Buying First Saxophone

Stool Pigeon

Hey there,

I’m thinking of taking up the Saxophone, but I can’t figure out which would be the best to buy. Can some please recommend a Sax for a complete beginner, and please explain what the difference is between an Alto, Tenor, Soprano, Baritone Sax etc….

Thanks a million!

vengeance52

not sure what would suit, but i think i saw a sax for sale on Adverts.ie a while back so take a look there.

Rustar

For your first sax you should be OK sticking with any of the student brands that have been around forever...Bundy, Jupiter, Conn, Olds, etc.

If you've got a ton of cash burning a hole in your bank account, the high quality ones to look for would be Yanigasawa, Selmer, and the higher-priced Jupiters.

For your first sax I'd recommend sticking with Alto or Tenor. The sopranos and baritones take a slightly more advanced technique to play well. Plus, a baritone weighs as nearly as much as a small car....you don't want to deal with that, do you?

Fringe

Alto is the best to start on. The name is the range of the instrument and it starts with Baritone being the lowest to Tenor to Alto to Soprano.

Rustar

There are actually many more types, but you won't see them much out in the real world.

Sopranino - soprano - alto - C 'melody' sax - tenor - baritone - bass - contrabass, and even a few one-shots of larger sizes. Alto's a good place to start.

Stool Pigeon

Hey there,

Okay cheers for those pointers everyone. I’ve been checking out a couple on this website:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/saxophones.html

Although I haven’t got a clue how much I should be spending, the prices certainly seem reasonable. Reckon I shouldn’t spend too much on my first, just in case this is a fad. Although I doubt it as I’m really keen to learn a musical instrument. Please check out the two that I’ve been looking at, and let me know what you think. Would I be better off going for one of the brands mentioned earlier?

http://www.thomann.de/ie/startone_sas75_altsaxophon.htm

http://www.thomann.de/ie/thomann_tas150.htm

Cheers!

Rustar

Ouch. You're taking your chances buying 'store' brands for 200-300. Saxes are not cheap....most of the student brands start around 450 for altos. If you buy one of those, take it to a pro and have him/her check the pad alignment and seating. That's where you're likely to encounter the first problems on an extremely cheap sax.

molder

www.adverts.ie