And here once again is SaxMan: "Yamaha brass, though, it corrodes like its trying to win a competition - their brass instruments are freaking pieces of crap - you would have to be stupid or something to buy a brass instrument from yamaha" A little opinionated I'd say, and not entirely factual The comment about asian brass is partly true. Asian brass is generally softer. This is because most often the brass they use is actually an alloy of brass and softer materials. The reason for this is that Asia has very poor quality metal in general and not just brass. their steel contains a lot of carbin. China imports a lot of steel from the United States. Yamaha brass doesn't corrode any more than any other brass. The brass will ding and dent easier than a vintage American horn or a European horn (Selmer Paris, Keilwerth for example), but as long as you use some care and don't try to use it as a hammer, I think you'll be ok. The superglue thing that SaxMan is referring to is not as bad as he's making it sound. All saxophones used epoxy in one place or another. Yamaha on some of their cheaper models used epoxy to attach some of the smaller posts and spring bumpers. These are actually quite a bit stronger than the soldered on posts. Yamaha did this knowing that these student horns will get more abuse. As for the cost of repairs, there really isn't much difference in the costs of repairs between one brand and another. I can only think of a few cases where you may need to unsolder or unglue a post. This is not a situation that you're likely to come across. Just stating the facts first. Now I'll offer my opinion. I'm not a big fan of Yamaha saxes. Many of their other instruments are very good quality and have a very good sound. Their pianos and drums are second to none! The Selmer Series II is also a good horn. It's more a matter of preference. I'd also look at Keilwerth. Hands down, if I was buying a new horn I'd buy a keilwerth. The SX series is a little pricey, but they have some other models that are less expensive and are very good.

Please take a look at the next reply. Saxman says that the Yamaha brass is pretty lousy. He also suggests that I get a used horn. Not a bad idea, but I don't feature buying a horn I haven't already tried out. There don't seem to be many used horns in my area and that is one reason I'm looking at new.