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by mastervirtuoso
(1 post)
19 years ago

Professional Model?

Hi everyone, I was searching online and came upon this forum and decided to give it a shot. I'm a 17 year old student who will be going to college auditions around November I think. I've been playing since 6th grade, and I really enjoy the instrument. Currently, I play a Yamaha YAS-23 which as served me well so far, but I feel like I'm not getting all I can out of this intermediate saxophone, so I have started looking at professional models. I know that I could probably get tons of different responses and opinions to this, but I am just kind of curious as to what everyone's preferences are. Budget is not too big, I'm probably looking at around $3500 tops. I test played a few for just a few minutes each, and I didn't have a chance to check intonation so it was a pretty vague first impression. However, so far I was probably most impressed with the Selmer Reference 54 (a little too pricey, so looking to try Paris Series II sometime this week). I played a Keilworth which wasn't too bad, but I wasn't blown away either. I also played one of the Selmer Paris USA versions, and I was completely dissatisfied with that one. Several months ago I was lent a Conn by my teacher, and I loved playing it but I can't quite remember the model of it. Conn's website only shows 1 professional alto that they make, is this true? I have read some good stuff about the Yamaha professionals, but I don't know anywhere close to me that I could test play one. Any and all opinions are welcome and appreciated

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  2. by cmclose
    (1 post)
    19 years ago

    Re: Professional Model?

    Hi, I'd definately give the yamaha series a test. The 62II and the new custom saxes are great. My yamaha custom plays great. intonation is right on the money and the right mouthpiece combo will give you the darker, mellower sound or the brighter jazz sound that you want. One of my good friends has a selmer SBA series II and is very pleased with it. Not sure where you're located, but woodwind & brasswind has some pretty decent prices www.wwbw.com Just check around, test a lot of saxes using your mouthpiece and reed and that *should* give you a decent feel for the differences of each one.

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  3. by johnsonfromwisconsin
    (767 posts)
    19 years ago

    Re: Professional Model?

    I'm more of a concert and classical player and the couple Reference 54s I've playtested have been simply the best Altos I've ever had my hads on. My second favorite amongst the new stock would probably be the Yamaha 82Z, followed by the Series II, then the Yanagisawa 992 (second through probably fifth place would all be close, the ref is the only one that stands out for me)

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