Yamaha YAS 280 - The King of Student Saxophones?

[@florinneculai2552]

YAS 280 is a fantastic instrument, it is suitable for everyone ( begginer or a professional). I play this horn for 4-5 years and it's a verry well built sax, i recomend this sax with all my heart!!

[@MrBoybergs]

I agree completely. My gigging choice is a Hansons LX tenor but I use a Yts280 as my backup horn if the Hanson needs a service or it's a crowded pub gig with damage risk. It's a perfectly good horn for professional use. It may not look as pretty, it may sound ever so subtly different and it may blow a tad too freely for my taste BUT can an audience hear any discernible difference? Nope......

[@pauldance7387]

Can you recommend a mouth piece to soften the brightness, I am sure you must have experimented with a few? That’s just too bright for me but the price and quality fit my budget, just need a quality MP to soften the sound.

[@MrBoybergs]

@@pauldance7387 I'd highly recommend an Otto Link Tone Edge (ebonite) mouthpiece to achieve a more mellow (sort of Stan Getz) sound. But, of course you'd have to see if you like it. Theyre relatively inexpensive for a pro mouthpiece and there's always used ones on ebay (if you dont mind taking a chance). If you need a pointer on tip openings go to the Jody jazz website. There's an excellent tip comparison chart there.

[@solecaring1230]

I truly agree with you but the sound and quality of YAS 280 are not designed for beginners but rather for professional players and it so weird that it became a student horn

[@ghawk78]

IMO there is no better student sax than a Yamaha. I don't play alto often but I have a YAS-23 made circa 1995 that I use on pro gigs and it's great. It's built like a tank, it's ergos are great and it sounds good.

[@jazmaan]

I have a YAS-280. I compared it to a YAS-23. There 280 is slightly brighter tone and weighs a little less. But I like having the high F# key. (Some don't want it. ) If you're on a budget get a used YA-23. They are both excellent horns. I use a Meyer 5 medium chamber mouthpiece which is slightly mellower than ther included 4C.

[@anquaviousshahab1678]

jazmaan yas23 is older ,I have yas26....

[@gixxermaiden7189]

Could you please tell us the brand/model of the mouthpiece, Ligature and Reed you are using with this excellent student alto sax? Thanks!!

[@andyrodriguez7876]

I love the sound of the saxophone

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

Thank goodness for Yamaha; they have introduced more people into the world of music than any other company. The Chinese started ripping off Yamaha's IP shamelessly, reverse engineering, copying etc. without paying a dime, all to sell ultra-cheap horns in the same shops that sell Yamaha's instruments, to exploit relationships that Yamaha gained through trust and very hard work. But one gets what one pays for.

[@ferryansyah_am]

Thank's from Indonesia (Archipelago). This channel is very helpful, i was a teen who amazed with saxophone and confused about "which saxophone that i must buy?" And i found the answer😂

[@KadrianThomas]

Lovely review. Thanks for sharing.

[@Indonesiastreet171]

Nice video nice product the best of Yamaha 🎉

[@grayfox3057]

Is that a picture of Kenny G in the background? 😂

[@EricHempler]

That should be a sin

[@robertmoffat5118]

Eric Hempler yes I agree!

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

@@robertmoffat5118 Kenny G introduced more people to the saxophone and the world of music than Michael Brecker and Jerry Bergonzi and half a dozen modern wizards together.

[@Jeremazing13]

Yes

[@ireignsupreme2355]

Sacrilegious

[@DynamixWarePro]

Since the Eastman EAS253 alto is currently the same price as this Yamaha, could you do a video on it? There is practically little to no info/videos about it or how it sounds or plays and that would be useful to know. Anyway, I am 31 and I started playing saxophone around June last year and started on a Gear4Music alto, which was fine for a month or so, then it started having issues with air leaks, so saved up some money and read reviews on different alto saxophones. There isn't any place near me anywhere I could go to that had saxophones I could play test before getting one but reading the positive reviews of the Yamaha YAS-280, I got one. I had never held or played any other saxophones other than the one I had, so had no idea how a good quality saxophone is supposed to feel and play like. I noticed straight away that it has much better build quality and felt better to hold and play and didn't have the chunky feeling the Gear4Music alto had and I noticed the solid build quality and the lightweight feel with little to no play in the keys which was great and the key guard covering all the low keys is definitely useful for those who don't know how to hold a saxophone properly. I knocked the key guard a couple of times when I first started playing it with no damage to the keys. I have found the intonation is very good throughout and it's easy to keep it in tune. Overall its really helped my playing progress. I have learned to play on it and advanced well and its made me love playing saxophones, although I do find the sound might lack the colour that some alto saxophones in a similar price range have like the Trevor James SR EVO or the Conn-Selmer Avant DAS180. It's also a little bright sounding for me and in the long term and eventually I'd prefer a darker sounding saxophone when I am eventually able to upgrade. I noticed how freeblowing it is, and that has lead me search for a more resistant mouthpiece and reed setup. I found that for me, any mouthpiece and reed I was using that didn't have much resistance, was too easy to play on and I'd get a buzzy sound on a reed strength I could play or an unplayable airy sound going up to the next strength on the same reed. Currently play on a Selmer S80 C** and Yamaha 7C with Legere Studio Cut reeds and have a JodyJazz HR* 6M but would like a better setup in the future with similar resistance reeds but darker sounding. My only issue with the YAS-280 is that out of the case, mine had sticky pads and although I cleaned the sax properly after playing and dried the pads, the stickiness would eventually come back. I ended up having the pads replaced with better ones as it was the only way I could stop the sticking issue. I read that the Yamaha pads might have a plastic coating which could have caused the sticking but can't confirm that. Besides the sticking pads I had, I do agree that this might be the best student alto saxophone if you don't mind the brighter sound it has and it should retain its value if you want to sell it to upgrade later on.

[@AlexVolkhin13]

Yamaha more bright saxophones and sound a bit childish, but in General you can play. I had a Yamaha 275 and now a Yamaha 62. The mouthpiece I use Drake bebop classic 6, a sound reminiscent of Charlie Parker

[@rohangore]

Hi could you make a video of YAMAHA YAS-62 ALTO VS YAS-280 VS YAS -23??? I would like to see key differences between these 3 and where YAS-280 is compared to YAS-62

[@johntrethaway1241]

Excited about the giveaway!! 🎷

[@johnnyberglund841]

Hi SAX! Do You know if John Packer alto 045 is coming from collabr. with Yamaha and is almost the same as this horn? All theBest, JohnnyDBergh

[@davidcockcroft5444]

As a compete beginner, how long can i expect this to last before considering an upgrade? And to that point... perhaps a better mouthpiece would be the next natural step. Thusly making the horn last so much longer.

[@gayeworrall3408]

Help please, I have just bought the Yamaha YAS 280 I’m confused with 5 keys for the left hand 🤔

[@utahtenorII]

The f key just has a pearl instead of the brass

[@DERDM]

How does the 280 compare to the intermediate 480 version?

[@pauldance7387]

Can you pair that with a darker mouth piece to bring down the brightness ?

[@lukasalihein]

Yes. After accounting for the player, 90% + of the sound is the mouthpiece/reed combo.

[@jamesstv5699]

Which is better Bundy II or this Saxophone?

[@Joker_arlequín]

All saxes should have a wraparound bumper...I don't know why saxes or the vast majority don't have that bumper...someone tell me

[@LoranPolat]

Which Bek would you recommend to those who buy this model and play a new saxophone?

[@frankmartincalel4741]

Que marca esa saxofón sax alto o tenor

[@ZdenekElias]

Nice

[@roberthorvath1726]

What about trevor james sr black frosted tenor?

[@anquaviousshahab1678]

how about yas26

[@Daegeum_playing_Carpenter]

Good

[@marlonlubis2832]

Bundy selmer 2 alto saxophone the best

[@Gentrolosiut0]

Selmer price is higher than Yamaha if you have money the reference "." (I never remember the number 🤣) Selmer is the best

[@marlonlubis2832]

ciao ciao I think so 🤣

[@NyanPoptartCat]

Someone please rescue that soprano!! I'm terrified for its safety!!

[@あらかわひろし-t7n]

こんにちは、日本製ヤマハの中古品は、日本の質屋にカレッジモデル￥3000位で売ってます。

[@JAMes-vc6gd]

R u saying that this is better than your sakkusu?

[@saxworldwide]

Hi James, The Yamaha is better but over twice the price of the Sakkusu.

[@JAMes-vc6gd]

@@saxworldwide thanks, I own a student alto sakkusu and I think they r pretty good and for the price aswell.

[@MrJohn-wy2hn]

*Sees the price. Died in the inside.

[@gio2974]

Non mi piacciono questi Yamaha, soprattutto se penso che ora li fanno in Indonesia. La Yamaha nello stabilimento indonesiano, vi ha fatto fare PURE LA MOSCHEA...là son quasi tutti ISLAMICI...che razza di gente...chissà se lavoreranno anche DI VENERDI'???

[@gio2974]

Per fortuna che il mio maestro, del quale poi infatti scoprii che raccomandava solitamente gli Yamaha da studio, accettò lo Jupiter contralto 767 (doveva essere quel modello lì, se non ricordo male) che comperai usato, 20 anni fa prima di iniziare con lui le lezioni, senza chiedergli prima consenso.

[@Gentrolosiut0]

Lo Yamaha 480 è molto meglio di questo (per mia esperienza personale) perché ho suonato questo per 4 anni poi ho preso il 480 e mi sono trovato molto meglio

[@ireignsupreme2355]

@@Gentrolosiut0 helpful 👍