The Price of Saxophones: The Truth You Need to Know!

[@gib321]

Most saxophonists are hobbyists and its great that these wonderful instruments that bring so much joy are now available to so many at relatively affordable entry level prices. In years gone by these instruments were out of reach to most people who wanted a chance to play one. Thanks to all of you who have brought that about.

[@AndrewKennedyMusicOfficial]

It's worth noting that many of the budget saxes play very well when they are new but they are not built to last so bits fall off and they wear out more quickly because they are made of cheaper materials. A friend of mine used to sell Chinese made student instruments and I helped him out with some mechanical tweaks. They played OK but the quality control was less than perfect.

[@jeroenneve5807]

the reason why pro saxes are sounding better is because they are usually played by pro players. the reason why starter saxes sound good in these review videos is is because they are played by pro players. the reason why starter saxes sound bad is because they are played by beginners.

[@directcurrent5751]

Every new player consumer passing on the student model needs to watch this video.

[@EnKay0000]

I started with Yamaha YAS480 (intermediate) and later sold it and got a Yamaha YAS82Z (Custom Z) "as I wanted the top of the line model" to satisfy my desire of owing the best! Let me tell you, the 82Z is way better than the intermediate YAS480 in all aspects, especially the intonation. The intonation of 82Z is just superb throughout the range! Another point, a student level sax will come off sooner or later. My take, if you have the money and sure of sticking with the saxophone, then atleast get an entry level professional model, like YAS62 in Yamaha line-up! Useful info: Am a hobbyist who plays only at home and do occasionally covers of songs. I got the Custom Z around 3.5 years ago and there's absolutely no problem with it. Am using it in a country where there is more heat, humidity & dust than USA or Europe. Am sure an entry level sax may not last that long without any troubles. So apart from excellent intonation the "durability" in another key aspect to look out for!

[@liesbethcrabbe1654]

just ordered my sakkusu, my first ever so i'm very excited about it!. just waitng for it to arrive here in belgium. your videos were helpful making this desicion! 😊

[@FZeffarelli]

Great video: practical, realistic, honest. Super advice for beginners such as me.

[@hashimakennels5645]

Im based in Australia and cant wait to get over to the UK in May 2025 to visit the shop! All these videos are so helpful in helping me decide what route I want to go next

[@JudasiPaladin]

I've always loved the sax and started playing during the pandemic after spending many years as a professional bass trombonist. I was given an Elkhart Series II alto sax and a Cecilio tenor sax. After a couple of months I bought my dark nickel Elkhart Deluxe curved soprano, Gold lacquered Trevor James The Horn tenor and my Conn-Selmer unlacquered vintage bari (named Hank) from yourselves. Please let me know if/when you have a rent to buy option for your black Sakkusu bass sax. I'd never be able to afford one outright xx

[@RenoYeh]

If one doesn't need detail control, rich resistance, easy intonation, really comfortable key placement, then yeah one doesn't need a professional model. Agree however that the huge pricing gaps are mainly marketing.

[@MultiJp51]

Thank you for this 20mn of honnesty. Today most of the entry level instruments have excellent quality , possibly even higher than pro instruments from 20 years ago. Corks and pads can justify maybe a 400€ difference buts that all. So it all about personal psychology and make good !!! I would be super interested to watch a blind test video where you play like 10 tenor saxs without loiking at them and rate them from preference order. Again thank you for your honnesty , as a sax seller you are , demontrating that price does not mean « better »

[@patriciogaspargeronimo9926]

Excelente amigos, los sigo desde Argentina. Son excelentes!

[@gianlucawork]

Well Jim, thank you for the honesty explaining the differences. Really appreciated 👍

[@ADF-fe7fv]

Great video! I agree with your view on the Yanigasawa. How about a head-to-head comparison between the Sakkusu alto/tenor and the BetterSax alto/tenor? That would be a great video! Nuff said.

[@paoloalbano4690]

Thank you Jim for the great video..!! Such a great equilibrium, balance of judgement... as a long time saxophone player I agree with you on all you said !

[@jatrox]

Yes, that is all very good, but one of the main things you need to know - amateur or pro - is how long will it take before the horn needs expert attention. Several of my musical friends have purchased models which sound great but after a few weeks, develop leaks or fall out of alignment. Or the slightest knock makes them to be difficult to play. This is particularly true of vintage horns. ie pre 2000. I started off on student and second-hand models but ended up choosing a horn as much on mechanical design as sound and playability. Every saxophone repairer I have ever used has always said that Yanagisawas have the least mechanical problems, and stay leak and problem free the longest. Which is why ended with two. Vintage horns are great but the precision and quality of engineering as well as the mechanical design have improved greatly in the last 20 years.

[@sebastiansprotte2551]

Depends on the vintage Horn.

[@AFN2750]

I strongly disagree. Older student horns like the yas-23, conn shooting star and bundys are just about bulletproof. I played my bundy for ten years, and never once had to bring it to the shop. It’s still going strong today (I loaned it to a student I know) and to my knowledge has still never been to the shop since I bought it in a crackhouse.

[@JayCee-hw4zc]

I bought a sakkuzu delux red brass about this time last year and i love it! I had more money to spend and could have gone up a level to the next red brass, which I think might have been a Trevor james, but i couldn't see what i was getting for another thousand dollars or so. I didn't think it would make a one thousand dollar better player. I was happy with the red brass delux and still am. Get one!!!

[@clintwestwood1895]

Cool video bro, for me as some1 with no experience with saxophones it was very helpful.

[@tedtedsen269]

Hi Jim you couldn't have explained it better than this Thanks im still playing on my P-Mauriat 55swing jx bronze body neck and bow and brass bell

[@saxworldwide]

Thanks - Ah yes, I remember the Swing 55's!

[@Resetasylum]

Ive played begginners intermediate and pro and just gone back to a conn 😅 mainly cos the Taiwanese stencils sound pretty much the same to me these days regardless of the finish or brand name.

[@benhostetler268]

The difference between a student sax vs a real pro horn really is felt more than heard by the listener. It is also more noticeable for the technician when they have to perform repairs or maintenance.

[@saxworldwide]

Yes, and things can go southwards for repair techs very quickly if it is a student sax of inferior quality.

[@zekyjrsabagh2052]

I think th difference is not the horn , it’s simply the player, those small marginal gains , only a pro can take advantage of

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

​@@zekyjrsabagh2052 When in front of serious concert musicians, just keep quiet. Say that in front of a violin player & you'll be laughed at. The "argument" you offered is always offered by non-musicians & amateurs, who can't tell in-tune from the out-of-tune instrument, flat from sharp, leaking from a well-sealed instrument, instrument capable of layers of harmonics and a pretty plain one, etc.

[@alicoat]

@@saxworldwide My techie says my yani tenor is the best as its so well made my others saxs are Selmer 2 alto and a a Thomann pro bari sax made in Taiwan

[@hmoore76]

Nice, which MP Jim?

[@FrilansPhille]

Perfect video before i give up on my rental and buy my own.

[@kensworld1979]

So have you ever checked out Mcneela saxophone? Are they any good? Great price if they are.

[@kensworld1979]

Update heard they have problems. Best thing I have found is a Sakusu .

[@josephstratemeier8619]

I played a yamaha yas23 student horn from grade 5 to senior year of high school and it was perfectly serviceable. The progression comes from the player, not from the saxophone. But it was pretty nice to upgrade though 😅.

[@saxmanization]

I took had a yas23 student horn and it was a great horn. when my good friend, who played a bundy, tried my yas23 he was blown away how good it was and then..... my dad offered to buy me a new selmer mk6.... no comparison... the pro horn blew that yas23 into the weeds.... that was the top pro horn in 1973... no comparison.

[@junehay4888]

Great video 👍

[@charlessamson4883]

I was hoping you would talk more about different brands. Which brands tend to be more reliable and which brands should I avoid buying.

[@MichaelCorner-l7o]

The best option, imho is priced in between the two. Yamaha 480, upgraded, with a silver plated V1 neck, is a better instrument than the Yani for a lot less money.

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

Maybe 480 alto with silver neck comes close, because alto sax is a more stabile instrument. But the equation definitely will NOT work for tenor and soprano.

[@marcusbenoit5601]

Would like to see a video comparing pro-level vintage saxophones vs current pro saxophones.

[@saxworldwide]

This is a popular style of video, and I'm sure we've done something along these lines before - but no harm in doing it again. In fact, we have a Mark VI bari in right now; this would be interesting to compare against a modern Yani!

[@nathanabird]

I'm pretty sure they've done a video where they got a Pro in who played a vintage sax and gave him a bunch of new ones to try out to see if they could convince him to give up his beloved vintage horn. But I can't find it scanning through the last 5 years of their videos.

[@kuztardd]

@@nathanabird I think that was the one with Jamie Anderson? can't find it though

[@InternetPerson-yk2fs]

Pro tip: If you find yourself surrounded by this many shiny saxophones and some dude who wears gloves when he handles them, do not walk away. Run!

[@JWinch]

The price of saxophones have more to do with the business decisions of the companies. Look at the prices of the top Selmer sax over the past 50 years, adjusted for inflation and you will see a HUGE price increase (i.e. Mark VII to Super Action Series II to Supreme goes from 3000$ to 9000$). Also look at all the corporate mergers in that half century, the money being made by those merger decision makers, and you see that price is more based on corporate greed than changes in actual quality. And then you have the true over the top corporate greed by adding in silver and gold instruments which barely existed decades ago before all these corporate mergers. This is just appealing to rich buyers not top players.

[@BrunoMaravic]

I actually prefer the sound on the student one

[@thomasomuller7995]

If you were to analyse the composition of the sound, would it really be possible to see a greater number of overtone frequencies or a greater variety of tones in the more expensive instruments? If so, then you could create tables for every instrument from every major brand, where everyone could choose their saxophone based on the sound characteristics that are important to them. Analogous to the Syos mouthpieces. You tell them what character you want and they build you the right mouthpiece.

[@nicolascomesse7432]

A pro instrument is an instrument that allow the musician to make money playing. As I use a YAS-275 at work, and a Selmer Serie 2 private (where I make less money), we can say that the 275 is a pro model. 😀 Seriously now, the main differences between sax ranges are found on the extremes: easier to play the lower notes, the overtones, and the C#/D sound similar enough. Also, an important point is reliability. My Selmer doesn't "move" and barely needs to be brought to a tech more than once a year, for just a quick adjustment. Cheaper saxes WILL need more frequent and expensive repairs, and they also might just have stupid annoyances like a pad falling off or a cork suddenly missing. As a pro, you can't jeopardise a performance because your instrument is not up to the reliability standards of a pro instrument.

[@mattlee2405]

Well the most non-professional level saxophone is more affordable and accessible.... however only the high ranked brand can manifest a true resell value

[@PlasseeWoods]

How much is the First Act.harn Price

[@EhouarnBzh]

If there had been no brexit, I would run from Brittany to your shop to try all those wonderfull saxophones !

[@ongtengkee9225]

Is there a seamed tube saxophone like flute nowadays?Inderbinan ?

[@michaelharvey5138]

A good helpful video !…

[@unfinished93]

is Conn 10m an elite reptile segment?

[@Jim-gl2rn]

it's not elite but it sits alongside Kings, Bueschers, Martins etc in a different place. They don't fit into this particular discussion. Actually some Conns are elite and some are dogs, same for the others.

[@Jim-gl2rn]

I could have included Mark VIs in there.

[@jasonrobbins6944]

Isn’t there also a difference between the amount of work done through hand-crafting the instrument vs. mechanical assembly?

[@saxworldwide]

Yes, the hand-crafting elements always add to the cost, but even with the cheapest saxes there is a huge element of 'hand assembly' in that processes involved in making a sax are so intricate that people will always be needed. However, if you take the example of Selmer again, and compare to a cheap student instrument, the technology is so much more expensive, advanced and precise; this has a massive bearing on end price.

[@jasonrobbins6944]

@@saxworldwide Thank you!

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

For decades Yamaha had only one line of saxophones, and it was pro. Now that is marketed as "semi-pro". In the golden era of saxophones, Selmer produced only one model at a time, and it was always a pro! "Student" and "intermediate models" never existed before 1980s.

[@pravi_81]

are you guys gonna bring back the straight tenor sakkusu?

[@saxworldwide]

This is debatable - the demand was quite low!

[@calkig]

Having seen the differences in how inexpensive and standard-priced professional models from reputable manufacturers hold up to hours of playing every day, I will save my money until I have enough for the name-brand professional models. They stay in alignment longer and they last way longer since repair techs can repair/work on them easier. The metal, joints and welds are going to hold up to manipulation way better like if something needs to be bent back in to shape after a fall off a stand or something.

[@blindcanseemusic]

Surely the cost of manufacture comes into the price point. And I don’t think any manufacturer can justify poor intonation

[@PlasseeWoods]

The price of the first act horn

[@61Federico]

Mark 6 or sba forever

[@HQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQ]

lol 🤣 But that's great that you have Mk6 in excellent working condition!

It ain't the horn, it's the guy behind the horn!

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

When in front of serious concert musicians, for your own sake, just keep quiet. Say that in front of a violin player & you'll be laughed at. The "argument" you offered is always offered by non-musicians & amateurs, who can't tell in-tune from the out-of-tune instrument, flat from sharp, leaking from a well-sealed instrument, instrument capable of layers of harmonics and a pretty plain one, etc.

[@T.H.W.O.T.H]

So that's what the white gloves are for!

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

Silver metal plating. You don't handle lacquered instruments the same as metal plated instruments. They are very different in terms how they should be played and maintained.

[@stefanolorenzin6368]

You just keep on playing your Taiwanese & Japanese horns, and I'll keep on playing my European and American vintage horns. Each to their own. See ya!

[@r.g.saxone]

It's as simple as buying a pair of shoes at Louis Vuitton or Nike. It's just a matter of luxury, since in terms of utility both will do the same thing. You don't look the same if you wear Louis Vuitton or Nike. Conversely, even if you have a Selmer Suprême saxophone, if you don't practice, you'll sound like a bus horn 😄.

[@NamoYugen]

Selmer mark 6 or nothing! (haha sorry, had to)

[@Dr.RolyndDellaSylvan]

and a Vintage Florida Otto Link ! (btw, I *am that guy: Mark VI + Vintage Florida Link + Ishimori ligature)

[@HQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQ]

🤣🤣🤣

[@stevekelly904]

I think you missed much of the mark to a great extent.

[@lukasalihein]

Please elaborate

[@dudemaster8575]

Just play and dont be snob. audience dont cary about gear. they hear you as musican. If you after 10 years can play in tune on your student model, you will be not better when you pick up pro instrument. you also need to spend time in developing on pro sax.

[@hashishen.palestino]

even after playing for 20 years I still can't juggle between mouthpice selection, reed selection, and overall quality of the sax itself in determining the "right" tone. I really don't have money to use trial and error to find the right combo tbh. I'll be happy playing anything at the end of the day

[@todayontheinternet9576]

Ignoring the insane pricing of new instruments for a second, No one, NO ONE plays a student horn in a professional setting, why is that? Because the advantages you get are simply better, shaping of your sound, playability, control, quality, are all substantially better on a higher level model, it is not about being a snob, it is about understanding the difference, now there is a discussion to have about new vs. used and vintage vs. modern horns, but this 'a entry level horn is as good as a pro horn' is simply not true in 99% of cases.

[@Jim-gl2rn]

@@todayontheinternet9576 There are sound differences and the feel will be significantly different but the over-riding one if you are a regular gigging musician is mechanical reliability. A student horn won't take the hammer that a 'pro' horn will. A 'pro' horn will keep going when it needs a service but not a 'beginner' horn.

[@dudemaster8575]

@@todayontheinternet9576if you a good musican you can play on anything (of course if its playable condition). But don't forget that you playing for an audience. Not for musicans, not for that one snob in audience who is looking on your gear. And if "oh no, i can't take gig, because i have just Chinese horn at this time" stops you. Then you are not pro musican. Situations are different from people to people. Don't forget about music, when you thinking about gear.

[@dudemaster8575]

@@todayontheinternet9576 you don't need pro horn, to become a pro musican.

[@bxsoup]

You can say all the word salad 🥗 you like , NOTHING justifies Selmer Paris charging $6,500-7,000 USD for an alto saxophone ! Sorry NOT SORRY ! The ONLY thing Supreme is the price tag .

[@benhostetler268]

The price is a lot but that is the cost of paying employees a livable wage in France and if you take in consideration inflation the price for a MK VI alto vs a Supreme today isn’t all that different. The problem for the American market is the MK VI is still the holy grail of saxophones and it makes it hard for Selmer today to compete with Selmer of the Past.

[@HQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQHQ]

Yes... That's way too much. They want their money back they spend on expensive machinery to make saxes more precisely... There are two brands i can think of when i see Selmer... They're P.Mauriat which is as great or better and it's cheaper, top models sound like Mk6 + ergonomics of yammy and yanni. The 2nd brand is Eastern Music which is... You can't expect great sax to be that cheap, but good quality, good ergonomics, Mk6 style, sounds amazing, looks great...

[@Denkruis]

I play the supreme. It is beyond any sax I have ever played. For me. One of my friends plays a mark VI which I cannot control, the Yani of another friend is thin with me. Blame on me for sure but the supreme makes me shine. You should try one. Your audience will be amazed.