Saxophones Yam 62, How doyYou tell how old it is?

[QWales]

Hi,

Someone is selling a Yamaha 62 and says it is less than a year old. Do you know if there is there anyway I can tell?

Also, they say it is as new and they will take £900 for it. Do you know if that is a good price?

Cheers,
Mark

 

[kevgermany]

Sounds very cheap. Is it legit?

 

[daveysaxboy]

heres the serials with year made,Saxophone model history www.scribd.com › Research › History

 

[QWales]

Sounds very cheap. Is it legit?

No idea, how do you tell?

 

[QWales]

heres the serials with year made,Saxophone model history www.scribd.com › Research › History

Thanks but I can't seem to find anything on that page. I did a search for the words Research and History because I couldn't find any links but no joy.

 

[kevgermany]

I think this is the link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20975354/Saxophone-model-history

But it probably won't help unless your hor is a lot older than claimed.

About your only way of finding out if it's legit or not is firstly assess the seller, and take a close look at the horn to see if it's in the condition stated... Check a few of the same model to get a base before going further.

 

[QWales]

I think this is the link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20975354/Saxophone-model-history

But it probably won't help unless your hor is a lot older than claimed.

Thanks for looking but it's difficult to make head or tail of that. The formatting is all over the shop. I pasted it into Word and can see something about 05-YSS-62 but that's about it. I viewed it in Chrome, Firefox and IE6(Work) but didn't find much I'm afraid.

I'm a step in the right direction now anyway, at least I know it's all about the serial number and I can ask the guy to tell me what it is. I guess if it's not legit I wont get a reply.

I've been searching the web about this quite a bit and some bloke reckons you can email Yamaha with the S/N and they usually get back to you with details within 24hrs. Could be worth a shot.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Asking for the Serial Number is a very effective way of dealing with used instrument purchases, which I commonly use to check out whether they are legit. Is it a Tenor or Alto? It does sound a very cheap price -I would expect a one year old Yamaha to cost around £1500, but it may be that the buyer does not know what to sell it for or got it cheap in the first place (new old stock or similar).

 

[QWales]

Thanks TomMapfumo I feel a bit better about it now and it sounds like £900 is a good price. It is an alto and he has told me he will send me the details when he gets home from work tonight.

The plan is to meet him in London as I have already planned a trip there this Saturday, so that leaves me tomorrow to try and find out if it is legit or not. Eeek

 

[TomMapfumo]

If you are in London do tryand get along to Howarth's and try oiytthe Buffet Crampon 400 Alto Sax, which several reviewers have rated above the Yamaha 62, Yani A901 and others. It is only £800 new and well worth a trial.

Kind regards
Tom

 

[QWales]

If I buy the Yam 62 it was going to happen as soon as I arrive in Paddington I'm afraid but the plan was to go on to sax.co.uk and Howarths is walk-able from there so I may pop in anyway.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[jonf]

I would expect a one year old Yamaha to cost around £1500, .

Not if it's an alto - they're only £1775 brand new from my favourite saxophone emporium. For an alto, £900 is about right if in excellent condition in a private sale. Between 50 and 60% of the new price is about what I'd expect from a private sale. Obviously more from a shop with a warrenty.

 

[Saxlicker]

I've been searching the web about this quite a bit and some bloke reckons you can email Yamaha with the S/N and they usually get back to you with details within 24hrs. Could be worth a shot.

I've had personal experience of serial number help from yamaha by e-mail. I don't remember it being a 24 hr job though.

 

[QWales]

Not if it's an alto - they're only £1775 brand new from my favourite saxophone emporium. For an alto, £900 is about right if in excellent condition in a private sale. Between 50 and 60% of the new price is about what I'd expect from a private sale. Obviously more from a shop with a warrenty.

Hmmm, if that's the case then maybe it's not worth the risk. cheers for the input

 

[QWales]

I've had personal experience of serial number help from yamaha by e-mail. I don't remember it being a 24 hr job though.

Ah well it's not looking like a goer really is it and he hasn't been back to me yet either. Still thanks for the input, could prove useful in the future.

 

[jonf]

Hmmm, if that's the case then maybe it's not worth the risk. cheers for the input

If it's a good sax it'd still be a good buy at that price, but I don't think it's an absolute bargain.

 

[QWales]

Well the email did eventually arrive at 4:30am today. He says the serial number is C45490

I'd really appreciate it if anyone can tell me if this is a recent number or not.

 

[AlanU]

Yamaha serial numbers are notoriously random.
Just check 'Sax on the web' for the difficulty folks have had trying to date their saxophones.

Yamaha also don't seem very constant in other respects, ie: purple logo, 'Yamaha' engraved on the bell, or in my (Yas-62) case engraving all over the place leaving no room for the word Yamaha!

It all seems a bit hit and miss.
If it's a good horn, it's a good horn.

 

[QWales]

Yamaha did get back to me within 48 hours and it was manufactured in 2007 and apparently they don't tend to stay on the shelf too long. I have done a little more research on the price and if it is in very good condition it would still be an excellent price. Unfortunately responses from the seller are very random and I have not been able to arrange anything further with him. Probably a narrow escape.