yas62 or yas62II

[karatedad]

Hi, I would like to any thoughts on the YAS62 verses the YAS62II. I am thinking about buying a YAS62 for around $1800, and it is in excellent condition. I heard that the 62 was better than the 62II in many ways? Is the $1800 for the 62 too much? What is the best kind of mouthpiece and neck for the 62 if I was to buy it? It will be used for school band classes. Thank you for any response!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bobby G]

Hi, I have a YAS62 which is maybe 20 years old, although I've only owned it for a year or so. From what I hear, the older ones (or even the forerunner, the 61) are better regarded.

I've only been playing for about 3 years, and this is the third alto I've owned, after a couple of Trevor James', so I not really an expert, but I love it! It's solid, easy to work and sounds great with a Selmer Soloist D or Meyer 5 mouthpiece and RJS or Alexander reeds, although obviously mouthpiece and reeds are a very personal choice.


Cheers, Bob.

 

[Saxlicker]

Welcome Karatedad,

Like Bob, I also own and back up the reputation of the old 62!
I'd be very surprised if you were disappointed in either model, except the $1800 tag does seem a little steep. I'm not saying its not worth it if the sax is like new for instance. But I have seen them cheaper!
The original neck should be fine! but do check the fit into the body they can be a bit ummm 'sticky' and you don't want to have to wrestle with it.
A Good mouthpiece to start? from my personal experience a yamaha 4c of course!!!
They truely are great VFM with a decent enough sound. Isn't there one with the sax?
But if you want to better that, again from personal experience I recommend a vandoren java A45. This has extended capabilities over the yam 4c but comes at a higher price.

By the way, I'm guessing Pete may move this thread.

 

[saxismyaxe]

Welcome to the forums Karatedad. 🙂
My area of "expertise" isn't with Yamaha horns, so I will defer to my colleagues on that one. I just wanted to say hello.

 

[griff136]

I prefer the older 62's with the purple/maroon transfer type yamaha logo on the bell.

$1800 dollars for an older one is a little expensive - but it depends on its condition and more importantly, in my opinion, the way it plays.


having said that you cant go far wrong with any yamaha really., and as saxlicker says a yamah mouthpiece isnt a bad place to start.

 

[Linky Lee]

I never used to really rate Yamaha mouthpieces... until I got my soprano and they really do work well, very well.

I can't see myself needing any other mouthpiece for soprano unless I want a drastically different sound. I've stuck RJS 2S reeds and a rovner dark ligature on it and it's lovely!

I also prefer my Selmer S80 C* to any of my other mouthpieces for alto and tenor. Very strange.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Linky, I presume that's the 4C you got with the soprano you bought from me. Yes, that's a fine mouthpiece, I could have used it very happily. Not much to choose between that and my regular soprano mouthpiece which is an old Selmer Soloist refaced a bit by Ed Pillinger.

I really do rate those standard cheap Yamaha mouthpieces.

Hite are also extremely good for a reasonably priced no nonsense mouthpiece.

 

[Linky Lee]

It is indeed Pete. I'm loving the soprano! It seems to get better and better every day... maybe thats the practise 😱

I think I'd rate them better than the S80 because of the price, though I haven't tried them on Alto or Tenor.

 

[Bobby G]

griff136 wrote:
I prefer the older 62's with the purple/maroon transfer type yamaha logo on the bell.

That's what I have, although I had to encourage the nasty purple logo to wear off (this was discussed elsewhere when I first bought it), which I suppose may reduce its value if I couldn't demonstrate definitively that it's an older one. Apparently it's not easy to date a Yamaha from it's serial number as they suffer from sequential irregularities. Not that I'd ever sell mine, I've grown accustomed to her face.

I have to agree with Pete and Linky Lee about the good old Yamaha 4c mouthpiece for soprano. I tend to use a Selmer S80, but really the 4c is just as good. I have no idea how, but I seem to have acquired two 4c's for soprano. If anyone wants one.....

Cheers, Bob

 

[shanegoodway]

I have a alto Yas 62s

my teacher only plays old selmers he freaked when i turned up with my new Horn.

But he know really rates it I maybe should have stayed with my yas 275 but know its all fine i have got used to using it and my sound is getting better every month.

 

[Bobby G]

I like the variety of sounds I can get from the 62 (or maybe it's just my natural talent 🙂 . Or my mouthpiece) It goes from quite edgy and cutting through to subtone very nicely, and even does a passable faux-vintage in the lower registers if I'm nice to it.

Cheers, Bob

 

[peter_fitton]

I notice on Pete's DVD that he's playing a Yamaha with a purple logo on the bell. Was that a YAS62? Sounds like a great horn whatever it is. Lovely sound. Was it your own, Pete? I remember you saying you'd had a Yam alto and it got nicked. Or did Yamaha supply it and insist you play it - as I notice that all the instruments on the set were supplied by Yamaha...presumably they helped with the financing of the project?

 

[Pete Thomas]

It was a YAS 23 I think. They made me play it, but I didn't like it as much as the Adolph Sax I had at the time. But getting back to the topic I do think the YAS 62 is good, but I don't know the mkII