Hi Bruce!
I was participating in another Forum that was rather crude, so I move into this one. Hopefully the rest of the folks who chime in here, will be pleasant, PATIENT with a "newbie's such as you and I ("new" to to Forum in both are cases, and "New" to the Saxophone, as in my case at least).
You know how hard it is to type when a cat is "kneading" on your excessively thin bathrobe!!! OUCH!!
That was the whole idea.........to find a "reasonable, and playable horn" to start with, to find out if this whole process of trying out the Sax is right for me. There's no doubt I love the sound, (most folks do), and the wife is also a fan (that's it......had to throw a blanket over my legs before the cat made ground beef out of my thighs.....lol).
The part I like best (aside from the more reasonable price of course) about buying the re-habbed horn, was buying it from a guy who "specializes" in that field. Someone who is a fairly straight-shooter, not someone who is simply a Salesman, who will tell me "what I want to hear," but also a guy who has a vested interest, in that he loves the instrument, and wants to promote the instrument to the world (an Apostle, of sorts). He WANTS me to have a playable horn, and wants to see yet another who will be sucessful at my learning.
As in any activity, there are always those heros to look up to, and emulate. I don't know all the big names in the Saxophone world yet, but I see a plethera of players out there. Just like in any other activity, there are those who have devoted their whole lives to it, to a point where they are world known; and then there are many who have played it for years, but are known only to family and friends.
My goal is simply to learn to play it well enough to be able to serenade folks (and particularly my wife) with smooth Jazz Standards, and serenade even, (yes) myself! If I can achieve that, without too much anal activity (the passions for mouthpieces and reeds, and ligatures and, and, and, and......) I'll be a happy camper.
I'm 57, so I'm coming into this rather late of course. That makes me wonder about YOUR story. Why you started playing; WHEN you started playing; what made you stop, and why are you coming BACK to it? What drew you "in" the first time, and what draws you back "in" now? Tell your story...........I'm listening.
I have been spending a good deal of time watching videos on YouTube (of course; doesn't everyone?) and am a contributor to that Channel myself (over 100 uploads on various topics). I'd imagine that I will upload videos of my progress, as I have done with other things in my life, (like "Hunting" for example).
The variety of websites and "how to" videos, on sites like YouTube (and of course there are others) is so vast, that I have learned over the years to pick and piece all the information that is typical, (the same) from all. Sometimes I find bogus info after a while and I have learned to have a discriminate ear, when it comes to sources like those.
Videos are wonderful, but...........they don't give you the "in person" feedback. Yes you can upload and discuss, but I like the "real time" aspect of communication, and so I have called a few of the known Saxophone Teachers in my area (a couple of which I found from THIS Forum site, that has a Search tool for that ("thanks" Forum Creators), to lay the groundwork for cost, time, and interest. Since my horn won't be ready for a week or so, it gives me time to get a feel for the various local folks, and see who I'd like to work with.
My criteria for good Instructors/Teachers, is that they don't have to be famous; (as Michael says on "Woodsongs") they just have to be very, very good. Having reasonable rates (I'm finding $25.00 an hour pretty typical) is obvioiusly a plus, but being able to meet me on MY schedule (I still "work" for a living) is a biggy, as well.
Since you've been down this road before, as a Sax player, perhaps you could take a few moments and talk about what you learned NOT to do, this time around? I'd like to avoid any pitfalls I can. This particular section in the Forum is specificially about the Equipment however, so perhaps we could contineu that phase of the conversation in another section, or off the grid by e-mail (see my Profile for e-mail).
-Soupy