Guardala's are AWESOME horns. Unfortunately, I guess they're not making them anymore. That could work to your advantage though. You might find one at a really good price. The P Mauriats i am really not that familiar with. I have heard of them, and never heard anything bad about them, but I have never seen or played one. I really can't tell you much about them. As for Selmer, I think everyone knows my opinion about them. Vintage SBA's and Mark VI's are great horns, but people want a ridiculous amount of money for them. The Mark VII's are ok for classical, but suck for just about everything else. The newer Series II and Series III's and the American series suck, and the new Reference series horns are way over-priced and over-rated. The best Conns are those made from about 1930-1963. Conn 6M's and 10M's are my favorites. I just love the tone. The 10M tenor though can be a nightmare when it comes to intonation. Many of the modern style high baffel resonator mouthpieces do not work well with the Conn 10M's. They need a wide open chamber. I ordered a Jody Jazz ESP. I talked to Jody, who also plays a Conn 10M, and this is what he uses. His mouthpieces are AWESOME, by the way. I know you didn't mention anything about Yamaha, but the 62 Series II and the 82 Custom Z are both great horns at a very modest price. I would also highly recommend the Keilwerth SX 90 and SX 90R (with tone rings). The R cost considerably more, and honestly, the tone rings don't make that much difference. I would say just go for the SX 90, and get a really good mouthpiece like the Jody ESP or the new DV. The B&S Medusa horns are really nice too. Just find the one that you like the best! Jim

Have you played a Medusa Alto, Jim? I'm might get one, but any advice before hand would be appreciated.

The biggest issue for me right now is finding any outside information on these P.Mauriat horns. I want to believe what the stores that sell them are saying, but they are just trying to make money. Does anyone have any site I can check out for outside info on these horns? Does ANYONE in this forum know any more info about these horns or has actually tried one and bought one. Finally, in their adverstisements they state that P.Mauriat horns blow other horns away in that pricerange.($2100-$2600) Does this mean that Selmers are better horns because they cost twice that much?

I've only played one Medusa and it was a tenor. I've seen a couple altos and heard one that a guy was playing, but I didn't get the opportunity to try it. The tenor I played was really nice; very similar to a Keilwerth SX-90 design. The B&S lacked some of the finess that the Keilwerth had, but it was considerably cheaper. The quality though I think is very good, and they have a great sound.

To what I understand the Medusa is what used to be the Gurardala line of honrs, I am looking to try one cause I really liked the Guardala Altos

Jazzfool.. When I was 14...all my friends were playing brand new nice shiny $350 Conn Saxs (student model crap in the 76-80 era). By dad came back from the flea market with an old, dusty, musty horn that he traded a shotgun and 35 bucks for. It was old, scratched up. I took it apart (not completely) and cleaned it and put it back together and it still sounded better than the pretty conns. It was a Noblet, an intermediate model I found out later. I had a crappy plastic mouthpiece... If I had it to do all over again and money was no object then listen to these guys and focus on a yamaha, keilworth, selmer, cannonball, guardala...stay away from everything else until you have more experience. If money is an object....Dude...Get a Great Vintage Professional Sax like a Conn, King or Martin. Then get a Jody Jazz mouthpiece, some good reeds and you will be much happier. I've had new horns but now have vintage selmers, a martin alto from the 30's that sounds incredible (very pretty) a killer Conn Bari 12M..The most import thing is a killer mouthpiece because with a mismatched mouthpiece (expensive or cheap) will make the most expensive horn sound like a lead pipe. Spend $100-350 for a good piece. Many music stores have mouthpieces that you can try in addition to the horns themselves...Just be prepared to experiment for a while. If you have a good instructor ask him to help you by going with you or bringing one or two to him to help you evaluate. If you dont have one...find one, at least to consult you on your choices. Good Luck Jeff