Tenor Sax - Selmer or Yamaha?

[Scuba Jeremy]

Odd question. I'm going to trade in my clarinet and alto sax for a newer Tenor. I'm just not down with the alto any more. Should I go with a Selmer or Yamaha? I liked the Yamaha when I was in High School, but I'm looking for any advice that any other players might have.

[flashfrost]

Selmer all the way...all the best play selmers. Yamahas are good start-ups, but if you are going to invest in a good horn, go for a selmer

[Scuba Jeremy]

Excellent, I'll look into that, thanks!

[burke]

yea i used to play sax and selmers are awesome. you can tell the sound of a selmer a mile away compared to a yamaha. also, make sure you get a selmer mouthpiece, they help too.

[kgoedman]

Selmer makes the best saxophones hands down. If it's an option look at older (like 60's and 70's) Conn saxophone because they have an incredibly beautiful warm tone.

[flashfrost]

good call on the mouthpiece...

...and don't go cheap on the reeds either...don't settle on the lower end reeds - spend some cash on some good ones. a wicked sax with crappy reeds is like buying an expensive stereo receiver with crappy speakers. you'll definately notice the difference.

[gimpy123]

I personally like selmers better. But Yamaha came out with their "custom" model and I know of a college proffeser who uses that. I read alot of articles on it too. Its all about your feel though. Try both brands out and see which one you like more

[Scuba Jeremy]

Yeah, the difference is mostly in the price. I can probably trade in the clarinet and alto (it's a King) for around $1200, I'm looking to grab a tenor in the $1200 - $2500 range, possibly on a trade in and rent to own kinda deal. We'll see. Thanks for the advice, I'll see what they have tomorrow. If Selmer is out, what's another good brand to consider?

[scott brown]

screw the tenor and get a bari with a nice fat 4 reed :)

i need to start playing again....

[saxman1083]

My primary tenor is a Nickel Plated Keilwerth SX90R. If you are looking for a broad powerful sound this is the sax to get. But the warm sound you get out of a Selmer Mark VI might be something to consiter. That sound can't be replicated today because the Mark VI's were cast out of melted shell casings from WW2. There is something about that metal that will never be found again. The thing is, a new Keilwerth SX90R will run you at least $2800 to $3000. A quality Mark VI will run well over $4000.

What kind of setting do you do most of your playing? That makes a difference in what saxs you should be looking at.

One final bit of advice..you HAVE to try all the saxs you can get your hands on. My primary saxes are: soprano-Yamaha Professional alto-Selmer Mark VII, Tenor-the Keilwerth, bari-Selmer Mark VI As you can see they are all different models, even saxes of the same make and model sound different and play differently from eachother. You have to just play around with them until you find what you like the most. When trying them out, use the mouthpiece/reed setup you are intending to play on!

Good Luck!

--Mike--

[Scuba Jeremy]

Oh hell yeah man, I'd love to go Bari again. I miss playing those things, especially when a tune called for the low C ... the way it would just shake your whole body... it was like sex.

I called around looking for one a few months back, and the only places that had any would not rent to own, and the cheapest one I could find was $6500 and it was in pretty bad shape. Not exactly in my price range either. I even called my old band director and asked if he still had the old 1940's bari that I used to play over the summers (I had played a nicer one 'on season'), and he said that they got rid of it a year or so ago at auction. :( So if you come across a good one somewhere, let me know! I'd also love the chance to jam on a bass sax. I've seen one played in person only once, and it sounded like a tuba, but it looked badass!

[Scuba Jeremy]

Nothing serious for now. Mostly just jamming at home, sometimes with friends in small clubs, coffee houses. I haven't played seriously in nearly three years, it's been a hobby. But I've been looking to start playing out more. I just don't like the way this alto plays. It's very sluggish going up from D, the damn octave key is just sluggish. I've taken it apart, cleaned everything, had it looked at, cleaned professionally, nothing seems to change it. The rod's not bent, I don't know what to do, but it annoys me. And I just like the Bb tuning on the tenor, so much easier to improvise with. Call me lazy, I just don't like messing around trying to improvise on an Eb alto.

I would for a bari though. ;)

[saxman1083]

If you like Bass Sax you should see these new things called Tubeaxes I think. Something like that. Anyways it is a Bass Sax twisted into the height of a bari so you dont need to sit on a huge stool. I was at a Master class last semester and got to play it since I am the Bari player for the college. It was AMAZING!

[scott brown]

played bari for 6 years. band director had some old yamahas that were needing help, so he got a sweet new yanagisawa to replace them, and i got to use it for the first 4 years of it's life. that thing ruled. the lows on that thing were sooo easy. man, it made Moanin' (the Mingus tune) just flat out rock. dropping down for the bflats and a's like they were nothing...

[Scuba Jeremy]

:eek: :D I'll have to look into that. I might end up taking another concert band class when I resume classes this spring. I'll be going to Columbia College in Chicago, taking classes in sound reinforcement and recording. But a class or two in the concert band wouldn't be bad. Better start warming up my chops now for the audition! Anyone know where to download scales for the Eb tenor? Of course, I could probably go and buy a beginners book again just for the practice!

[saxman1083]

Well my call would be...for straight foward rock/pop, a Keilwerth is the way to go. If you are gonna be playing a lot of jazz, or any music you wont need to fight cranked amped instruments, I would get a Mark VI. I think the reason LeRoi plays Mark VI's is because he has the sound equiptment to keep the warm tone while being amped over a rock band.

[saxman1083]

The Universal Method is the best damn book out there. It'll run ya a good $40, but you will probably never need another method book. It has damn near EVERYTHING in it

[Scuba Jeremy]

From 5-8th grade I was learning on the alto. Freshman year of HS I was playing alto/bari. Sophomore year was tenor/bari and alto in the marching band. Junior year was all tenor, concert and marching bands. Last year I went back to my high school to visit with the band director and dub all of the DATs from our concerts, it was awesome to listen back to some of those tapes. For a high school band, we weren't bad. Especially when we joined the Concert Band and Choir to perform Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. That was badass!

[Scuba Jeremy]

And Saxman - you've been very helpful tonight, thanks for all the insight! If you have any recordings of yourself, I'd love to hear them! Thanks again!

Scott, I thought I recalled hearing that you played, right on man! Always good to hear from a fellow saxophonist!

[picc21]

I've played on a Yamaha, a Selmer, and an EB Winston. The Selmer absolutely kicked butt. For your prince range though, the Winston was pretty good as well. I used the 385JB. It's their pro line, and it ran about $1500. I had never heard of this company before I used my college's sax, and it surprised the heck out of me! But yeah, definitely try as many as you can. It's the only way you'll find a sax that fits you.

[skippapotamus]

a well adjusted vintage horn will be all you'll ever need. Buescher and Martin are great values, you'll want to look in the 40s and 50s eras.
And I do mean well adjusted, too. Those new Kielwerths and Yanis need adjusting every five years, too.

[saxman1083]

lol i agree skippapotamus....a well adjusted martin would sound great. my college had me playing on a 1940's martin bari, but let me thell you the thing was a piece. It was beat up more than a manhattan curb. I could tell though that if it was in good condition it would have sounded amazing, it had its moments!