I just bought a monique alto and I love it. I'm experienced enough to know what a good sax is--I played all the way through junior high, high school, and college, and even did a little pro work. I haven't personally tried a wide array of saxophones. I started on a Yamaha YAS-23 and later moved up to a YAS-52. I've also tried out friends' horns as they got them--Selmer Super Action 80, Buffet, even a Bundy II (yeah, I know, that's a piece of crap student horn). I liked the super action 80, but it seemed really plain vanilla--no personality at all, a good overall, do-everything horn. The buffet is great. That's my sister's horn, and it sings beautifully. Of course the Bundy sounded as bad as it looked. I'd never heard of or tried a Monique before I bought it, but it's better than my YAS-52! The intonation is perfect. When I got it, I wasn't so sure--some of the notes were really hard to hit, so I got out my Yamaha to compare and realized I was just out of practice. After playing them both for a while I found that the Monique was more accurate pitch-wise than my Yamaha. The keys feel about the same. The reason I bought the Monique was that I've always wanted a silver-plated saxophone, and here I was able to get the saxophone of my dreams for not very much money. And it's turned out to be just that. It's a beautiful instrument. The silver plate gives it a slightly brighter tone than my YAS-52, but it's also heavier, so it's really not that much different. I've heard a lot of people talk trash about the Monique. It took me three mouthpieces and 4 reeds to find the right combination, but once I found it, I was in love. So don't judge it too quickly. And if you're interested in my comparison on the other horns, I'd say I'd put the super action 80 above my YAS-52, but only for the reason that my YAS-52 has a high A that's ever so slightly sharp, and the Selmer didn't. So I'd put Monique first on my list, then the Selmer, then the Yamaha. (Not enough experience to tell about the Buffet, and I would never buy a Bundy, even for a student!) Good luck!

I know nothing about saxophones (other than I love the sound). I have an eleven year old girl just starting out- any recommendations on a light, economical alto- easy to work keys would be a plus (the fingers are a little on the stubby side)? Doting Dad

I don't recall rather I've ever played a Monique or not actually. I've played just about everything at one time or another. The only 2 Asian horns I've played that I have had anything GOOD to say about are the Yamahas and the Yanigasawas, and while they're both well made horns, I didn't particularly like the sound. Some of these cheaper horns have very poor quality metal. The brass is very soft, dents easily, and keys break. Often some of these cheaper horns are heavily laquered. The extra laquer makes the horns look nice and helps prevent oxidation and corrosion (The cheaper metal tends to corrode faster). The laquer will deaden the sound though also. From everything I've heard about Monique, they're better than some of the others. I have played Winstons and I thought they were a very nice sax for the money. I'm sure you have a certain budget to work with. We all do. If I could afford to buy any new horn that I wanted, I'd buy a Keilwerth SX90. It's really easy for the people of this forum to suggest paying considerably more money for a horn when they're not paying the bill! I'm sure your fiancee will LOVE the Monique if for no other reason than the fact that it is a gift from you! If my girlfriend bought me a sax for Christmas, I'd be happy no matter what it was. Best of Luck!

lol. sureeee these are great saxophones i mean u must of paid 400$ for it which is expensive. i would rather make a saxophone of a empty soda can than to buy a monique