Need recommendations and info on best sax for son
Hi! My name is Michelle and my son has only played the alto saxophone for a year and has done really, really well with it. My husband played the saxophone in middle school, high school and a little time in college and then his saxophone sat in a closet for the next 30 years and now we brought it out thinking it would help save us money for at least our son's first couple of years of playing the saxophone. And we also wanted to make sure this was the instrument for him. He also plays classical acoustic guitar and had piano lessons for two years so he has a musical background which has probably helped him to excel in playing the saxophone.
We took him to band camp this week and when he performed for the judges so they could decide what his placement would be....the judge at the first try out said he was "out-playing" his instrument. He still was placed in a high school level band (he just finished the sixth grade) and is the youngest in the entire band, he is a 3rd level out of 5, and we are very proud of him. He really, really loves playing the saxophone. He is also VERY, VERY loud, his band teacher likes to tell him he needs to stop trying to be "the hero" of the band. :) We are hoping he will learn how to better contain his volume, etc. soon!
So, here is my question, and I am sure you have been asked this before by many other parents, but now that we are definitely going to have to buy him a saxophone (or we would probably be doing him a disservice) what brand should we go with? I found one on Craig's list for $550. It is a Yamaha YAS-23 for only $500 and it was played by a high school student for only two years. I really hate to pay retail when there are many instruments out there that are available for so much less.
Our son would like to continue to play in college (at this point anyway). He is taking a jazz class as well at band camp. He really, really loves playing the saxophone. We plan to enroll him in private lessons at a local university as well so that he can be challenged. He finished his band book at Christmas this last year and the rest of the class didn't even finish by the end of the school year. I think his teacher would like him to possibly play tenor sax eventually. Is this something that you any of you would say would be a recommendation for a student who is good playing alto and is VERY loud? He definitely wants to pursue other saxophones, but I would like him to focus on one by h.s. He also wants to learn all woodwinds in general....he definitely doesn't think like a typical 12 year old. :)
BTW, I believe the saxophone he is playing right now that we gave him to use from when my husband played is a Conn. I can try to get the Serial number if necessary. It would have been purchased in the late 1970's...possibly 1980. We would be happy to completely refurbish this one, if it would be good enough for our son. That is what I had planned to do all along, but he just hasn't wanted to part with it long enough since he started playing in order to do so.
I have read some posts about the mouthpiece being very important? I looked on amazon.com and saw that the recommended mouth piece is around $150??!!! Wow!
Any help anyone is will to give, or if there are posts you could direct me to that would help me, I would greatly appreciate it very, very much! I played the flute for five years and I'm not all that musically incline but both of our children are (our daughter plays the piano) and I really want to do what is best for our son and be financially responsible at the same time!!!!
Thanks again for reading my very long post!
Michelle
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