Jessica- First, do you know for sure that they want a soprano sax in the school jazz band? Are they getting custom charts written for them? Most stock stage band music does not have a part for soprano sax. Second, is she already playing alto or tenor sax? Soprano can be somewhat tougher to play in tune, so may not be the best sax to learn with. Soprano has limited applications in all school music I know of. It's used mainly in jazz combos, some broadway show music and some orchestra charts. Third, Does she have a private instructor? This is the most valuable thing you could contribute to her playing career. If you really want a soprano sax, you can look at well-cared for used horns or brand new. In the ultra cheap area, this might include Yamaha used or E.M. Winston brand new. This latter can be had for $300 or so, and is actually a decent horn. There's lots of other sugestions elsewhere regarding vintage horns and spending more money. Check out Jim's List of Approved Brands in the High School section. Good Luck.

I've been looking into buying a soprano sax for a few months now (and also have a 14-yr-old freshman daughter [who plays primarily oboe]), so maybe I can help. If she can't borrow one from the school (be sure to ask!), I would look around for a rental to play until you're sure she'll stick with it. I'm currently paying $30/mo. for one while I figure that out for myself... From everything I've read here (and my own experience buying and playing many other kinds of musical instruments) I think you won't find a new and 'cheaper yet good quality' instrument for less than about $700. You can probably find a used one in good condition for less than that, but you would need to bring along an experienced saxophonist to be sure that's what you were getting (and it may take a while to find, too). If you're comfortable with going straight to a new $700 sax (you should be able to recover at least 50% of that if you re-sell it within a year), the 'cheaper' brand of soprano that gets favorably mentioned most often around here is E. M. Winston (use Google to find dealers). As a parent of two jazz band/wind ensemble kids (trumpet and oboe/sax/flute) I'm curious: what instrument(s) does your daughter already play?