The BEST Student Saxophones Compared 2022

[@txsphere]

Having this side by side play really shows how rich the sound of the Better Sax sounds. Amazing rich sound for a student horn.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

It has a very deep, low middy sound, but it all comes to personal preference in the end and "each one holds its place".

[@OrmanD7]

Agree

[@dennisd2531]

Collected my Bettersax Alto earlier today from the London store, its beautiful! Can't wait to have some great fun with this horn....

[@redsaxmax]

I liked the sound of the Bettersax best - though I wonder if anyone regretted buying a Yamaha when it comes to the ease of selling it on when moving up. The "correct" answer is the one that feels best under the fingers and sounds best to you!

[@DynamixWarePro]

I had the Yamaha YAS-280 and it was great to have coming from a cheap Chinese alto and played much better and it is well made. My only issue with it was the tone to me was a bit straight and I couldn't always get the lowest notes out easily and I wasn't able to afford to upgrade for quite a long time so eventually I felt limited by the straight sound it has. I also managed to break the neck screw off and had to have it removed since the neck screw area isn't as strong as it is in the professional Yamaha models. After I upgraded to a Yanagisawa AWO2, I was able to do a part exchange with it for a straight soprano sax and didn't lose much money on it so they do hold their value well if properly maintained.

[@marcvandeneynden]

I listened back to the Bettersax and then the Yamaha YAS280. I could hardly believe the difference tone wise. Hands down to Jay Metcalf for this original creation.

[@bettersax]

Another great video and so helpful for anyone trying to decide what to buy. Jim you sound fantastic on all of them. I am biased of course but it was great hearing you go through these (all solid instruments). I immediately heard the uniqueness in sound of the BetterSax which was one of the most important parts of the design process.

[@voltagestorm1787]

The selmer mark 6 is the best stundent saxophone imo

[@davethomasson6571]

I have to give you Kudos on your horn. Great horn.

[@sudhakartamang1792]

When Jim said better sax has a jazz setting then l blindly go for better sax above any other

[@Labriction]

There should be a proper video about the kessler alto or more recently added the solist alto

[@OrmanD7]

Yours was the best. I will buy it in a couple months

[@m.w.]

I made a "blind test" last year and tested 4 altos and 4 tenor saxophones. Jupiter was always on the first place.........🤷‍♂️🎷👍🔝 I am so happy with my tenorsax 700 and we have bought some more for the bigband. You can get a really good quality for that price and your test convinced me, that i made the right decision. Thank you! One of my most favourite KZbin channels.

[@stevel6895]

If I were to pull the trigger on any of these it would be the Better Sax. It has an excellent sound and the finish is beautiful. I've always been a Yamaha guy, I own 3 professional Yamaha's but something is really out of whack here in the U.S. with their pricing. Plus the 280 is unavailable here, you can only get the 26 and it's $1200 more than the Better Sax.

[@whiteboyfrik5864]

There are some Amazon guys bringing the 280 to the states at reasonable enough prices ( around 1300). But yeah, the prices in us are bonkers

[@timwallace7561]

Awesome analysis Jim - thank you. I'm curious to know which mouthpiece (including the tip opening) as well as what ligature was used, and what the reed strength was for each horn 🤔

[@ajd711]

They won't answer this question because the mouthpiece is just as important as the sax itself in producing a desired sound. They must sell product and you will never hear a raw out of box demo that is not mixed and processed.

[@richardcasey7521]

I’m not surprised that you like the Yamaha 280. I use a YAS-26 which is basically the same horn minus the high F# and all brass colored finish. I use a YAS-480 neck on my 26 and that makes the 26 a great all around alto for my use. My Selmer SBA and King Super 20 are on vacation for now.

[@zzcjts]

Hi, Richard, what do you think alto saxophone between Yamaha 26 and Jupiter 500? Many thanks.

[@jdbarrera]

It would be great to have an actual student play these instruments. Maybe a 12 year old, 16 year old, and an adult begginer student. Having a full grown professional adult player isn't the most real world situation. This is often where the cheaper instruments come up short.

[@BoninBrighton]

I agree. I started playing aged 62, my needs were all about the ergonomics due to stiff fingers and a bad back!

[@dennisd2531]

@@BoninBrighton Quite right, I started around June 21, its coming together slowly. I'm expecting to upgrade within the next mo th or so and I'm realy interested in the Bettersax Alto. I live in Spain so I'm planning to fly over to the UK to visit tge store in London.. I'm sure there will he some very useful advice from the guys on the ground, can't wait...

[@richardcasey7521]

A person cannot expect the horn to make up for lack of playing ability. All these horns are capable of doing anything an alto can be called upon to do.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

A young student wouldn't have the experience to make these observations, sorry, I prefer a pro.

[@rpj-sax4lyfe]

Your reviews are awesome!

[@clintwestwood1895]

They all sounded good to my ears, but the BetterSax had a silkiness to the ears I preferred over the rest.

[@ajd711]

To make this comparison fair to understand, what mouthpiece, reed and ligature was used for each sax? Looks to be the same for each one, but you do not mention it. This does have a huge impact on the sound produced and player ofc course.

[@DanTheMailman330]

The Jupiter and Yamaha would be a nice begnner classical/section leader horn with that clear, projecting tone.

[@richardsynnott3652]

From a totally blind persons point of view, it would have been nice and informative if you would have told us what prices the horns are, and it would have been interesting to know what mouthpiece and read you are using! I really enjoyed listening to the review.

[@saxworldwide]

Hi Richard, thanks for your kind comments! With prices changing so fast and Worldwide prices being different due to taxes etc - we tend to leave them out of our videos. For the latest prices, check out our website www.sax.co.uk. All the best!

[@iDanKarami]

@@saxworldwidewhat reed and mouthpiece please. Thank you for the great video. And we understand about the price, you can just at the time of the recording this is the price. The idea is for us to have an idea of the range (Percentage difference)

[@lolgod1695]

Super helpful! I've been hearing a lot of great things about Kessler horns as well. Wonder if you could compare it to the Better Sax, considering they are the same price.

[@Frygonz]

A love how "Sukkusu" is just the Japanese romanization of "Sax"

[@fargglad1]

The bettersax seems like such a great horn and i'm really interested in upgrading/cross-grading to one. I just wish it didn't have such a silly name...

[@jakubhladil5340]

yes the name sounds like stupid marketing.

[@ChipTheMusicMan]

​@@jakubhladil5340 Jakub...what is up my dude? ha

[@jakubhladil5340]

@@ChipTheMusicMan haha the world is so small :D

[@archivosecreto5253]

SAKUSSU. 1:30 JEAN PAUL. 2:49 TREVOR JAMES. 4:42 BETTERSAX. 6:51 JUPITER. 9:28 YAMAHA 11:22

[@michaelraymond952]

I know it is no longer your primary instrument and it’s not the focus of this channel but I’ve always wanted to see/hear you play the oboe. Perhaps, in the spirit of promoting music education, a video could be made which shows all of the team members at the start of their musical journeys. I always tell my students there are myriad creative paths and they may not become performers. The wonderful work you all do could be yet another example of that. It’s just an idea. Nice video.

[@DynamixWarePro]

The Trevor James Horn sounds good. I like the Better Sax but I am not 100% sold on the sound though (I know that is largely down to the player) but for the price it seems like a great alto sax. Would it be possible if you could make a video comparing the different Yanagisawa Alto models? You have done that with Selmer and Yamaha models and you have dine a version on the differences between the pro and elite in brass tenor models but it would be useful to hear the differences between the AWO1, AWO10, AWO2, AWO20 especially.

[@saxworldwide]

Thanks for your suggestion. Noted for the future!

[@brothadre76]

I would love to learn how to play…. I’m too old now…lol Sounds good brother

[@landonp4726]

Never too old. Start now

[@carinaesquivelosti6903]

Hey! Ya empezaste?

[@Dave-ik4lj]

I'm 83 started two years ago with a Yamaha YAS 280 . The journey has been great , if you can breath you can play . Forget about age .

[@leonarda8946]

Are you going to make a Tenor version of this camparison?

[@proto3011]

Perhaps even baritone?

[@sudhakartamang1792]

Why nobody mention or review chatteu saxophone

[@jpdj2715]

I listened to this with my eyes closed, not paying special attention, excuse me Jim, to what was said. About 7 minutes into the video, I opened my eyes to look at the screen - this sounds a lot better, what is it? It was named after that: BetterSax. Now I'm curious to learn how the BetterSax mouthpiece changes the sound over the standard hard plastic one.

[@kingy2063]

Can't quite make out (feeble eyesight), is that Sakkusu the gold lacquer or red brass version?

[@dennisd2531]

Hi, I'm far from being any kinda authority as I'm just a beginner (6 months) but I'm sure this is not the Red Brass one he's playing. The Red Brass Sukkusu is the "Deluxe Model" that has the under-slung Octave Key

[@saxworldwide]

@@dennisd2531 That's correct, it's the standard gold version!

[@rosemaryclark610]

Can anyone tell me more info about a CONN saxophone Serial #4453391? Please?

[@thomass7140]

Sakussu sounded best

[@vladimirpevzner6037]

leave it, please!! there are not nothing even near to Yama. thank you.

[@redsaxmax]

Dunno why "Hi guys!" annoys....

[@hscm4831]

This website could literally not be more helpful, in their stores, videos and website

[@TheOldMonkTraveler]

Sir, I want to purchase Jean Paul AS 400 but I am confused. Because there are three models with different weights. 1) AS 400 Intermediate Student Saxophone weight is 5lbs 2) AS 400 Brass Saxophone weight is 11lbs 3) AS 400 Gold Plated Saxophone weight is 13lbs I am beginner and I am from India my Age is 64. please advise me, which should i purchase?

[@christoguichard4311]

Ive got a no-name Chinese-made sax which I settled on after buying a few second-hand saxes, including a Yamaha. Ive deduced a few things about Chinese horns, especially after watching the few Chinese sax factory tours on KZbin, and they are... 1. They are getting better and better. 2. Like ALL instruments (I also play guitar, clarinet, and flute), EACH is the "sum of the parts", and no two are the same. 3. I think there are only about two or three sax makers in China...so despite all the different "trade names" which are stenciled on these Chinese saxes, means that any difference that may appear between them (as noted here) is more down to individual construction, rather than set standards. These Chinese saxes are, despite what many people believe, mostly hand-made, and so how your sax plays and sounds, is really down to how the individuals who were making them that day were feeling. Having said that... My favourite here is the "BetterSax" horn.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

Agreed on all, excellent spot on observations.

[@directcurrent5751]

I've had the most luck with the SLADE brand of very cheap imports.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

Sakkusu: mid scooped- strong bass, clear treble. Jean Paul: vintagily mid focused- more mids of all types, more honk too. Trevor: as a brighter Jean Paul- different low mids too. Bettersax: wow those low mid harmonics!!! Jupiter: cuts through the mix with a different kind of high mids than the previouses- more modern, presenty sound. Yamaha: in a similar ballpark with the Jupiter, in terms of leaning on the bright and presenty side, a fuller range response. To me, they all hold their unique places very well.

[@DanTheMailman330]

Sakkusu has good sound to lead a horn section for a beginner horn. The Better Sax alto sounds like vintage Selmer, pretty amazing instrument for the $.

[@badhatharry4323]

really a Yamaha dude here. I played a YAS 275, moved to the Tenor YTS 480. bought a YAS 62 now to upgrade the alto. all fantastic horns. MP wise I play a super tone master 7*, a rovner or BG leatherstrip ligature and vandoren v16 reeds on both alto and tenor.

[@amartinez3192]

There are too many saxophone brands out here but we as buyers need to consider twice when choosing, let’s consider companies with reputation, technical knowledge and investment on research, developing processes to improve and delivery QA products. Now anyone can request to build and manufacture products to outsource companies with no QA systems, stablished manufacturing methods etc etc , Everything is about sale and manufacture and manufacture. My 2 cents advice. There is a science behind these processes not just copying.

[@dynoroad]

Quite a bit of Sanborn vibe on the Yamaha 280! The geometry on that neck really makes it very free blowing, bright and loud, which could be tamed by a more resistant setup with regards to mouthpiece and reed choice.

[@chody07]

i know yall probably wont see but do you guys know of any "cheap" baris? im gonna start saving up and i just need to know a good company

[@ichbinmartin]

Why under student sax is mentioned just alto?

[@stevelahr6063]

Nice review. Good job!

[@bobblues1158]

Hi Jim. I enjoy your reviews very much but the background music distracts me because I am a player and i actually listen to it.

[@saxworldwide]

Ha! I see what you're saying - the reason it's there is to add a little vibe to the talking sections, but we try and keep the volume low so as not to distract!