto saxophone or an arbriter pro London alto sax. Any suggestions Charlie
 
I thought you wanted to go tenor! :headscratch:

Have you tried any of those ?

If you're on a tight budget, don't go blind. At least try them before you commit to anything. Do they feel right in your hands? Do they sound right?

It may be best to spend a bit more in a reliable horn, than take chances. I recently bought a horn that sounds good after tweaking it a bit, but doesn't have the screws that makes it easy to setup like Yamahas. So I ended up bending keys, gluing or sanding cork or worse... If you can't do that, it'll be a repairer and it may cost more.
 
I thought you wanted to go tenor! :headscratch:

Have you tried any of those ?

If you're on a tight budget, don't go blind. At least try them before you commit to anything. Do they feel right in your hands? Do they sound right?

It may be best to spend a bit more in a reliable horn, than take chances. I recently bought a horn that sounds good after tweaking it a bit, but doesn't have the screws that makes it easy to setup like Yamahas. So I ended up bending keys, gluing or sanding cork or worse... If you can't do that, it'll be a repairer and it may cost more.
Thanks for advice the sax is not for me but for a beginner who I know, I still want to get a tenor saxophone just looking for the right one, I'm still looking for scale diagrams which start from the bottom note and go right up in to the altismo so that I can practise going up and down the sax any advice charlie
 
You would probably be better going with a 'better' second hand sax than a really cheap unknown one. Although there can be good ones, it's hit and miss. The quality of the cheap ones means that they may not last very long and not economic to maintain.
 
I'll ask the question which others have implied.....

how did you land on those two brands of sax ? Was it simply a matter of the two which are most readily available to you ?

(BTW the Blessing may well be a Taiwanese version of one, and although they get zero love (primarily because people pass judgment on 'em without ever having held one)...they can be respectable student horns).
 
I'll ask the question which others have implied.....

how did you land on those two brands of sax ? Was it simply a matter of the two which are most readily available to you ?

(BTW the Blessing may well be a Taiwanese version of one, and although they get zero love (primarily because people pass judgment on 'em without ever having held one)...they can be respectable student horns).
I'll ask the question which others have implied.....

how did you land on those two brands of sax ? Was it simply a matter of the two which are most readily available to you ?

(BTW the Blessing may well be a Taiwanese version of one, and although they get zero love (primarily because people pass judgment on 'em without ever having held one)...they can be respectable student horns).
Thank for the info I have heard the Taiwanese horns are quite good , I have seen horns for sale and these are the ones I have mentioned cheers Charlie Sheffield
 
You would probably be better going with a 'better' second hand sax than a really cheap unknown one. Although there can be good ones, it's hit and miss. The quality of the cheap ones means that they may not last very long and not economic to maintain.
Thanks for the advice charlie
 
Thank for the info I have heard the Taiwanese horns are quite good , I have seen horns for sale and these are the ones I have mentioned cheers Charlie Sheffield
OK, well that's not a bad initial compass to use. So those two horns were available locally, then.

As I said if the Blessing is Taiwan it is a pretty decent student horn. However, from prices I see for new ones they are wildly overpriced. More expensive than a new Jupiter, which they really shouldn't be simply because of brand reputation. I am assuming you are looking at used because Arbiter does not seem to be available new any longer (?) There are a couple of short threads on this Forum about them...the name seems to have had a short life, although that doesn't necessarily mean they are not a respectable horn.

While I agree with TenorViol that used gets you more bang for the money, if you are an inexperienced saxophone buyer it can also be fraught with peril.

So, indeed you can find a better-quality instrument for half the price in a used horn, but you have t have an assurance from the seller that the sax is in good playing condition and needs no add'l servicing.

IF it is used you are looking at, here are some other suggestions I have:

Jupiter, any model which starts with "JAS"
Yamaha 21/23 or a Vito-branded equivalent
Buffet-Crampon 100 or 400 series
Olds (Taiwan)

Best of luck.
 
What about this?
Yup - your typical default go-to Vito branded Yamaha 21. Can't go wrong with one...although do note that the seller states it will need servicing.

THIS is where things get tricky.

Because are we talking a £50 tweak ? Or a £200 half-repad + cleaning + re-regulation ? If the seller is a teacher, he would probably be willing to give an honest answer to that...

Or if one chooses eBay...avoid that potential slope altogether and simply make sure seller is willing to state that the horn is in fully playable condition and needs no work.
 
That's top money for a mint Vito. I bought an apparently unused one a few years back for £200. They should be more as they're the same as a Yam 21/23 but it's the resale which kills the value as the masses have never heard of LeBlanc or Vito.

I have one now, which needs a few pads when I get around to it, and I'd put it amongst the contenders of my final "keeper" horn, much as Steve Howard did with his YTS-23.
So easy to play and for some reason the sounds seems better to me than a later YAS-275. No high F# key but that's never been an issue.
 
Back
Top Bottom