is it worth buying a Pro horn?

[Carl Robinson]

I can only come at this from my background as a guitarist learning the Saxophone. What any pro instrument gives you is reliability, because if you are playing enough you need an instrument that you can rely on. These same arguments are nothing new no matter what instrument, but the truth is it is the player. Which is why a great guitarist/saxophonist could make an entry level instrument sound good, it’s mojo over material lol.

[Anonymous]

Thats true, a professional racing driver could probably outclass your car on the road by just driving in a clapped out old motor, but when comes to grand pri racing he’s not going win anything in a heap of old junk. the Sax is only machine and like any other machine there are machines and then there are machines. All these top yamaha owners, when it comes to the crunch, they take out their selmar’s. lol

It’s just another can of worms…

[jak Swift]

Straight answer to a straight question. Do you WANT one, or do you NEED one. If you have the bucks, go for it. Be wary, choose wisely. You want something that is going to hold or increase in value. If it were me, I’d go halfway. Lupifaro make great saxes, but who needs a platinum finish ?? Nobody !! I’d go with a Lupifaro raw ( if they do one ? ) or same horn, standard laquer. Platinum 4000 pounds. Straight Lupifaro, less than half. Regardless I wouldn’t pay more than $2500 on anything….period !!

[Jake Howard]

Mate, it completely depends on the customer – said Matt Stohrer (Saxophone Expert)

According to me, if you are willing to use your Sax for professional purpose then I will suggest to go for Pro Sax options like these https://disappearsmusic.com/best-saxophones-for-professionals/ instead of Saxos for Students.

So don’t look for reasons, instead try to analyses the purpose and you will get the answer.

[Anonymous]

when it comes to choosing saxophones, mouthpieces, ligatures and reeds,
you’re opening pandoras box discussion that leads nowhere, everyone has a different preference, Sales folk are only interested in selling their stuff and will tell you what you want to hear just to get a sale.It’s the same with jewelry ..oh madam that ring does look nice on you, i have the same ring at home…(give me a break).

What i will say, is i asked my pro about buying a new yamaha 62, his advice
was it would be far better to use the same money and buy a second horn higher up the saxophone grades. Professional sax players not on commision
are the best people to ask, also they should recomend a sax that is better
suited to your style of playing.

[john springer]

I am new to saxophone but played guitar for several years. I would not pay less than $130 bucks at Guitar Center for an acoustic guitar because the cheaper ones had real tone problems and buzzed. The guitars above $130 sounded good. But early in the beginning, I could not make a $1500 dollars sound any better than the $130. Seasoned players could make the $1500 sound sweet – but not me. So an expensive guitar was not worth it for me in the early stages. But then I got better and as I did I had to keep buying better guitars because my ability to produce notes with expressions had matured. Eventually I needed the $1500 guitar for recordings because the mike picks up everything. When I got pretty good, I tried the more expensive guitars, i.e $2000 and up. No difference in sound. $1500 was the cap on sound improvement. Beyond the $1500 dollar range people were paying for beauty such as engravings, special finishes, shiny keys, custom embroidered fret board etc. Then I switch to electric. My $800 Gibson Les Paul studio sounded better to me than the $2000 Gibson Les Paul standard.

I suspect that the cap for sound improvement for the saxophones stops way before your reach the professional models. After that point, I suspect you are purchasing status IMHO. My step dad was an incredible sax player, every bit as good as Randolph and Canon. He had a Selmer Alto and Tenor and in my opinion it served as a testimony of his skill. An accolade of his success. Casio’s are great watches that keep track of time perfectly, But for some the question is “why have a Casio if you can afford a Rolex”. Why have a Gucci purse when the Walmart one does the same job. The overpriced Selmer gave an instant impression of him before he even played the first note. He reaffirmed that image once the first note was produced. I suspect that he would have made my Jupiter 760 sound just as sweet – but he looked better with the Selmer.

[john]

you are correct in your thinking…
a pro horn will play better for you, be more in tune, feel better mechanically etc.
a $200 horn might not ever allow you to play in tune and will feel aweful.
But you certainly can work up to a great sounding player without a pro horn.
a top student model to intermediate from a good manufacturer will be fine.
the rest will come from you (breathing and embouchure) your reeds and your mouthpiece.
the mouthpiece will be your most important choice, the one piece of equipment capable of improving your sound the most.

[Michael]

@Johnny Thanks for the props you gave to Trevor James Saxophones in your blog article 🙂 https://www.howtoplaysaxophone.org/buying-a-saxophone/ I’ve had my SR Tenor and Signature Custom Alto for almost 3 years and they’re still like brand new, has never given me any issues. The SR Tenor used to be their pro-line Tenor, but when they released Signature Custom line of Saxophones, they bumped it down to the Intermediate level. With the SR Tenor, I got a fantastic sax at an awesome price. With the SR Tenor, The bell and the bore of the neck is bigger than most Saxophones, which helps project a very full, fat sound.

[Martin Pavíček]

I have a new trevor james alto, SR. I’m only playing for 2 years (less than 1.5 years), so I can not make full use of its features, but I think it was one of my best purchases I have ever done.

[john]

Yes Martin, I agree those are very nice horns!

[Author]

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