Home
<p>When you’re starting out on sax, should you get a new, cheap <a href="https://www.xuqiumusic.com/saxophone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Chinese saxophone</strong></a> from Amazon, or should you buy a used sax from eBay?</p><p><br></p><p>I want to know, is this used saxophone good enough to get started on as a beginner player?</p><p><br></p><p>Buying your first saxophone</p><p>Lots of my Sax School students start out like I did on a cheap student model saxophone.</p><p><br></p><p>The most important thing is to find a saxophone that doesn’t hold you back and is going to make learning easy.</p><p><br></p><p>I’m going to look at:</p><p><br></p><p>Why buy a used saxophone</p><p>Why I chose this used sax</p><p>Put this sax to the test by playing a couple of different pieces and comparing it to my pro alto</p><p>Share a couple of pitfalls to avoid when you buy a used sax.</p><p><br></p><p>Why Buy A Used Sax?</p><p>When you go online, you’ll see loads of shiny new Chinese saxophones and they are relatively cheap. It can be confusing because there are so many brands, it’s difficult to know which ones are good.</p><p><br></p><p>The great thing about buying a used sax is that you can get an instrument that would have cost a lot more when it was new, and it could be a much better quality than a new sax for the same price.</p><p><br></p><p>It might not be as shiny, but you’re getting more saxophone for your money!</p><p><br></p><p>That means:</p><p><br></p><p>Better quality materials</p><p>Better design</p><p>Better durability</p><p>Better resale value when you’re ready to upgrade</p><p>What if my used saxophone goes wrong?</p><p>Actually, there’s not much that can go wrong with a saxophone that can’t be fixed by a good repairer, reasonably cheaply. You can find a repairer online or though your local music store.</p><p><br></p><p>Which used sax to buy</p><p>I bought a used Yamaha YAS-23 <a href="https://www.xuqiumusic.com/alto-saxophone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>alto saxophone</strong></a>. This is the kind of saxophone you might have borrowed from school as a student learner. They were made from the late 1970s and have now been replaced by the YAS-280.</p><p><br></p><p>These saxophones are really robust and durable – perfect for students.</p><p><br></p><p>This used sax has got some signs of wear and a few scratches but no obvious dents, which is what I was looking for in the eBay listing. </p><p><br></p><p>I found this saxophone played really well straight out of the case.</p><p><br></p><p>All the notes seal throughout the range, and the altissimo and overtones play great too.</p><p><br></p><p>The case itself is pretty worn, but inside the case was a box of unused reeds, a neck strap and even a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece which is perfect for beginners. I’d want to give the mouthpiece a thorough clean and disinfect before using it.</p><p><br></p><p>I paid £370 ($480 USD) for this sax. You can get cheaper new Chinese saxophones, but most student models start at around this price. This was the cheapest YAS -23 I could find on eBay.</p><p><br></p><p>Comparing my used saxophone with my Pro Alto</p><p>My pro alto is a Yamaha 62. The new version of this (for example the 875 or the 82 Custom Z) would cost around 10 times what I paid for this used saxophone. Is there 10 times difference in sound?</p><p><br></p><p>I’m going to be playing both saxophones using my Theo Wanne Gaia size 8 hard rubber mouthpiece, with a Légère Signature 2.5 synthetic reed.</p>
products
