Ok, my son is in middle school this year, and joined the school band and I need to get him an alto saxophone. The last 2 years of middle school there was a program for music that for a nominal fee instruments were provided, and they taught the kids after school. His midle school in the beginning said they had some instruments they could provide for students, which has now been requested that these instruments should go to "less fortunate" children. I have no problem with that. My wife looked into rental, but it would add up to over $800 for a year rental. I see a lot of saxophones on CL in the $250 to $400 range, Iwas hoping somebody here either plays, played, or has a child thats plays and could tell me what to look for before buying crap. I know guitars, don't know shite about saxophones.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Google these sax makers:

Selmer
Yamaha
Yanagisawa
Keilwerth (slightly out of the ordinary)
Busher
Conn

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

BTW, I see by your handle you are a huge Floyd fan. What would you say is your fav Floyd tune?

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Yes big Floyd fan, My favorite Floyd song is "Dogs" really love the whole Animals album, but Dogs with that Gnarly guitar solo
However I do love playing Crazy Diamond the best

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Dogs. Same here.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I'm not exactly a sax expert but I played various woodwinds from 5th grade through high school, doubling on drums during marching season. Back then Selmer horns were considered tops and the Yamaha very decent and by all accounts that is still the case, but they are quite expensive. Bundy is the student grade line distributed by Selmer, sort of their Squier equivalent compared to Fender, but even these starter horns are $900 or more new. I started on a used Bundy and eventually got a new Selmer, but it was one of the lower end Selmers. Some other top sax brands these days are Yanagisawa, Keilwerth, Rampone Cazzani and P. Mauriat. Hope you are sitting down when you find out the prices on some of those brands new. They are like a down payment on a house.

The reason I was looking into today's sax market was to help out a friend with a son who wanted an alto sax, so I did some research to brush up on what's new and suggested we look for a good used one instead of buying a new one.

I found out that today there are also less expensive brands out there made in Asia. One is Jupiter and another decent starter line is by Antigua which cost less than the Jupiter. There is a line called Chicago Allora that is priced between the Antigua and the Jupiter. These three brands are fairly new and popular starters these days. We started looking for a used Jupiter, a Chicago Allora or an Antigua in the spring.

It took till June but my friend ran across a second hand or maybe a third hand Jupiter alto sax said to be about 5 years old. All the Jupiter horns are made in China. My friend asked me to look it over first. The Jupiter frankly looks great but I didn't try playing it as it hadn't been sterilized yet and I haven't played in over 30 years anyway and didn't want to show my lack of skill, but I can still tell a cheesy build from a quality build. I worked all the keys, checked the rods, pads, springs and so forth. There were no rattles and the operation was downright sweet. It honestly felt and looked great. It was better than my battered Bundy for sure. It had mother of pearl keys, not plastic buttons like my old Bundy. It has silver keywork and a sterling silver gooseneck which you once found only in pro line horns but seems to show up in mid grade horns now. The rods seemed to be excellent quality and it had perfect tension in the springs and quality cork. It was in perfect shape except for the ligature which I'd replace with a new one and it needed a mouthpiece cover. I told them that for $475 it looked like a steal and to buy a new ligature and get a mouthpiece cover.

My friend bought the Jupiter, sterilized the mouthpiece and away the kid went with it. He has been teaching HIMSELF to play and I'm amazed that he is taking to it very quickly. The kid likes the Jupiter and I've heard him play it several times and it does have very pleasing tone and is plenty loud too. It was even in a hard case! I spent a good 15 minutes trying to find something wrong with it and frankly I couldn't find much difference in build quality between the Jupiter and a base Selmer which costs way more. It is a way better horn than a Bundy.

Most of the lower end horns these days come in soft cases and the hard case with the Jupiter impressed me as a huge plus. Before starting this alto sax quest I'd never heard of Jupiter horns. I've also asked a few sax guys I know about them and all the feedback has been that Jupiter is a lot of sax for the money. One P. Mauriat player I know told me that Jupiter makes horns for other company brands too and then the other companies add a mark-up for their brand name on what is essentially the same horn as a Jupiter branded one.

I'd look for a good used Jupiter like the one my friend lucked into. Then if they stick with it you can sell the Jupiter and upgrade to a better horn later. A used entry level Yamaha or Bundy would be a good buy too if the price is right too. The trick is finding one that has good pads and cork with smooth key operation. Leaky pads and rattling keys can be a problem with cheap starter saxes but the Jupiter was solid there.

A hard to play crappy guitar can be very discouraging to a beginner and the same is true in a sax. Playability is important early but tone becomes more important as they progress and that usually means a better horn. From what I've seen and heard from that used Jupiter horn I'd recommend looking at one if you run across one and compare it to the other brands.

Beware of really cheap new saxes. There are some $400 to $600 ones out there that are frankly a waste of money. I've looked at some of them. There may be other decent brands I didn't mention, but so long as you stick to the brands I did mention I think you'll get a playable one that will hold up well.

Buying a used sax takes patience to find a good one, but will save you at least 50% up front. If you buy a used Bundy for $500, you'll be able to sell it for $500 probably. If you buy a new Bundy for $900 you'll again be able to sell it for $500. So a used sax makes way more sense than a new one, especially for a beginner that may quit and move onto something else.

Thanks brotherdave, thats exactly the kind of info I'm looking for....SOLID! I actually found a Jupiter on CL, I'll try to check it out, sellers so far having a bad habit of selling, and not removing post. Ok, check for loose keys, rattled, leaky corks, and pads...GOT IT!

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

A yammaha alto was a fine start to a sax career.....Great instrument.....It's been a while since I now very regretfully stoped playing as a kid.....But it was a class bit of kit....Selmer sure...I wish I played long enough and got good enough to justify one....They even 25 years ago were the Custom shop like desirables.... This of course is quarter a century ago....What relevance it has now? I would still think some.

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I played sax in elementary school band. I had an Evette Buffet Crampton. It seemed good to me at the time, but I was 10. My buddy is a sax player and I am sure he would recommend a Bundy, Selmer or Yamaha. I'd say buy a used one instead of renting. It seems cheaper and just like guitars, if your son is into it, he'll want a better sax as he gets better. I seem to recall, good saxophones are a few grand!
P.S. I remember a couple of kids had King saxophones.

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Got one today. I asked my wife, remebering that her sister played saxophone through college, to give her a call and see if she still had it. Turns out she sis, It's a Selmer, and had been in a closet for 25 years, but it's all there. He needs it this Saturday, and will work fine. We brought it to the local music shop that deals with all those band and orchestra typ instruments, and had it checked out, aside from needing some new cork, everything else is in good shape. After his thing Saturday, we will drop it off for a re-cork, and a good once over, Saved a lot of money thanks to a good memory, and a good sister-in-law!

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

I hope he sticks to the Sax..something about them when its good just gets you...another Dick Parry in the making..going with that name since you like pink floyd LOL

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Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

Got my woman a Yamaha YAS-23 about a year ago because she always wanted to try it since she used to play clarinet. That thing is so nice and sounds so cool for a student sax. I wish I could learn how to play it. Look around for used ones, you;ll find a great deal.

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"Music is what feelings sound like"