Some of the vintage saxes are wonderful instruments such as the Conns and Bueschers, but you need to remember that many of them are 60 + years old! If they have not had a mechanical overhaul or restoration they can be very problematic and unreliable to keep in playing condition. For this reason I recommend that if you are on a tight budget that you look for a contemporary student sax such as the Yamaha in your price range. If you did pick up a respectable vintage sax for what you can pay, chances are it would need an additional $600 - $800 in repair before you would have a solid playing instrument. John