much of the time but not always. these cheap horns tend to play ok at first then fall apart fast. then there's old abominations like the mexiconn. i wouldn't wish that horn on my worst enemy.
The thing is, to get to a good level you need a good functioning instrument, one that you don't have to fight. Once you reach a good level, yes, you can make anything sound good because you can overcome the instrument shortcomings. A fine instrument is a great teacher!
@@ricardonascimento1928 China horns do not stay functional for long. They are beautiful looking junk. Shoddy knockoffs of pro brands. They do not stand up to the abuse of a beginner student. Taiwanese horns are much better. KHS makes Jupiter and a lot of other solid brands. Don't buy anything out of commie China, you will regret it.
When I gave trumpet lessons some 48 years ago as a professional musician, a mother of a student apologized for having to buy her son such a cheap trumpet. I picked the horn, put my mouthpiece in the her son's horn and played some golden tone improvs of the tune Laura. She was astounded at how good the horn sounded. I then thanked her for at least buying him a horn to get him started enriching his life with musical performance. She thanked me and started to cry.
Thank-you for your videos! When I was younger, I was a proficient alto sax player. Now at 55 yrs old, I wanted to try a soprano, call it a winter hobby. After watching this and your video comparing altos, I bought an Ammoon LADE curved soprano sax from Amazon and got a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece for it. Similar to your experiences, so far, mostly good! It arrived in one piece and tightly in its case. All of the keys are tight, no loose screws, springs or rods, however, it would not play low B or B-flat due to a leak. I took it to a local experienced repair man who has a 1928 curved soprano Buescher in very good condition that we compared it to (he was pleasantly surprised at how the LADE played)! The LADE actually sounds pretty decent (he made the adjustment so that the LADE can play all notes now). I left it with him for some fine tuning. Similar to your experience, some of the keys have too thin of cork, so those keys open wider than a european tolerance (playable but inefficient). The lower B and B-flat keys have too thick of felt. The pads are seated deeply, so they may not last as long as a higher quality-controlled sax. But, for me to fiddle around with, its a keeper. Thanks again for your videos!
I bought a Taishan bari from ebay several months back. It's holding up well, but I keep it in my studio and don't carry it out for gigs. Good for a second horn, for sure.
I chose “B” immediately because, as a clarinetist, I could hear air escaping from the tone holes in several parts of the instrument’s range, and could also detect much more effort on your part trying to make the comparison as fair as the instrument’s lower quality allows. A very, very helpful video for those who may be choosing a beginning instrument for lessons.
I came to comment the same, this is also the reason I chose "B". The escaping air at 13:39 - 13:40 wasn't the first thing I heard but was a direct factor, considering the first difference I heard was the crispness on each note change, it sounded like it was much more manipulative and easy to play.
A good musician can achieve the same results with less difficulty on a higher quality instrument. That said, you mostly pay for the reliability and production/labor costs when buying an expensive instrument.
Not necessarily. A saxophone has to be internally in tune, for starters. This is why professional players are so surprised when a cheap instrument plays well. And if it has crappy tone holes (bad manufacturing, which does not seem to occur any longer), that makes it pretty hard to play too. It's true that pro players are much better at compensating for it when an instrument is not really in tune, but there are limits to that. (I don't even play; I just type comments. Otherwise, I'd be playing, after all, instead of typing comments.)
I think that's true up to a point, and the general quality of cheaper instruments has improved significantly over the past couple of decades, but there are still some mass-produced instruments that are shockingly bad to the point of being pretty much unplayable. Fretted strings tend to be the worst offenders - I once saw a ukulele in a shop where the frets were at an angle rather than straight across the fingerboard, so even the best ukulele player in the world couldn't make that sound good as it would be physically impossible to play in tune.
Took a while but it became very evident, when moving into the higher register, that B, was the king. Much more resonant. Musically beautiful. Claranet sounding almost! Just lovely!
I am not a sax player or even a good musician I am afraid to say, but I appreciate your music and reviews they are quite interesting. Thanks for the education.
Been watching your videos for a little while now, and I love them! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on so many sax topics. I got today's listen test wrong, and I'm shocked. I really thought you sounded better on A.
Picked B after 10 seconds - sound was more "liguid" and smoother as well. That being said I think A is a great starter piece. As for the case slop - 1/4 to 3/4 inch (7 -18 mm) memory foam as required. Works great for guitar and piano cases too.
I also picked B. I think the overtones resonated better. Bigger sound. You can't really go wrong with the cheap one, though. Especially if you're just a home player who's just dabbling in Soprano in your spare time. You won't be traveling the world with the case anyway.
Paul Clare you get what you pay for; I used to have one of these and it played as well as you expect for about a month or two, but then corks started to fall off, pads became loose, keys stuck, and the thing was too much of a hassle to repair
Agreed I have never thought that you have to pay a whole lot for a horn taking nothing away from his advice though, I love my horns and I have NEVER paid more than 3 figures for a horn and I've been ok.
difference in instrument quality seems to be in the experience of playing it, not in the sound. also, Im sure a better made instrument is going to last much longer.
Basically a cheaper horn holds back the player because of the flaws it may have while with the quality horn the player is able to play on it at their fullest capacity without the instrument holding them back. The sound difference you here is just barely different because he’s not changing anything, the better one isn’t making him play better it’s the cheaper horn that made him “worse” but still good, which is why it sounds thinner.
Just got one for my daughter for Christmas. I've been trying to interest her in learning to play, but she's been intimidated by how big the alto is (she's 12 and petite). She saw me watching another video of a guy playing a curved soprano and said she wanted to try that. For $270 (which includes shipping) I had this LADE on my doorstep. You can't beat that price. I opened it to make sure it was put together right, and it feels really good. I didn't play it because that needs to wait for Christmas day, but no leaks and the keys feel pretty good. I remember playing a lot of crappy student horns, mostly Bundy and Conn, back in the 70's and 80's that were much worse than this. I'm looking forward to hearing it being played. I might even buy a tenor!
SkylersRants Even if your daughter’s small, isn’t it better to start on alto? I thought people don’t start on soprano because they need to develop the embouchure on an alto, and because the intonation on sopranos are much harder than an alto’s.
@@高宇中 I started on clarinet as a child. The clarinet embouchure is much more difficult than a saxophone of any stripe. I have no expectation that my daughter will be playing professionally anytime soon. This is just to whet her appetite at a very low cost.
SkylersRants Clarinet, I understand. It’s an easier transition from that to the saxophone than vice versa. But you know your daughter better than I do, I was just curious about the tactic. Good luck to your daughter.
Ok as a sax player myself I know that the mouth piece is a personal thing very personal. So the mouth piece is not something you can really judge a sax by, the mouth piece that ships with a lot of saxophones tend to be like the strings shipped with guitars, OK but you would swap them out as soon as you can. As for the actual sax I love cheap saxophones, my very first ever sax was a second hand really cheap sax, and it played like crap, but I spent time learning how to service that thing, how to make it play good, I learnt that some of the squeaks and farts coming from the machine was not me but the actual sax, which was a valuable lesson to learn. The saxophone is supposed to be a cheap instrument, when it was originally made the people it was made for didn't like the sound of it so it was pretty much dumped on the side hardly ever used in classical music, but that hard raw sound it can produce and the fact that it was a cheap instrument to buy is what made it such a popular instrument with the musicians that made it famous, Jazz musicians were poor people many still are. This saxophone is a wonderful instrument, I don't know the brand but it is an instrument that is staying with the tradition of making musical instruments affordable for everyone. All it would take is a little time and effort to make it a really good instrument, a little bit of work, if you are mechanically minded you wouldn't need to send it off to an instrument tech to fix, so it wouldn't cost you 100s of dollars to fix, like wise the case. The case is a nice case all it needs is a little bit of fixing, the instrument rattles in the case so spend a couple of dollars on some packing make a couple of case cushions using any kind of cheap foam packing material, and a bit of cloth to cover it. All the extras are a bonus, if the hooks that hold the case as a back pack slip off just change the hooks for something better, keep the same strap use a sewing machine and hey presto all the things you hated about this sax fixed for less than 50 dollars.
Oh, i thought B was the Amazon one. I think you may have unintentionally played that one better. It hit the high notes very nicelt. For that price, it'a not bad at all.
> I spent time learning how to service that thing How did you learn to do that? Trial and error? Watch the tech? RUclips videos? If the last, who / what do you recommend? THANKS!
@@hoytstah When I started playing sax there was no RUclips, all we had back then was evening classes to learn to play, some people had brand new saxes and were friendly we would swap our sax to see if we could play each others sax better, we would also try to get the teacher to play our sax to see if it was OK, in doing so I would look at how the pads sat in the keys and how my sax differed, we also had libraries where I would go to see if there were any books on how to fix wind instruments, I did every class I could find for playing there were not too many for fixing and most people kept their secrets to themselves, oh how things have changed. Playing the sax may not make you famous and rich no matter how good you get, you have to know the right people to get you in for that, but it will give you hours and hours of satisfaction and pleasure plus something to talk about with musicians. But to answer your question it was hours and days months working on my sax looking at other saxes testing, for pressure losses, doing the cigarette paper test and so on until finally I managed to make my cheap crappy sax the envy in sound of everyone who heard it play, even some players who had selmers which at the time cost them over a grand compared to my sax that cost me less than 200 pounds secondhand with no special name and even some keys badly placed and laid out wrong. Make a cheap sax personal and you can have a wonderful instrument. Identify where the instrument is lacking and set about trying to fix those problems. I once played a Yamaha it was a wonderful instrument to play, but it was a very expensive instrument, I also once played a Selmer again a very nice instrument but again very expensive.
I love playing the soprano sax. Whole different feel to playing this instrument. Especially if you have the ability to improvise. Opens up a whole new world for me. I had played the eb sax for many years and still love to play this instrument as well. Thanks for sharing. Really enjoy your videos. Canada
old thread, i know. I'm a soprano player. i play a Yani Elimona (s880). My repair tech offered me to try one of his own branded Chinese instrument. Right there in the studio, with my regular mp, the sound of the Yani was much more louder, centered and richer, than the Chinese sax. It sounded "clean" but small - or paraphrasing: "this sax plays Kenny G sort of stuff" - mind you, im a free-jazz player, and I like'em phat. Thanks Jay. I love your channel.
Okay, I thought your Yanagisawa sounded better UNTIL the very end, when there was a weird rattle. What was that about? You even made a face, which had me second guessing. Thanks again, I love these videos showing that, in the end, it all comes down to whose playing, not what they're playing on. The rest of us don't need a better , just MORE PRACTICE!!
@@bwalters7777777 Does it? As a beginning woodwind person, I have trouble with a spitty sound sometimes, yes, I know, often it's condensation, whatever. But as a pro, don't you find ways to manage it somehow?
Same here. I was sure A was Amazon and B was pro, up until the last clip. But I think the amazon horn sounds just fine. $4000 for a marginal improvement in sound.
I chose B because it had a darker tone. I’m a little disappointed that the Amazon horn wasn’t better. I had high hopes after the Alto review. I currently have a student model Yamaha Tenor which I love playing, but was looking at getting a Soprano to compliment without breaking the bank. Thank you as always for your honest reviews.
B was pretty apparently the pro sax. A sounded like it had a head cold, stuffy and slow. B was a clearer tone, more harmonics, and far more responsive. The funny thing about pad leaks and loose actions are that they slow down the speed that you can get clean slurs, legato, and bent notes.
The tone is in the player (air control, attack, embouchure) and mouthpiece setup (reed, ligature, mouthpiece type). The horn mainly controls ease of use and intonation
Jay, you had much better luck than I had buying a Slade curved soprano sax a few years ago. I set it up, started playing, thought "Not so bad!". Then I brought it to rehearsal, and could not get it in tune for the life of me. I brought it to my tech, and neither could he. It was a full 1.5 tones flat all across its range! One would probably have to saw half the neck off to get it in tune. One can only hope that they've gotten their act together, perhaps hired quality control personnel. Live and learn!
Great video. Interestingly I picked the correct one. For me it was the beginning and end of the notes that sound different. The B sax was much more precise when I listened to it. In saying that I wouldn't mind a cheap soprano to play just for fun. I picked up a cheap C concert flute just for fun as well and it plays okay too for being a cheap instrument. I'm surprised at how good the cheap ones are for the money.
The tone on the B sax was much thicker and free than A, but I was impressed by A. The changes and intonation sounded smooth, although I bet there was a lot more effort put in to that on A. The tonequality was worlds apart though imo.
The two sounded great. Without controversy the Amazon sax represented itself tremendously up against the big gun. I think 10-15 cheap sopranos together would baffle an audience more than one pro sax. A pro sax is a pro sax but damn!!!!!!! The Amazon sax is a force.
Hey Jay. I bought the same horn. I rolled the dice and Mine actually came in well put together. I'm gonna guy a mouthpiece today. I'll let you know what I think.
Four years ago you posted a comment on a Better Sax in which you said you bought the cheap Amazon soprano sax featured in the video. How has it worked out for you? Would you recommend it? THANKS!
I'm a musician and don't agree with the ones here trying to defend an expensive instrument. You don't have to buy the most expensive, in reality musicians do that because they think they should and they want to look good having the most expensive ones. I would suggest to buy a medium range priced instrument. I don't have any issues recording with a Squier bass and wouldn't have an issue with a $350 Nylon Yamaha guitar. I like recording quality in the performance of the musician NOT what a more expensive material on an instrument will give me.
Philip Clark Everyone knows Kenny G. Sucks... he was the worst thing that happened to jazz. He may sale records for the average person, but real audiophiles won’t be caught dead listening to him. It’s elevator/ porno movie track music....
I played tenor sax in jr high and high school over 40yrs ago been thinking about getting a soprano to start back. Love the sound of the soprano, excellent review can't go wrong with cheap Amazon model to start with. A trip to the music store for tune-up on the cheap model should fix the mechanical adjustments.
Saxophile here! Cool vid on this Yani template horn. I've been on a China/Taiwan horn kick for about a couple years now with various axes. I bought my red copper Slade soprano during this summer on Ebay for $125 w/shipping included and I got lucky for it played right out of the box! The case I use for in-house storage, no swedging issues but the corks on the Eb/C spatula had to go were my only problem! Because of the furry "body swab", I find it a good idea to take a pipe cleaner to all the octave pips to make sure no obstruction is in the way. The horn plays like gangbusters and my fellow pro cats marvel at the prospect of a horn playing on par with a more expensive axe! The Slade red copper alto I bought months later for $200 plays just a great but I have to tweak it a little for a cozy condition! Also, one little program note: You need a better "poker" face while playing the blindfold test. Looking at you while playing "A" gave away to me that you were playing the Slade and looked more at ease while playing "B"! Thanks
Stunned again... Sounded great on both... Barely perceptible difference bearing in mind record/playback limitations... Great vid mind... Lateral play between posts was a bit shocking😱🎷👍👍
👏 Wow! That was a great rendition of Kenny G's "Songbird!" I can't replicate that relaxing sound on my alto sax nor on my clarinet. It makes me want to purchase a soprano sax just to play that one song. 😊 BTW: They both sounded really nice. But how well will the cheap one play and sound a year from now with regular use? That's the $286 question. 😉
Just bought mine thru your website. Love it for the price. My wife immediately stole the gloves. My dog no longer comes around.. Not a fan. Since I'm financially embarrassed I love the horn. Thank you
Upper register intonation is far better on the Amazon soprano. Could've been a blip, but it almost seemed like playing a different horn forces you to focus on pitch or possibly this horn is more evenly tuned.
Hi Jay! Thank you very much for all the things that you are doing. I would like to ask you if you can do a video of Best Soprano-sax mouthpieces under $150. That would be great to have your opinion on those. Thank you in advance
là aussi , les prix pratiqués chez nous pour un bec de saxophone sont absolument incroyables . Jamais je n'achèterai une mouthpiece à des prix pareils : je trouve assez facilement une excellente embouchure à petit prix sur les sites chinois , comme c'est curieux ! Les Chinois ne me semblent quand même pas exploités au point qu'on essaie de nous faire croire mais chez nous , nous ne pouvons rien faire d'autre que défendre nos fabricants , même s'ils sont indéfendables . Le grand capital nous tient très bien , hahahahaha !!!
I have enjoyed your videos. I have an Aerophone Go. I played a traditional alto in college. I am getting back to via Aerophone go after 18 years! I think it is cool because I can use headphones and practice. I am not bothering anyone else and I do not have to be self conscious about how I sound. I also like that I can play four different saxophones, flute, clarinet, and even drums. I have always wanted to learn soprano but now I can learn many different instruments. Keep the videos coming!
I play soprano a lot 2 curved and 2 straight from a vintage conn to a Yamaha 62 and I would say if I was playing a gig you could not tell witch I was playing love the test
Michael P. Dawson Kenny G. May sell more records because the average person is too stupid to tell the difference, but he’ll never get my respect. His music sounds like elevator / 80’s porno movie soundtrack music...
I met Kenny G in the early 90’s and he was extremely humble and such a gentleman. He actually has some chops, but you would never know it. I’m not saying that he’s a bebop master, but his marketing team was off the charts. Now he has enough money to play whatever he wants to, while a lot of great jazz players don’t have a pot to piss in. Just my $.02.
I've been playing professionally since the mid 70's. I got my Yamaha soprano in 1978 and loved it, but I found a cheap Taiwanese soprano in the mid 90's for $350 and fell in love with it. It was more ergonomically equivalent to my Mark VI alto and tenor and it played in tune! Did it have mechanical issues? Sure. But it has serve me well for almost 30 years. In the hands of a student the horn would fall victim to bent keys, misaligned pads, and fouled octave mechanisms. But with the proper care and feeding it has served me well for decades. Why pay more when you don't have to?
I played tenor sax 40 years ago and picked up interest in playing again, so I don’t necessarily have the best ear for music. With that said, I could tell the difference between the Amazon and professional instruments. The professional instrument has a deeper and richer sound. I agree with your recommendation to spend a little more on a beginner instrument if possible. I love the sound of the soprano sax. Great channel I’ll be back for more.
I just got my soprano sax 2 days ago. I started to learn about 6 years ago on the alto but struggled with it. I have wide shoulders, long arms and big hands. I then bought a tenor, which I love and learnt how to relax my body while playing. As a result, what I learned on tenor helped me on my alto playing. I thought that owning 2 saxes would be enough. I practice almost every day and I am not a professional musician. I never intended to own a soprano saxophone. Because of my love for the instrument and my occasional traveling, I finally decided to get one, as it is easier to take on a plane and least of a hassle to carry around. I struggled a bit with my embouchure on day 1 but quickly improved on day 2. I find that I need less air play ,longer lines than on the others and because the mouthpiece is so small, I occasionally struggle in transitioning between low and high notes. Training with a tuner is important to me. I find that the fingerings is taking some getting used to, because the instrument is smaller but moreso, it it straight and not curved. Could you present a video the use of the throat and embouchure adjustment for this instrument? I'd really appreciate it.
It's cheap enough to retain most of that value. You could resell somewhere close to that. It's really cheap. When you break down the cost per hour you use it it is fractional cents on the dollar. Going to see a single movie the per hour cost is 100x a instrument so it's doesn't matter. Just buy an instrument the most you can afford. It's virtually free when you consider the cost per hour and the reduce that by the resell value
layman here who hasn't played sax since school days. *caveat I am a professional synthesizer sound designer. I was able to easily pick out the correct one in the shoot out and it the more expensive was indeed more pleasant to my ears. however it would be really interesting to hear the comparison after it has been tweaked and set up by you with some time and care. regardless the price point of these budget sax's are quite impressive. I am big fan of putting some elbow grease into a lower tier product to elevate it up a bit. my more expensive gear I am always tweaking and elevating further so why not with anything else. anyway great videos thanks!
I guessed it right--B was the better sounding. For lack of better way to describe it, you can hear it is coming through a better piece of metal, the sound, the notes, it's smoother, richer, less "tinny". Does any of this make sense? Great videos
You should do a video comparing a cheap Bari Sax to a professional. BTW, love you videos they help me so much as I’m starting to play professional gigs👍🎷
Picked B but it was a coin toss..Your Pro sax is beautiful and I am sure feels much better to play and look at..thanks for the advice I'll toss the fuzzy tail swab thing after I take the top plug off...I wonder if a wine cork will fit.. or use the fuzzy tail to prop the case open so it does not blow closed..top came off on it's own the other day with the fuzzy swab tail in the sax...got it out...I use the white gloves for packing my sax top and bottom in the loose case I have ...I bought a Chinese Tenor sax a few weeks ago seems ok but I am a newbie...had a palm key cork come off the other day while cleaning sax.. You have a great humor...Thank you so much for these videos...if your new one keeps playing Kenny G or is found sipping Chardonnay and crying I'd send it back before you get to attached to it...
I agree, playability and reliability of his Yanagisawa play a huge part in choosing the more expensive horn. If I was a sax player and had the money and was using the instrument regularly to make a living, I definitely would go with the pricier horn. I'd like to see him do a follow up to see how well the Amazon sax holds up after 6 months, a year, etc.
Oh and forgot to mention I play a 1927 Conn soprano, completely different sound so if you compared a vintage to the Amazon I expect even with the Vandoren you could pick the difference.
One of the best sopranos that I've ever played on was an intermediate model Selmer. It played better than the pro horns I was around at the time. I finally bought a Yamaha 62 model that I really enjoyed!
I play soprano and alto also... I could NOT tell the difference. Your playing is so excellent to begin with that I firmly believe you can take any cheap POS and make it sound great!!! I loved the Kenny G comment, although I play ALL of his songs, the girls like it... says its mood music! I also an instrument maker, I make violins, harps, and steel guitars. I have 118 instruments in my collection, and still buying more... anyhow... both sopranos sounded great, and you were playing one of my favorite songs!!!
> I have 118 instruments in my collection That sounds AMAZING! Can you post a photo of your collection (or photos -- I guess one encompassing them all would be impossible).
I'm often blown away by your lack of snobbery and fairness. I have a Slade b flat clarinet I bought off Amazon and I'm often amazed by the sounds I'm able to get from it . I paired it with a Vandoren m13 and no 3 reed and it's awesome. Because it's not expensive doesn't always mean it's no good because I'd rather have an inexpensive instrument and enjoy it than have no instrument at all. I'm sure you're fairness has inspired many to buy instruments and give them a go and in my book this is a good thing.
Dear Jay: this was great as always. Request: can you please make a review video about curved vs straight sopranos? Lots of noise out on the web about the real vs purported pros and cons. Thanks, Andrew
OK. Maybe it's because I've played the piano for 30 years. I can hear a WORLD of difference between A and B. Great playing either way, but the workmanship on instrument A betrays itself. The articulation that one is capable of in B is EXQUISITE! Grateful for the review.
i found out years ago if you can play and you put on a good mouthpiece , and provided thers no leaks you can make a cheap sax sound nice. another thing i found out is a cheap sax will really make you understand how to fix the problems it will give you like leaks and bent keys and things . i own three sax,s now and never have to take them to anyone to do repairs . so really its a good thing to buy a cheap sax .7 years later both my cheap sax,s still sound good.
The experiment was contaminated by playing the horn before the play test, although I would have chosen correctly as I did without it. I recognized the same faint spitting-leak sound at certain points in the blind test with "A" that I heard during the initial play test of the Amazon horn. It didn't help to conceal the identity that you labeled it "A" as in "Amazon" either, given us men tend to like to keep things simple. The preplay made identifying it that much easier. I would have chosen the same specifically, because of that little raspy leak sound. It still played decent so for me a horn like this would be great for those times of day, or locations when I really want to practice, but can't because of the volume level of the Alto. The science of this kind of comparison and the truth that it speaks to how properly made and functioning, is more important than name and price, is much appreciated.
These videos have made me a firm believer that the majority of the sound is the musician not the horn
much of the time but not always. these cheap horns tend to play ok at first then fall apart fast. then there's old abominations like the mexiconn. i wouldn't wish that horn on my worst enemy.
It's always been like that.
The thing is, to get to a good level you need a good functioning instrument, one that you don't have to fight. Once you reach a good level, yes, you can make anything sound good because you can overcome the instrument shortcomings. A fine instrument is a great teacher!
@@ricardonascimento1928 China horns do not stay functional for long. They are beautiful looking junk. Shoddy knockoffs of pro brands. They do not stand up to the abuse of a beginner student. Taiwanese horns are much better. KHS makes Jupiter and a lot of other solid brands. Don't buy anything out of commie China, you will regret it.
@@reednut2091 Taiwan is part of China.
The soprano saxophone...or as I call it, the "b-flat Armored Clarinet."
BW Acuff Imma start calling mine that.
😂😂😂😂😂
clarinets b flat anyway, so it's just the armored clarinet
XD
Multi-keyed trumpet w/ reed
When I gave trumpet lessons some 48 years ago as a professional musician, a mother of a student apologized for having to buy her son such a cheap trumpet. I picked the horn, put my mouthpiece in the her son's horn and played some golden tone improvs of the tune Laura. She was astounded at how good the horn sounded. I then thanked her for at least buying him a horn to get him started enriching his life with musical performance.
She thanked me and started to cry.
Then everyone clapped
Bigboibobb 420 HAHAHAHAHAHA r/thathappened
Steven Lambert of course that happened
That's good job!
Man, that's like music to my ears.
Thank-you for your videos! When I was younger, I was a proficient alto sax player. Now at 55 yrs old, I wanted to try a soprano, call it a winter hobby. After watching this and your video comparing altos, I bought an Ammoon LADE curved soprano sax from Amazon and got a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece for it. Similar to your experiences, so far, mostly good! It arrived in one piece and tightly in its case. All of the keys are tight, no loose screws, springs or rods, however, it would not play low B or B-flat due to a leak. I took it to a local experienced repair man who has a 1928 curved soprano Buescher in very good condition that we compared it to (he was pleasantly surprised at how the LADE played)! The LADE actually sounds pretty decent (he made the adjustment so that the LADE can play all notes now). I left it with him for some fine tuning. Similar to your experience, some of the keys have too thin of cork, so those keys open wider than a european tolerance (playable but inefficient). The lower B and B-flat keys have too thick of felt. The pads are seated deeply, so they may not last as long as a higher quality-controlled sax. But, for me to fiddle around with, its a keeper. Thanks again for your videos!
Thanks for sharing this info.
The sax: *plays well
This guy: huh. That's weird
@@shungite98 It was a joke. Settle
that's right. Lightn' up Francis. A real man can play a soprano & a baritone.
Lmaooo
Dude...if this company ever makes a bari sax of atleast somewhat equal quality for a proportionally reasonable price...review that too.
Yeah, I would love to be able to purchase a reasonably priced Bari. Hard to find them used, not in need of expensive repairs
Totally agree dude
maybe even a bass sax? I would love to own one of those!!! :-)
I bought a Taishan bari from ebay several months back. It's holding up well, but I keep it in my studio and don't carry it out for gigs. Good for a second horn, for sure.
Mike Robinson I purchased a Taishan Winds Bari off eBay it was $1599. And an awesome horn a great deal !
I chose “B” immediately because, as a clarinetist, I could hear air escaping from the tone holes in several parts of the instrument’s range, and could also detect much more effort on your part trying to make the comparison as fair as the instrument’s lower quality allows. A very, very helpful video for those who may be choosing a beginning instrument for lessons.
bruh i chose A, this is so interesting
I chose A as well …d’oh!
I came to comment the same, this is also the reason I chose "B". The escaping air at 13:39 - 13:40 wasn't the first thing I heard but was a direct factor, considering the first difference I heard was the crispness on each note change, it sounded like it was much more manipulative and easy to play.
I am also a clarinetist and saxophonist and the air was a let factor in deciding, however in the end I was confident in my answer and was correct
Listen to the end on Yanaga air its the player. Reed not worn in.🐊
B is definitely much Richer sounding. Nice blind test the little differences really stand out.
yes.. more of a difference than in the Alto-sax test.
I’m convinced it’s the musician and price doesn’t matter.
A good musician can achieve the same results with less difficulty on a higher quality instrument. That said, you mostly pay for the reliability and production/labor costs when buying an expensive instrument.
Nya Russell yep its really true
Not necessarily. A saxophone has to be internally in tune, for starters. This is why professional players are so surprised when a cheap instrument plays well. And if it has crappy tone holes (bad manufacturing, which does not seem to occur any longer), that makes it pretty hard to play too. It's true that pro players are much better at compensating for it when an instrument is not really in tune, but there are limits to that. (I don't even play; I just type comments. Otherwise, I'd be playing, after all, instead of typing comments.)
I think that's true up to a point, and the general quality of cheaper instruments has improved significantly over the past couple of decades, but there are still some mass-produced instruments that are shockingly bad to the point of being pretty much unplayable. Fretted strings tend to be the worst offenders - I once saw a ukulele in a shop where the frets were at an angle rather than straight across the fingerboard, so even the best ukulele player in the world couldn't make that sound good as it would be physically impossible to play in tune.
It’s both
Took a while but it became very evident, when moving into the higher register, that B, was the king. Much more resonant. Musically beautiful. Claranet sounding almost! Just lovely!
At this point you might as well play the tenor they have
Phil McPhilsalot I swear lol
Please!
I would like to hear the tenor also!
Chances are the tenor will only play Plas Johnson.
haha, Pink Panther...
TOTALLY cracked up at the "That's odd... this saxophone only plays Kenny G!" lolol
So did I!
If you're buying a $240 soprano sax from Amazon, you're only allowed to play Kenny G.
@@kd5nrh In other words, Kenny G is cheap🤣
@@akakakakakak3084 do you all think l could play Dave Koz too? Jajaj ups ho ho ho
Same 😅
More convincing than ever that the greatness of the player can overcome the weaknesses of the instrument 🎷!!! Thanks for the demo of this fact! 😀🚀
I am not a sax player or even a good musician I am afraid to say, but I appreciate your music and reviews they are quite interesting. Thanks for the education.
Been watching your videos for a little while now, and I love them! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on so many sax topics. I got today's listen test wrong, and I'm shocked. I really thought you sounded better on A.
Picked B after 10 seconds - sound was more "liguid" and smoother as well. That being said I think A is a great starter piece. As for the case slop - 1/4 to 3/4 inch (7 -18 mm) memory foam as required. Works great for guitar and piano cases too.
Also, if he put that mute in, it would fill up the space. But, you're correct. Put some foam in...
I also picked B. I think the overtones resonated better. Bigger sound. You can't really go wrong with the cheap one, though. Especially if you're just a home player who's just dabbling in Soprano in your spare time. You won't be traveling the world with the case anyway.
Same
I liked A better..
Honestly I can't hear $ 4000 difference in sound.this Is great beginner sax.
I got it right!
Not by listening though, but by counting the number of wrinkles in his forehead. :)
Mask your forehead next time! :)
Paul Clare you get what you pay for; I used to have one of these and it played as well as you expect for about a month or two, but then corks started to fall off, pads became loose, keys stuck, and the thing was too much of a hassle to repair
Agreed I have never thought that you have to pay a whole lot for a horn taking nothing away from his advice though, I love my horns and I have NEVER paid more than 3 figures for a horn and I've been ok.
I think the quality control, not just the sound
It’s not about initial impressions. This thing wouldn’t last a month of constant playing like a professional would
The Amazon sax’s sound seemed a little thinner, but man, for the $, you’d think the difference would be greater.
difference in instrument quality seems to be in the experience of playing it, not in the sound. also, Im sure a better made instrument is going to last much longer.
Basically a cheaper horn holds back the player because of the flaws it may have while with the quality horn the player is able to play on it at their fullest capacity without the instrument holding them back. The sound difference you here is just barely different because he’s not changing anything, the better one isn’t making him play better it’s the cheaper horn that made him “worse” but still good, which is why it sounds thinner.
0:45 turn on captions. You're welcome.
"yo niggas"
Wtf
Oml lmaoooo 😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂
N WORD 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
Just got one for my daughter for Christmas. I've been trying to interest her in learning to play, but she's been intimidated by how big the alto is (she's 12 and petite). She saw me watching another video of a guy playing a curved soprano and said she wanted to try that. For $270 (which includes shipping) I had this LADE on my doorstep. You can't beat that price. I opened it to make sure it was put together right, and it feels really good. I didn't play it because that needs to wait for Christmas day, but no leaks and the keys feel pretty good.
I remember playing a lot of crappy student horns, mostly Bundy and Conn, back in the 70's and 80's that were much worse than this. I'm looking forward to hearing it being played. I might even buy a tenor!
SkylersRants Even if your daughter’s small, isn’t it better to start on alto? I thought people don’t start on soprano because they need to develop the embouchure on an alto, and because the intonation on sopranos are much harder than an alto’s.
@@高宇中 I started on clarinet as a child. The clarinet embouchure is much more difficult than a saxophone of any stripe. I have no expectation that my daughter will be playing professionally anytime soon. This is just to whet her appetite at a very low cost.
SkylersRants Clarinet, I understand. It’s an easier transition from that to the saxophone than vice versa. But you know your daughter better than I do, I was just curious about the tactic. Good luck to your daughter.
"A" sounded good, B was an extremely close second. Amazing.
They both sound good. I knew A was the Amazon sax though. I felt like I could hear your breath more with A. Plus B had a fuller sound.
Ok as a sax player myself I know that the mouth piece is a personal thing very personal.
So the mouth piece is not something you can really judge a sax by, the mouth piece that ships with a lot of saxophones tend to be like the strings shipped with guitars, OK but you would swap them out as soon as you can.
As for the actual sax I love cheap saxophones, my very first ever sax was a second hand really cheap sax, and it played like crap, but I spent time learning how to service that thing, how to make it play good, I learnt that some of the squeaks and farts coming from the machine was not me but the actual sax, which was a valuable lesson to learn.
The saxophone is supposed to be a cheap instrument, when it was originally made the people it was made for didn't like the sound of it so it was pretty much dumped on the side hardly ever used in classical music, but that hard raw sound it can produce and the fact that it was a cheap instrument to buy is what made it such a popular instrument with the musicians that made it famous, Jazz musicians were poor people many still are.
This saxophone is a wonderful instrument, I don't know the brand but it is an instrument that is staying with the tradition of making musical instruments affordable for everyone.
All it would take is a little time and effort to make it a really good instrument, a little bit of work, if you are mechanically minded you wouldn't need to send it off to an instrument tech to fix, so it wouldn't cost you 100s of dollars to fix, like wise the case.
The case is a nice case all it needs is a little bit of fixing, the instrument rattles in the case so spend a couple of dollars on some packing make a couple of case cushions using any kind of cheap foam packing material, and a bit of cloth to cover it.
All the extras are a bonus, if the hooks that hold the case as a back pack slip off just change the hooks for something better, keep the same strap use a sewing machine and hey presto all the things you hated about this sax fixed for less than 50 dollars.
Oh, i thought B was the Amazon one. I think you may have unintentionally played that one better. It hit the high notes very nicelt. For that price, it'a not bad at all.
Its people like you that make me sad to play the same instrument as you.
@@therunawaydog5847 ???
> I spent time learning how to service that thing
How did you learn to do that? Trial and error? Watch the tech? RUclips videos? If the last, who / what do you recommend? THANKS!
@@hoytstah When I started playing sax there was no RUclips, all we had back then was evening classes to learn to play, some people had brand new saxes and were friendly we would swap our sax to see if we could play each others sax better, we would also try to get the teacher to play our sax to see if it was OK, in doing so I would look at how the pads sat in the keys and how my sax differed, we also had libraries where I would go to see if there were any books on how to fix wind instruments, I did every class I could find for playing there were not too many for fixing and most people kept their secrets to themselves, oh how things have changed.
Playing the sax may not make you famous and rich no matter how good you get, you have to know the right people to get you in for that, but it will give you hours and hours of satisfaction and pleasure plus something to talk about with musicians.
But to answer your question it was hours and days months working on my sax looking at other saxes testing, for pressure losses, doing the cigarette paper test and so on until finally I managed to make my cheap crappy sax the envy in sound of everyone who heard it play, even some players who had selmers which at the time cost them over a grand compared to my sax that cost me less than 200 pounds secondhand with no special name and even some keys badly placed and laid out wrong.
Make a cheap sax personal and you can have a wonderful instrument.
Identify where the instrument is lacking and set about trying to fix those problems.
I once played a Yamaha it was a wonderful instrument to play, but it was a very expensive instrument, I also once played a Selmer again a very nice instrument but again very expensive.
I love playing the soprano sax. Whole different feel to playing this instrument. Especially if you have the ability to improvise. Opens up a whole new world for me. I had played the eb sax for many years and still love to play this instrument as well. Thanks for sharing. Really enjoy your videos. Canada
Eb 👎
old thread, i know. I'm a soprano player. i play a Yani Elimona (s880). My repair tech offered me to try one of his own branded Chinese instrument. Right there in the studio, with my regular mp, the sound of the Yani was much more louder, centered and richer, than the Chinese sax. It sounded "clean" but small - or paraphrasing: "this sax plays Kenny G sort of stuff" - mind you, im a free-jazz player, and I like'em phat. Thanks Jay. I love your channel.
"A" sounded more resonant and fuller to me. A very good review, thank you!
B had a better bottom end, I thought. Also, there was more airiness at the top with A, except for the last high portion, where it was B that was airy.
I thought A sounded better on the high end. And B sounded better on the low end.
Okay, I thought your Yanagisawa sounded better UNTIL the very end, when there was a weird rattle. What was that about? You even made a face, which had me second guessing. Thanks again, I love these videos showing that, in the end, it all comes down to whose playing, not what they're playing on. The rest of us don't need a better , just MORE PRACTICE!!
It didn't sound like a rattle to me, it sounded like a little too much spit. It happens. ☺
@@bwalters7777777 Does it? As a beginning woodwind person, I have trouble with a spitty sound sometimes, yes, I know, often it's condensation, whatever. But as a pro, don't you find ways to manage it somehow?
Same here. I was sure A was Amazon and B was pro, up until the last clip. But I think the amazon horn sounds just fine. $4000 for a marginal improvement in sound.
I chose B because it had a darker tone. I’m a little disappointed that the Amazon horn wasn’t better. I had high hopes after the Alto review. I currently have a student model Yamaha Tenor which I love playing, but was looking at getting a Soprano to compliment without breaking the bank. Thank you as always for your honest reviews.
Better be a place in Heaven for the guy putting in all this work on behalf of saxophone love.
B has a slightly fuller sound but for the extremely low price A is amazing, I’m actually gonna pick one of these up and return if it’s bad
I think it's like buying a new car. At first it would drive and ride very nice. The test is how it holds how the ride and drive over time.
B was pretty apparently the pro sax. A sounded like it had a head cold, stuffy and slow. B was a clearer tone, more harmonics, and far more responsive. The funny thing about pad leaks and loose actions are that they slow down the speed that you can get clean slurs, legato, and bent notes.
The tone is in the player (air control, attack, embouchure) and mouthpiece setup (reed, ligature, mouthpiece type). The horn mainly controls ease of use and intonation
Jay, you had much better luck than I had buying a Slade curved soprano sax a few years ago. I set it up, started playing, thought "Not so bad!". Then I brought it to rehearsal, and could not get it in tune for the life of me. I brought it to my tech, and neither could he. It was a full 1.5 tones flat all across its range! One would probably have to saw half the neck off to get it in tune. One can only hope that they've gotten their act together, perhaps hired quality control personnel. Live and learn!
Great video. Interestingly I picked the correct one. For me it was the beginning and end of the notes that sound different. The B sax was much more precise when I listened to it. In saying that I wouldn't mind a cheap soprano to play just for fun. I picked up a cheap C concert flute just for fun as well and it plays okay too for being a cheap instrument. I'm surprised at how good the cheap ones are for the money.
The tone on the B sax was much thicker and free than A, but I was impressed by A. The changes and intonation sounded smooth, although I bet there was a lot more effort put in to that on A. The tonequality was worlds apart though imo.
The two sounded great. Without controversy the Amazon sax represented itself tremendously up against the big gun. I think 10-15 cheap sopranos together would baffle an audience more than one pro sax. A pro sax is a pro sax but damn!!!!!!! The Amazon sax is a force.
I knew the Yanagisawa was sax B but I definitely will be getting the Alto and this soprano in the very near future!
I play it on my channel - just getting back to it after nine years, basically just watching your videos and other similar channels.
Hey Jay. I bought the same horn. I rolled the dice and Mine actually came in well put together. I'm gonna guy a mouthpiece today. I'll let you know what I think.
Four years ago you posted a comment on a Better Sax in which you said you bought the cheap Amazon soprano sax featured in the video. How has it worked out for you? Would you recommend it? THANKS!
I'm a musician and don't agree with the ones here trying to defend an expensive instrument. You don't have to buy the most expensive, in reality musicians do that because they think they should and they want to look good having the most expensive ones. I would suggest to buy a medium range priced instrument. I don't have any issues recording with a Squier bass and wouldn't have an issue with a $350 Nylon Yamaha guitar. I like recording quality in the performance of the musician NOT what a more expensive material on an instrument will give me.
"This saxophone only plays Kenny G." FTW!
What do you mean by FTW ??
@@madmadrigal66 For The Win
d i s l i k e
Philip Clark Everyone knows Kenny G. Sucks... he was the worst thing that happened to jazz. He may sale records for the average person, but real audiophiles won’t be caught dead listening to him. It’s elevator/ porno movie track music....
I legit cracked up on that one. So well played.
I rented my soprano from a high quality music place, and lemme tell ya, the amazon soprano in this vid came with ALOT, and I mean A LOT more stuff
I played tenor sax in jr high and high school over 40yrs ago been thinking about getting a soprano to start back. Love the sound of the soprano, excellent review can't go wrong with cheap Amazon model to start with. A trip to the music store for tune-up on the cheap model should fix the mechanical adjustments.
Saxophile here! Cool vid on this Yani template horn. I've been on a China/Taiwan horn kick for about a couple years now with various axes. I bought my red copper Slade soprano during this summer on Ebay for $125 w/shipping included and I got lucky for it played right out of the box! The case I use for in-house storage, no swedging issues but the corks on the Eb/C spatula had to go were my only problem! Because of the furry "body swab", I find it a good idea to take a pipe cleaner to all the octave pips to make sure no obstruction is in the way. The horn plays like gangbusters and my fellow pro cats marvel at the prospect of a horn playing on par with a more expensive axe! The Slade red copper alto I bought months later for $200 plays just a great but I have to tweak it a little for a cozy condition! Also, one little program note: You need a better "poker" face while playing the blindfold test. Looking at you while playing "A" gave away to me that you were playing the Slade and looked more at ease while playing "B"! Thanks
Stunned again... Sounded great on both... Barely perceptible difference bearing in mind record/playback limitations... Great vid mind... Lateral play between posts was a bit shocking😱🎷👍👍
I picked the "B" but it was kind of close for me.
Richard Jones same here, I picked B, sounds slightly warmer, but it was very close.
👏 Wow! That was a great rendition of Kenny G's "Songbird!" I can't replicate that relaxing sound on my alto sax nor on my clarinet. It makes me want to purchase a soprano sax just to play that one song. 😊
BTW: They both sounded really nice. But how well will the cheap one play and sound a year from now with regular use? That's the $286 question. 😉
Just bought mine thru your website. Love it for the price. My wife immediately stole the gloves. My dog no longer comes around.. Not a fan. Since I'm financially embarrassed I love the horn. Thank you
Thanks for the video!
B sounded a tiny bit (like 5%) better. I'll save the $4,000 and buy a few more saxophones and/or take a few more vacations!
We’ve all been there: getting a cleaning cloth stuck 3/4s the way up ever though we knew it wouldn’t fit in the first place.
Upper register intonation is far better on the Amazon soprano. Could've been a blip, but it almost seemed like playing a different horn forces you to focus on pitch or possibly this horn is more evenly tuned.
Hi Jay! Thank you very much for all the things that you are doing. I would like to ask you if you can do a video of Best Soprano-sax mouthpieces under $150. That would be great to have your opinion on those.
Thank you in advance
là aussi , les prix pratiqués chez nous pour un bec de saxophone sont absolument incroyables . Jamais je n'achèterai une mouthpiece à des prix pareils : je trouve assez facilement une excellente embouchure à petit prix sur les sites chinois , comme c'est curieux ! Les Chinois ne me semblent quand même pas exploités au point qu'on essaie de nous faire croire mais chez nous , nous ne pouvons rien faire d'autre que défendre nos fabricants , même s'ils sont indéfendables . Le grand capital nous tient très bien , hahahahaha !!!
I repeatedly watch this video more than 5 times. Nice to watch 😍
I have enjoyed your videos. I have an Aerophone Go. I played a traditional alto in college. I am getting back to via Aerophone go after 18 years! I think it is cool because I can use headphones and practice. I am not bothering anyone else and I do not have to be self conscious about how I sound. I also like that I can play four different saxophones, flute, clarinet, and even drums. I have always wanted to learn soprano but now I can learn many different instruments. Keep the videos coming!
I have never played a sax but when I watch these vids I really want to buy that cheap one and test it out myself
Start with alto
Sopranos are not great for beginners haha
I play soprano a lot 2 curved and 2 straight from a vintage conn to a Yamaha 62 and I would say if I was playing a gig you could not tell witch I was playing love the test
"This saxophone only plays Kenny G." KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!
haha
Michael P. Dawson Kenny G. May sell more records because the average person is too stupid to tell the difference, but he’ll never get my respect. His music sounds like elevator / 80’s porno movie soundtrack music...
I love kenny g songbird
I met Kenny G in the early 90’s and he was extremely humble and such a gentleman. He actually has some chops, but you would never know it. I’m not saying that he’s a bebop master, but his marketing team was off the charts. Now he has enough money to play whatever he wants to, while a lot of great jazz players don’t have a pot to piss in. Just my $.02.
@@anonymousguy7723 I don't get it, whats with the HATE on Kenny G??
DEFINITELY B! Bright and crisp. Beautiful tone. Can't get any better than B
I've been playing professionally since the mid 70's. I got my Yamaha soprano in 1978 and loved it, but I found a cheap Taiwanese soprano in the mid 90's for $350 and fell in love with it. It was more ergonomically equivalent to my Mark VI alto and tenor and it played in tune! Did it have mechanical issues? Sure. But it has serve me well for almost 30 years. In the hands of a student the horn would fall victim to bent keys, misaligned pads, and fouled octave mechanisms. But with the proper care and feeding it has served me well for decades. Why pay more when you don't have to?
Do a cheap baritone from amazon
Ha, cheap and baritone in the same sentence!
"B" had more presence, especially in the lower octave.
Please do a Baritone sax !!
Expensive lol
I played tenor sax 40 years ago and picked up interest in playing again, so I don’t necessarily have the best ear for music. With that said, I could tell the difference between the Amazon and professional instruments. The professional instrument has a deeper and richer sound. I agree with your recommendation to spend a little more on a beginner instrument if possible. I love the sound of the soprano sax. Great channel I’ll be back for more.
I just got my soprano sax 2 days ago. I started to learn about 6 years ago on the alto but struggled with it. I have wide shoulders, long arms and big hands. I then bought a tenor, which I love and learnt how to relax my body while playing. As a result, what I learned on tenor helped me on my alto playing. I thought that owning 2 saxes would be enough. I practice almost every day and I am not a professional musician. I never intended to own a soprano saxophone. Because of my love for the instrument and my occasional traveling, I finally decided to get one, as it is easier to take on a plane and least of a hassle to carry around.
I struggled a bit with my embouchure on day 1 but quickly improved on day 2. I find that I need less air play ,longer lines than on the others and because the mouthpiece is so small, I occasionally struggle in transitioning between low and high notes. Training with a tuner is important to me.
I find that the fingerings is taking some getting used to, because the instrument is smaller but moreso, it it straight and not curved.
Could you present a video the use of the throat and embouchure adjustment for this instrument?
I'd really appreciate it.
Since when did Unbox Therapy pick up saxophone??
The gloves are probably included for kids who do marching band.
"Cheap Saxophone"
Me: Maybe I can get a saxophone after all!
"$270"
Me: Never mind
Yeah to me, anything over $50 is a lot of money. Granted $200ish is a lot more doable than $1000+
It's cheap enough to retain most of that value. You could resell somewhere close to that. It's really cheap. When you break down the cost per hour you use it it is fractional cents on the dollar. Going to see a single movie the per hour cost is 100x a instrument so it's doesn't matter. Just buy an instrument the most you can afford. It's virtually free when you consider the cost per hour and the reduce that by the resell value
layman here who hasn't played sax since school days. *caveat I am a professional synthesizer sound designer. I was able to easily pick out the correct one in the shoot out and it the more expensive was indeed more pleasant to my ears. however it would be really interesting to hear the comparison after it has been tweaked and set up by you with some time and care. regardless the price point of these budget sax's are quite impressive. I am big fan of putting some elbow grease into a lower tier product to elevate it up a bit. my more expensive gear I am always tweaking and elevating further so why not with anything else. anyway great videos thanks!
I guessed it right--B was the better sounding. For lack of better way to describe it, you can hear it is coming through a better piece of metal, the sound, the notes, it's smoother, richer, less "tinny". Does any of this make sense? Great videos
You should do a video comparing a cheap Bari Sax to a professional. BTW, love you videos they help me so much as I’m starting to play professional gigs👍🎷
or a tenor
Picked B but it was a coin toss..Your Pro sax is beautiful and I am sure feels much better to play and look at..thanks for the advice I'll toss the fuzzy tail swab thing after I take the top plug off...I wonder if a wine cork will fit.. or use the fuzzy tail to prop the case open so it does not blow closed..top came off on it's own the other day with the fuzzy swab tail in the sax...got it out...I use the white gloves for packing my sax top and bottom in the loose case I have ...I bought a Chinese Tenor sax a few weeks ago seems ok but I am a newbie...had a palm key cork come off the other day while cleaning sax.. You have a great humor...Thank you so much for these videos...if your new one keeps playing Kenny G or is found sipping Chardonnay and crying I'd send it back before you get to attached to it...
I agree, playability and reliability of his Yanagisawa play a huge part in choosing the more expensive horn. If I was a sax player and had the money and was using the instrument regularly to make a living, I definitely would go with the pricier horn. I'd like to see him do a follow up to see how well the Amazon sax holds up after 6 months, a year, etc.
At first glance I thought this guy was Lew from Unbox Therapy lol
Hahaha😭😭😂😂
LOL I have been watching both channels for years but what
when's your better sax soprano coming out? i'd be interested in that.
Brass here...Challenge accepted and passed!
Armored Clarinet... loved that!
The swab that "probably works for an alto" got stuck in my alto
MLGSSJ lol
I chose A hahaha
Thanks for sharing your advice!
See you Jay ^^
I knew in a blind test, there would be a very mixed outcome since what we see has a big impact on what we hear
Oh and forgot to mention I play a 1927 Conn soprano, completely different sound so if you compared a vintage to the Amazon I expect even with the Vandoren you could pick the difference.
One of the best sopranos that I've ever played on was an intermediate model Selmer. It played better than the pro horns I was around at the time. I finally bought a Yamaha 62 model that I really enjoyed!
I play soprano and alto also... I could NOT tell the difference. Your playing is so excellent to begin with that I firmly believe you can take any cheap POS and make it sound great!!! I loved the Kenny G comment, although I play ALL of his songs, the girls like it... says its mood music! I also an instrument maker, I make violins, harps, and steel guitars. I have 118 instruments in my collection, and still buying more... anyhow... both sopranos sounded great, and you were playing one of my favorite songs!!!
> I have 118 instruments in my collection
That sounds AMAZING! Can you post a photo of your collection (or photos -- I guess one encompassing them all would be impossible).
Only B has the lovely, mysterious, breaking-heart, honey-like, oboe-like sound of soprano sax.
i know the b whas the yanagisawa whatever i still like more the amazon one, sounds a little bit more metallic and rock :D
I prefer B with a "cleaner" rich and fuller sound.
I'm often blown away by your lack of snobbery and fairness. I have a Slade b flat clarinet I bought off Amazon and I'm often amazed by the sounds I'm able to get from it . I paired it with a Vandoren m13 and no 3 reed and it's awesome. Because it's not expensive doesn't always mean it's no good because I'd rather have an inexpensive instrument and enjoy it than have no instrument at all. I'm sure you're fairness has inspired many to buy instruments and give them a go and in my book this is a good thing.
Dear Jay: this was great as always. Request: can you please make a review video about curved vs straight sopranos? Lots of noise out on the web about the real vs purported pros and cons. Thanks, Andrew
"le doy un treh!!!
"This saxophone only plays kenny G"
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Por 270 un treh?
0:46 put on captions
😂😂😂😂
Lol
Noice
Woah LOL
man
when you started playing kenny g I knew a joke HAD to be there!
haha
I did not correctly guess the saxophones.
OK. Maybe it's because I've played the piano for 30 years. I can hear a WORLD of difference between A and B. Great playing either way, but the workmanship on instrument A betrays itself. The articulation that one is capable of in B is EXQUISITE! Grateful for the review.
A is what I would choose. Brighter sound but without them being next to each other I would enjoy both
Wow I was thinking about getting a soprano! I was literally looking if you had one of these vids about 3 days ago!!
Damn. I was so close to first! I love your videos!!!
Next time, They usually publish on Tuesday at 1pm EST, but I was late this week.
Still plays better kenny g than kenny g :-)
/___ ___\
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\______/
No he doesnt kenny g is my favorite musician ever
Hes so good tho
i found out years ago if you can play and you put on a good mouthpiece , and provided thers no leaks you can make a cheap sax sound nice. another thing i found out is a cheap sax will really make you understand how to fix the problems it will give you like leaks and bent keys and things . i own three sax,s now and never have to take them to anyone to do repairs . so really its a good thing to buy a cheap sax .7 years later both my cheap sax,s still sound good.
I never heard of a “Sax that only play Kenny G’ ...” I am only speaking from a 25 year perspective (starter-status) ...
The quality of the material is different, however the sound is its own. It is not the arrow is the Indian
It's funny how so many picked A. What does that mean about our ears because I would have picked A as well.
A more coulor full tone
I did the right choice 'cause only thanks to my headphones I could hear the different harmonics of the saxs. Thanx man
The experiment was contaminated by playing the horn before the play test, although I would have chosen correctly as I did without it. I recognized the same faint spitting-leak sound at certain points in the blind test with "A" that I heard during the initial play test of the Amazon horn. It didn't help to conceal the identity that you labeled it "A" as in "Amazon" either, given us men tend to like to keep things simple. The preplay made identifying it that much easier. I would have chosen the same specifically, because of that little raspy leak sound. It still played decent so for me a horn like this would be great for those times of day, or locations when I really want to practice, but can't because of the volume level of the Alto.
The science of this kind of comparison and the truth that it speaks to how properly made and functioning, is more important than name and price, is much appreciated.
I can’t believe I chose A as the yanikasawa
That's why I did the blind test, I knew it would be difficult to tell...
Probably you saw a fake Yanikasawa.
Yanagisawa best