Cheap Tenor Sax on Amazon ($420) vs Pro Sax ($4600)
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2019
- #bettersax #saxophone #amazon
Jay Metcalf compares a cheap tenor saxophone from Amazon to a professional Yanagisawa tenor.
Yanagisawa TWO2 professional tenor saxophone: geni.us/NXMZoW
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Me: it didn’t sound that bad
Jay: terrible
Me: terrible
Chatie 24 the instrument didn’t really have any defining depth. It was very boring. When you hear ｉｃｏｎｉｃ selmers, you are easily entertained by its depth. The sax was bland, not smooth, and abrupt, overall. Check out a selmer’s Autumn Leaves cover. But that saxophone would be GREAT for beginners. Obviously, i am a saxophonist, so I can easily tell the quality of saxes.
aaron names i cant tell if thats sarcastic or not
@@ddlcfan8947 The comment didn't really have any defining sarcasm. Obviously, i am a linguist, so I can easily easily tell the sincerity of comments.
Eolueulo are you also being sarcastic lmao
Spot on 😂
One could say this is a “worst case” scenario
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
lol👍
Hahahahahahaha kill me
Badump pssshhh.
is this supposed to be a pun?
Fortunately, I already have a tenor.
But I bought a Lade Alto after seeing your review and I can confirm that it was a great buy.
Thanks for your reviews
Good to hear this thanks.
I’m planing on doing the same thing
Any chance you have an update on the alto after 6months of regular use? How's it holding up mechanically, visually, tone-wise? I had to give back my borrowed P. Mauriat alto, and im a broke college kid who just needs some jazz.
I play tenor and I use some sort of Yamaha student sax. Jk lol my school let's you bring it home to play for a day if you want to
6:12 ok just casually throw in the lick
the what
The second most famous motif in music, after Beethoven's 5th.
@@KarlBonner1982 mkay
@@user-qx7tm5df8j go watch Adam neely
twofivefun looks like we got a triggered conservatard
When's the cheap bari-sax comparison and review coming😂
Antonious van Eyssen please that would be awesome
What about sopranino
@@grammar2863 even better
The cheapest one on Amazon is 1200$
@@corbinweibley3316 Even so, there is a lot of demand for that horn. Even the normally fairly competitive names like Yamaha are just ridiculously expensive - take a look at some price lists for Buescher and Conn back in the day and compare baris to the other voices, and you'll realize just how overpriced modern baris are in comparison to their counterparts from the Jazz Age.
You had to open it with the gloves so it wouldn’t break
Hehe
Except the gloves were inside the case!
Better Sax should’ve used the other ones, they were better anyways 😂
@@bettersax Years ago, a salesman told me, the gloves are for testing in the store, for keeping the horn clean if you didn't decide to buy it. For me ti have some sense. Greetings from Colombia!
The gloves arent useless.
You still can wear them on your hands lol
“That’s not a good sign”
You gotta do the bari now or this is the world's meanest cliffhanger
i felt the expression on your face at a spiritual level right when those bottom notes smoothly slid out on your Yani. phew.
as a tenor sax player and lover, a piece of my heart broke when i saw the tenor not in good shape at first
Honestly as a Tenor and Bari player I can say that cheap saxes don’t sound bad, might need to replace some parts here and there but they sound good to me
Derek Dean I’m glad you said that. I’m wanting to get a tenor saxophone but I can’t afford to get the professional $1000+ and I plan on ordering one off of Amazon.
@@jasmineduran6731 if you can still afford a tenor that’s like
I completely understand your breath of relief after blowing the low notes smooth
I played a bad tenor for about 2 years, and at a jazz convention i got to try out saxophones, and i played a nice tenor, and blew the low notes at a volume below forte, and it felt amazing
I didn’t realise you already had done this, serves me right for watching old content. This was great to watch. Now I’m going to scroll the rest of your videos before I ask for anything 😊. Thank you!
Your Channel helped me start my own! Thank you!
I am curious to learn how the replacement sax performs. I can appreciate the optimism you expressed in detailing a list of "do's & don'ts" for the manufacturer to consider before shipping their packaged products (free of cost). Nice!
I got one too after seeing your review and got extra warranty off eBay. I had an issue with neck register key. Bended it back to position similar to what you did. Also had simple issue with g sharp key and got spring back in place. After that it plays pretty well. It’s an extra sax to stay at my fathers, jam with him and not constantly pack a sax for travel.
I watched your video on the amazon alto sax and was amazed at the quality and the sound. In anticipation I watched this video on the amazon tenor sax and was not amazed by the instrument. As far as sound and playability, the pro tenor sax sounded much better and the pro appeared to play a lot easier. Thanks for the video Jay!
Glad you're sending that bucket of bolts back. Reminds me of the soprano of theirs I USED to own.
I came to talk trash, but this was some of the best playing I've heard on this channel. Keep up the good work.
I am now using Legere synthetics and like them a lot. Great when doubling on alto and tenor and don't have to worry about the dormant reed drying out.
The first one was alright, it had a great sound that had a more classical sound. But the yanigasowa had a much warmer sound and had a cool old school sound that made it sound much more like a traditional jazzy sax. The second one also had a brighter sound.
Chinese made tenor sax
Can anyone suggest me a good and reliable tenor
I appreciate someone taking the time and money to review three student level saxes. Decades ago I learned on a Saxophone purchased from a Distributer in NYC, a Pierret Oxford which was manufactured in Paris. Even though the Sax appeared to me to have connections to Selmar Paris, it doesn't get good reviews either. I'm now much more content with a popular Japanese professional sax which I like to depend on.
Such a great vid as I was about to buy that tenor as I need one great vid keep it going
Love yoy
Thanks for sharing Jay. Interesting point about the case, that makes sense that could cause a lot of problems.
I have only gotten one saxophone in the mail. Figured it was a gamble. But it was also an older saxophone. The Conn soprano I have from 1929. It could basically play when I got it, but improved quite a bit with some replaced pads. I did a few minor repairs myself.
Could also be good to consider whether you can carry the case on a flight if you're interested in doing that. For soprano/alto you can probably carry most on board. But with tenor, it's basically at the edge where a more contoured case will get you less looks/inquiries. But if you're going to check, it had better be extremely secure.
Thanks for all the information, you save a lot people a lot of trouble!
Looking forward to the Bass Saxophone comparison video! 😉
T.H. Woth I’m super pumped for the contrabass vid!
Although he’s a saxophonist I would like to see him order a subcontrabassoon
Thank you for this review!
Do the Bari!(pls) Wanna hear play Bari, haven’t heard you play yet.
YES!! PLEASE DO BARI!!
I had this same experience when I purchased one of these horns as a #2 I still have the horn and I'm using it to pratice repairs on!
Well at least you're getting some use out of it...
Greetings from Mexico city. Great videos!!! After watching your alto review, decided to buy a Lade sax. It is a good buy considering the price. Good for students and begginers like my self. My review: Its just like cheap cars, Dont expect air bags or leather seats, still it will take from point a to b.
I started alto a year ago but really glad I watched your Jean Paul As400 video. It’s been a great instrument! Even though you got lucky with the real cheap alto sax it might almost be better for someone to rent a good sax from a local music store while saving instead of go in at that low of a price point....or maybe a payment plan
Hey Jay! Thanks for this great review ^^
Thank you Mohamed
He sets it down on the keys. Now that’s a professional.
I mean, yeah it is more professional to do that. Setting it down with keys in the air actually leaves your palm D pushed down by the weight of the sax against the floor. Depending on your saxophone, the key guards for Low C down to Bb should protect the rest of the keys as well setting it keys down at the expense of chipping off some lacquer, if it's a hard surface.
I always set it down like that I get annoyed when someone doesnt
I know this is the tenor test but years ago I bought a used Conn student eb Alto horn for 100 bucks, and taught myself how to re-pad it and play it. It was loads of fun, and fine to learn on. So perhaps looking for a good used one might be a better intro plan.
Great review as always 👍
Maybe IKEA is manufacturing these things. So then the assembly session isn't surprising.
This is the most underated comment
Sounds like there are some leaks issues, shouldn't be a problem to set it up.
The only turn down is that if I would get one of those with those falling parts, I'd have to take it to a technician and spend the money I saved when buying it...
The other guy said Lade can pay you for the repair fee, surprising.....
I really appreciate your time looking at saxaphones
I love my (S)Lade alto..good quality and sounds great. Looking for a tenor now. Cool review.
Great video again! Thanks for the review. There’s no excuse for the case to be too big for the sax. Before foam cases were common the older cases had a plastic tray underneath the protective fabric. Granted if you still have one of those cases, the tray probably has cracked.
Wow, I'm diggin' hard on those pilers used when you repaired the post!
YES IT'S FINALLY HERE!
I guess when he was fixing that tenor sax, he did make it into a “Better Sax”
6:13 the lick
Sounded pretty good and sounded pretty consistent. It would be interesting what you would sound like after getting used to it for about a week. I don't think there would be much difference from the more expensive. Thats pretty amazing Jay. You make anything sound good though. : )
I played tenor and I loved it. I had to pay my auto insurance and had to sell it. It was a Yamaha intermediate tenor that I bought for $1,700.00. It served me better than the Bundy 2s that I had bought for $600.00. I started out playing an old Martin alto sax bought at a pawn shop to get started. It wasn’t until later that I had a horn that was lacquered from a silver horn to a darker lacquer one. It will take some time, but I will hold out for a professional horn.
You gotta do cheap vs expensive sub contrabass sax next
That's just obvious
They both expensive bro
@@YanThaGamer woosh
FishKing4999 Golf Cart that jas also a joke dumbass
I think they all expensive
A very useful video, and professionally made both technically and content wise. I miss the Conn-Selmer Prelude TS711 (tenor), 1299.- USD at Amazon. I have one of these and also a Selmer Mark VI. I can't tell the difference.
What are your opinions on other super cheap saxes compared to the Lade? Do they all have similar quality/issues or are there variations between these?
Loving the videos btw!
Hey, first I would like to say that it was an awesome video. I am a tenor player myself and decided to try the Lade tenor, but had much more satisfaction than you did (wasn't broken, no leaks). Maybe have a part two with a different saxophone?
That's good to hear. I'm sure this one would have been pretty good without the damage. Glad you're happy with it.
The sound of the lade (because of the slight leak, paired with a professional player) was kind of smokey sound that I personally think could sound decent on some solid ballad playing, but I'm sure you can get that sound on the pro quite easily
Amazing video! I would really like a review of the Yamaha YTS 280 Tenor sax.
Got that same sax for Christmas, the g sharp key came off immediately. Sent that sucker back
I like the tone from Lade, tone wise no problem when you played it.
Its supposed to be SLADE not lade
I bought a used Schiller T. Sax for $108.00. Put another $125.00 into it to put it into playing shape (obvious lower Bb, B pad adjustment, and other old pad replacement and adjustments was necessary), now I have a decent sax to work with.
Your service is invaluable
Best Wahes!
Yes I have been waiting
Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it, as I have a couple of kids getting to the age of wanting to play saxophone. I really didn't want to spend mega dollars then they decide to give it up. So a sub 1k saxophone looks sufficient for a child starting out. I have a leak light and tools, so I can get most things right for playing should the need arise.
Thanks again.
Great video! Tried an amazon sax and never liked it! Glad that I got my used Jupiter!
I got a accent saxophone that cost 800$ and the case is super good and ready to play right from the box when I got it it sounded really good.
I did not know oxfords without a collar existed until I saw this video
haha, Uniqlo is the store where I buy those.
@@bettersax مرحبا مليون دولار أمريكي مرحبا مليون
4:01
C Key: Yo wassup keyguard u lookig freshhh
The Yanagisawa definitely sounded better, a fuller sound! I agree with many of the other comments that said to get a used horn that is from a more reputable company. As an aside, I had the auto translate on and had to laugh at what system translated “Yanagisawa” to, LOL.
I got a tenor sax on amazon for a little under 500 usd and I’ve had it for a little under 3 years and it works pretty well. I’ve only had to take it for repairs once (the G# pad was leaking)
I now have an Selmer alto; played a Selmer tenor and Selmer flute in college (early 1970's), and grew up with a Martin alto; I still love the Martin, but the Selmer suits me fine for now (I'm and old dude, been playing since 1962; yet, I'm still not as good as you! but, I keep at it....
Truth teller, that’s my man! It sounds great, but that’s your skill, not the horn. Great advice as always! Thanks! Rocket 🚀
At least, it shows it is possible to play decently well and such
thank you veeery much for this kind of video
where you just answer the big question
is it ok to buy a cheap sax.
as seen the alto sax was good enough so i'm just giving it a shot when it arrives,
and i hope i'm as lucky as you were with the alto sax
becaus i'm exactly in that position you mentioned;
i wanna play sax but don't have money.
so thank you for your advise :)
you are doing great!
My first sax was a rental and even my instructor was unable to get the upper register to play at all. After a month or i said the heck with renting and so I bought my yts-26. It was the best move I made as a beginner. But this one as bad as it was was hands above the one I had first rented.
They shipped you a sax with “some assembly required, batteries not included”
Reminds me of when I upgraded to a pro tenor. I bought a P. Mariuat... Something about that horn made me fall in love with it. A pro horn doesn't necessarily make you a better player but it definitely allows you the ease of accessing what you know how to do so well... the expression and flexibility you have on a nice instrument is worth the investment... Especially if you play it for decades. Better investment then a car tbh... especially if you can make a few bucks with it.
The Yanagisawa horn has a brighter and fuller sound. Lade turned out to be somewhat decent and MAY suffice for a beginner who's parent's are on a limited budget. So, they need to keep in mind the 'caveat' principle. Buyers: be prepared to spend additional money for any potential repairs, a better case, and that they should know where they can have their new horn serviced as I'm assuming the Lade doesn't come with a very good warranty, if it does at all. My general consensus is to save a bit and then purchase a more quality horn. My experience has been that beginners practice better and more often with a good sounding horn. Thx Jay. As always, your videos are instructive and educational. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Michael.
Had a customer with the soprano... Based on your review, I offered to do a complete rebuild. There were tons of manufacturing defects to correct... not an easy job, but when I was done, the thing played great and had a very nice tone... after it was all said and done, the guy had a great instrument for under $2000. Worth it? Maybe.
I just got my tenor this year in grade 6 and I am trash this guy is god at the tenor
Can you do a video with a baritone saxophone from amazon? Please
I agree, but if the trend follows. The larger the sax the worse condition it will arrive in.
What about a soprnino?🤣
That’s not true alto was in better condition than soprano
@@CrisTc86 Which is odd because the smaller the instrument the more precise everything has to be.
Soprillo?
JM - Tone was good, intonation sounded good, too. If playability, per your comments, was a bit inferior, and with the mechanical issues after shipping, I wouldn't risk this one, either. Thanks for sharing this info with sax fans.
Thanks for the answer. That Slade tenor saxophone still had a lot of static sound compared to the other saxophone.
Haha love this kind of reviews
I was looking at Lade saxes tonight, some sellers have two prices, for an extra $25aud, you get a hard case instead of the soft one, after seeing this, I think it best to pay that bit extra!
Now we need the sub contrabass saxophone comparison
It sounded ok. I bought one like that too, a different brand on eBay(mendini) but looks the same . The left hand notes worked fine, but when I went down to the right hand it wasn't working very well sounded muffled and some notes didn't play correctly . Sending it back and looking for a better one.
6:15 that cured my depression THE LICC
I bought the Lade alto sax and the octave key had broken off. A bit of glue and it's been fine since but .... yeah. Still happy with it! As a beginner, I just wanted something that would play decently enough. So thanks again for the video, Jay!
oh that's too bad... At least it's working for you now.
@@bettersax You know, it's just another instance of REALLY helping me appreciate how incredibly clarinets/saxes are made and how hard they are to maintain and repair. And it was satisfying that my fix worked and has continued to stay on (knock on wood). But yeah, wasn't a great beginning for Lade on that one....
It would be worthwhile to test top-of-the-line Chinese instruments. I have a Toyama curved soprano which is a copy of the Yani. It is a pretty reasonable instrument which plays in tune and has a nice tone.
this video has help me as i need to buy my own tenor sax instead of rent one
As I previously commented, after your "Cheapest Sax on Amazon VS My Professional Alto Saxophone" video, I bought the alto sax and I'm very satisfied. I can confirm everything you said in your review.
Well, in order to improve the sound, I now bought a new embouchure, which I found second hand at a good price.
It is a Berg Larsen 95/2 SMS.
Surprisingly, it doesn't fit into the chiver.
I measured the chiver diameter, which is 15mm, becoming 16.5mm considering the cork.
The internal diameter of the mouthpiece is exactly 15mm, so, no way to fit it into the chiver ....
Considering that they are both 15mm, even replacing the cork with a thinner one, won't fix the issue .
Do you experienced the same on the sax you tested?
What is supposted to be the right diameter of the final part of the alto sax chiver?
I'm afraid the only solution is to widen the inside diameter of the mouthpiece in some way, maybe with a lathe, do you have any suggestion?
By the way, in the meantime I'm happily following your "Play Sax By Ear" course with my tenor sax, thanks again for your great videos!
Filippo, Rome (Italy)
The expensive one has an amazing tone. I play the alto. Should i start tenor aswell. Please let me know
I’ve been waiting on this lol
So, the lesson I learned here is maybe it's a good idea to spend at least 500 on a tenor saxophone. I just checked on Amazon and saw that they have Allora brand student horns for $525. That's at least a name I recognize and even considered when I was shopping for a pro alto earlier this year. I really appreciate these videos. I guess all that's left is the amazingly cheap bari saxes on ebay. $1600 for a bari. They look nice in the pictures and it would be super tempting to buy one if I have that much laying around some day.
The cheap one sounds good but breathy, and the pro has a clear crisp sound
I was dieing for the first 5 minutes of this video omfggggg
I was booked to take a solo on a Reggae recording in the early 70s in London.
When I had completed my solo, over the Loudspeaker system I was asked to come into the Control room.
I thought "Oh Oh ! Whats up Doc. ?
I was told the solo was too good.
As it was winter, I had gloves with me, donned them and said 'Let's see how it is now'
I took a solo once more, and after it, the Loudspeaker became activated again.
And a voice said : 'Perfect Bob'
It makes sense that a bigger instrument would be subject to greater forces during shipping and have more damage. But I imagine that the smallest instrument would be subject to being tossed around more. I would place my bet on the alto coming through the best.
The difference in sound between the cheap tenor and the Yani is way more obvious than the soprano and alto....and anyway your facial expression during the play test told everything! Ah, ah, I spent a good moment.
The G# key is an optional extra, luckily they included it in the case. To be fair, not a day goes by that I’m not fixing someone’s sticky G# key or miss aligned octave key.
So apart from the case, the saxphone from Lade is of quality. That is what I need to know, thanks. So it is not totally a fail, like a 50/50.
Good start
I tried out the Yamaha 62 in the music shop, and it plays really well. That saxophone has much better quality control
I have a cheap kohlert tenor that wasn't a bad buy. Needed a replacement for college from my horn from highschool(Bundy). It plays good but still want a professional tenor and bari to pair with my selmer super action 80 series 2 alto
Great videos. Could you do a review on the Maui Xaphoon?
Haha!! Good video Jay.
Surprise for me. This cheap sounds realy good, even if your Yani is easy to play securly.
Anyway, its inadmissible to receive a horn in this conditions.