Well, I think the quality of the Ref. 36 and Ref 54 is much better than the Series III. The Ref. 54 is based on the most popular saxophone ever created; the Selmer Mark VI. That would be my recommendation between the 2.

Not to get off-topic, I think the statements surrounding the Reference 54 being based off of the Mark VI quite funny. I mean, after the marketing failure that was the mark VII, Selmer got back to us with the SuperAction 80, the NEW Mark VI as they'de have you believe. A few years later, here comes the Series II, another Selmer horn based on the Mark VI, or so they said albiet improved in it's Mark VI likeness, but no, wait! Next they come out the Series III which is supposedly more Mark VI than the Mark VI, except with improved venting of the C#. Now comes the Reference 54, the one true copy of the Mark VI du jour, albiet with improved intonation and all. Not only that, but Yanagisawa and Yamaha first cut their teeth in the pro market by manufacturing Mark VI clones.

The most profound statement off all!!! I have been battling with this topic for years!! And I still can't make my mind up. I have played them all, Yam's, Yani's, Selmer 54/36/II/III/Mk6/Mk7, Keliworth, Gardarla. I was blown away by the Series 3 Selmer and at the time I owned a series 2. So I bought the Series 3. Now however, I'm not so sure anymore??? I've had the Series 3 for a couple of years, and now I fancy a change... Going back to the discussion about the Mk6/54 and 36. I have to agree to 'johnsonfromwisconsin' (nice name by the way). Selmer have been trying to better, equal, or what ever the Mk 6 since 1974!! So, best to play them all. and then pick your horn... Here is a little bit of interesting trivial. Sonny Rollins has been seen leaving a recording session with a selmer bundy!! We may as well give up ;-) Good luck.

NOBODY can compete with Selmer when it comes to the marketing game! Now when it comes to quality saxophones, while Selmer has pretty much lived off the reputation of their Mark VI and the affordability of their Bundy student models, Yanagisawa and Yamaha have taken the original Mark VI design and perfected it into a quality, easy playing instrument that is relatively affordable. I think their overall quality is much better than the Selmer Paris for considerably less money.

From what technicians have told me, that is correct. I really prefer a good Selmer 54 Alto or 36 tenor over *all* else, and their Series II and III horns score high with me as well, but it sounds like it takes a lot of work to get a lot of horns up to snuff with what Yani and Yama ships out of their factory as far as setup.

I have a Series III and I regret not getting the reference now. The reference looks SO much cooler and plays nicer. It's an all around more jazzy horn. If you're into more traditional music the III is the way to go, but for Jazz the reference is the way. Tango: You've been mentioning the Knights a lot, do they have a website or anything, a lot of the advice you've been posting from them have been pretty helpful. Thanks!