Mouthpiece or saxophone?

Everyone is going to have a personal preference. You may want to try a couple of different horns out if you are asking about the sax itself. I personally play a Cannonball Big Bell Stone Series Alto and I love it. I have owned Yamaha YAS 62 and loved it, I have played Mark VI Selmer's and enjoyed them my personal favorite is the Cannonball. Selmer does make exquisite horns and the quality is par excellence. However, if you are on a fixed budget and are looking for a great horn you can find great professional saxes at a significantly lower cost (assuming you are looking for a pro model) As far as student line and intermediate model saxes...since I would recommend the Yamaha YAS 23 or the YAS 475. They are incredible horns and you will be hard pressed to find this kind of quality in student horns unless you are able to lay your hands on a really good Conn though I don't have any experience with them (Conns)...just purely from what others have said. As for mouthpieces...you are going to have to just try some of them out. The stock mouthpiece in the Cannonball is actually pretty good...However, most of the time stock mouthpieces that come with the horns are not really high quality...so, you will have to investigate a little bit. If you get a Cannonball, you will have to specify to the dealer what type of mouthpiece you want, they cut one for Jazz and one for Legit playing and unless you tell them which kind you want, your stuck with whatever comes in the case. For Legit sax, I use a E. Rousseau NC4 which has a small tip opening and a very dark sound (at least by my taste and it was a bit too dark for me initially until I used it a while and now I thoroughly enjoy it. I have used Selmer D and C* and like them as well. Try some out. There are some forums here where Sax equipment is talked about and there is some great advice given by some very knowledgeable folks regarding this very thing! Have a great time playing!

I am going to assume you mean horn because you didn't say mouthpiece. I have a cannonball also and the big bell does have a nice lead alto tone. I do think there are alot of horns that would work as the Lead horn. Can we get a little feedback on what you really wanta know? Like do you have a price range you are looking for. Or maybe you just wanted to post a question and get lots of opinons? Do you want a newer horn or do you perfer vintage? Yes, some horns function better in certain enviroments, just tell us what your thinkin.

If you are goin to be a serious player one thing you should think about when buying a horn is to look at it as an investment for yourself as well as price, be careful with some of the brands out there, because if you buy certain horns and you decide later on you want something else you'll end up selling it at more of a loss as opposed to other brands, I'd suggest investing in a Mark VI, you can get a good mark vi for around 2-3 thousand some places, and if you decide you dont want it anymore I GUARANTEE you'll be able to sell it for 3 or 4 thousand cus theres always someone lookin for one and willing to pay top dollar.