ask them if you can have someone look over it! But by all means GET THE THING! who cares if you're not majoring in music, it's nice to have a good horn laying around for a lifetime hobby. as as for $1700 being a lot. Let's look at it this way. (from my experences) -I bought a $1300 kayak about 4-5 years ago... it's at my aunt and uncles house - I never really use it. -I'm "investing" all of $2200-3000 into metalworking equipment for my new hobby. andrewthomasdesigns.com -I have at least $2000 in dj equipment (tables, mixer, effects, speakers) that I don't use, and my big speakers never get turned loud. -I have at least a few grand in new records laying around that I don't play much. my point to all of this... when you get a little older and have money to throw around on hobbies $2000 really isn't that much. There are also people your age who like to work on cars, have huge car payments, some are into hunting or fishing... even at your age that isn't unreasonable to think about as a hobbie.

i'm not sure what you mean.. this thing was DEFINITELY spankin new. it's unlaquered, and there wasn't a single finger print anywhere. granted they make you wear gloves, but still... the case was EXTREMELY solid, everything was definitely new. the reason they were on clearence, the guy told me.. is that they don't sell well because of ignorant people. they look at the unlaquered finish and think it looks old and used and is a peice of crap, so they take the new and shiney one that's sometimes the actual peice of shit, where as the unlaquered was a better horn... iunno.. all i know is that the horn sounded amazing. everything was effortless... double octave jumps as fast as my fingers could move with out any problem at all (16th notes at about 80-90bpm). the altissimo was so clear and effortless. and then couple that with the otto link, it just sounded incredible. i've all but decided i'm gonna do it. gonna go next weekend again when they have an otto link 8 in (they only had a 6 and 7) and buy the best mouth peice definitely, and hopefully walk away with a new horn... i'm actually extremely excited :D

congratulations, I hope it works out for you..... the moment I tried that otto link 8* I just laughed, and said "it's mine". when it makes you feel that good, money shouldn't be an issue. I started playing again because I started loving the sound of a good sax. And good horns don't depreciate, unless you really run them down. They might even get more expensive based on a few things.

sweet! let us know how you like it! also, check for past threads on here about links... it seems the new ones are hit and miss. So if it dosn't work either try another one or send it in for work. I have a vintage 8* and it just sounds great! I hope things work out.