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Forum » General Discussions » Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?


by aravaioli
(24 posts)
19 years ago

Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

Hi there Can anybody of you help me choosing the right sax? I was considering buying locally (Montreal, Canada) a new tenor sax, because mine is falling apart (it was a cheap one and it shows). I am a "weekend warrior" player, intermediate/beginner. Steve's music store has here good prices on the following saxes: 1. Prelude by selmer TS700 (made in China): 899 CAD$ 2. Jupiter 585GL : 829 CAD$ According to the salesman the Jupiter plays much better, but I don't know how reliable (or commissioned...) this opinion is. Thinking to go a step up I thought buying at Kessler Music an Antigua Winds A551BC with enlarged bell at 1100 US$, about 1400 CAD$. It claims to be a pro model. Any opinion about this tenor? Would it be really another category of sax and worth the many extra $$$ or not? And how about the Prelude? If Selmer accepts to have its brand name stamped on those saxes would it be safe to assume they are reasonably well-built? Thanks in advance to everybody who will take the time to answer.

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  2. by connsaxman_jim
    (2336 posts)
    19 years ago

    Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

    I wouldn't buy either of them. You should be able to find a nice Buescher or Conn in good shape for $1000, which would be a much better choice than some beginner model horn made in China or Taiwan with soft keys that break easily and a crappy sound!

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    1. by connsaxman_jim
      (2336 posts)
      19 years ago

      Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

      Here's a couple good buys I found on ebay. Yamaha YTS-52 cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16234&item=3781655470&rd=1 Conn 16M looks nice! cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ViewItem&category=16234&item=3781470137&rd=1 Yamaha YTS 21 CHEAP! cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllViewItem&category=16234&item=3781430274&rd=1 NEW Yamaha YTS 23 $1179 Buy It Now! cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllViewItem&category=16234&item=3781341940&rd=1

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      1. by connsaxman_jim
        (2336 posts)
        19 years ago

        Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

        Reply To Post Yahoo!


        1. by aravaioli
          (24 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          Thanks a lot Jim. What scares me the most in buying an used sax over Ebay is that it won't be returnable. I spotted a Yamaha YTS-52 for 1129$, said in like new condition: cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16234&item=3781731541&rd=1 Would you go for it? Thanks!

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        2. by connsaxman_jim
          (2336 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          $1129 for a nice YTS-52 sounds like a good deal. That's a really nice sax! I've found that most sellers are pretty honest, although they may not know much about the instrument they are selling. I would definately look at the seller's feedback, and ask questions about the item. When buying a saxophone, I would ask when the last time it was serviced and what all they have had done to it; pads, corks, etc. I would ask if it was played by a student or used in marching band. That doesn't necessarily mean it was abused if it was, but I would be a little more skeptical, and I would want to be assured that there was no damage. Ask them, if you buy the sax and it just doesn't appear to be what you thought it was, can you return it? You may have to sacrifice the cost of shipping, but I think most customers will let you return something if it's not to your liking. Plan on spending a couple hundred dollars to have the instrument checked out and adjusted. Chances are, it will not need that much work, but better to plan ahead.

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        3. by aravaioli
          (24 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          connsaxman_jim: I noticed your post on another thread and I checked the new Conn tenor 'Director': Music123 sells it for $1050 and makes me VERY interested in buying this sax. Only problem is that I cannot find any information about this model. Question for you: are you sure that this model is made in the US?? The price seems too low ... Could you please provide me some Web sources if you find any? I was thinking to go for the Antigua Winds pro model at Kesslermusic, but this might be a better deal for just 50$ more. Thanks.

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        4. by connsaxman_jim
          (2336 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          I was a little surprised at the price too. Supposedly, it's made in Elkhart, but let me see what I can dig up.

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        5. by connsaxman_jim
          (2336 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          Wow, not much information available about the 37M yet! According to Musician's Friend/Giardinelli, they JUST got some in Feb. 7th. They don't have a picture or any reviews as of yet. The only reviews I've seen were from NAMM and I can't seem to find ANYTHING online either! I'm assuming that this sax is US made, because UMI has been producing the 24M and 25M alto saxophones at the Elkhart plant, so it only seems logical that the tenor would also be made in Elkhart.

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        6. by aravaioli
          (24 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          Unfortunately according to a post on another sax forum from Dave Kessler (dealer of Las Vegas) they are Taiwanese! Just as the new Selmer Aristocrat series. Let's face it: to get a new Japan or US made sax you need no less than 2000$.... Anything else is asian. By the way: yesterday I rented for a month a Jupiter entry-level model, the JTS-585GL just to make a thorough test before deciding what to do. Differently from what I read on web forums, it is marked as maide in Taiwan and not China (others say the 500 series is made in China). Conversely, in syntony with what I read, IT SUCKS! Manufacture is as cheap as it can be, intonation is ok but sound quality is worse than my present tenor, taiwanese made and 12 years old marked as "Floret" (I guess one of the many ghost companies pretending to produce saxophones for peanuts), which i thought was the lowest grade around. I still wonder if the Jupiter Deluxe are much different: the TS-787GL got some good reviews on the web.

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        7. by connsaxman_jim
          (2336 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          That's disappointing. I was surprised when I saw the price. The 25M alto is considered a basic pro model, and though it lists for around $3000, you can often find them new for around $1800. The 24M student alto sells for around $1200. I'm skeptical now, because the tenor should cost more than the alto. Why would they build the altos in the US though and not the tenor? I don't know. These companies are all connected anymore; Conn, Selmer, King, Jupiter, Yanigasawa. UMI has quite a monopoly over the music industry. I actually believed they were interested in making decent musical instruments, but now it seems they either want to charge sky-high prices for quality pro model instruments, or supply us with a bunch of JUNK made in Taiwan or China! Well, there's always Keilwerth or Yamaha, or an abundance of old vintage stuff to be found!

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        8. by sax_maniac
          (984 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: Help me choose: Antigua, Prelude by Selmer or Jupiter?

          Whether it's saxophones or toys or PDA's - it's just not cost-competitive to manufacture things in Western nations unless it is some sort of niche or high end product. (Please spare us the one exception you've thought of). So folks can resolve themselves to that fact and go buy that brand new shiny Chiny horn (whose quality will surely improve over the next several years). Or they can decide to go after a used/vintage American made instrument which will probably sound every bit as good or better than a new one if it's in good repair. And it will hold it's value even if it can't seem to hold it's lacquer :) There should be no surprise that there will be more and more American companies selling what are basically throw-away instruments over time. And it's not just the U.S. When Selmer Paris puts steel-cored resonators in Series III horns that can rust, they're not just resting on their laurels - they're in a deep coma.

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