Yamaha Saxophone

The Yamaha Saxophone is one of the saxes around today where quality is almost a certainty. Buying a Yamaha sax whether new or second hand or whether they are Yamaha Alto Saxophones, Yamaha Tenor Saxophones, Baritone or Soprano should ensure you are buying a great sax with good intonation and a solid, quality feel.

Yamaha have been producing musical instrumnets since 1887 and produced their first wind instrument in 1965 in conjunction with another company Nippon Kangakki and so was born the first wind instrument to bear the Yamaha name. Their first professional sax was the 61 series.

Yamaha currently offer Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Baritone sax. These are the most common of the saxophne family around today. If you are wanting higher than soprano or lower then Baritone then these are generally made by specialist companies, mainly because of lack of demand and high asking price.

Current model numbers for Yamaha Saxes are denoted by a prefix which informs what type of sax it is.

• YSS indicates Yamaha Soprano Saxophone
• YAS indicates Yamaha Alto Saxophone
• YTS indicates Yamaha Tenor Saxophone
• YBS indicates Yamaha Baritone Saxophone

So if you see someone offering a yas275 or a yas475 or even a Yas875ex then straight away you know they are alto saxophones.

Prices can vary somewhat for the same model but for a new alto you can expect to start at around £600-£800 for the base or student model up to around £2300 for a Yas82z to the dizzy heights of £2700 for a custom Yas875ex model. Shopping around can bring you savings of around £100 for the same model.

Yamaha currently offer the following grades of saxophone for their range of Altos..

• Student
• Intermediate
• Professional
• Custom Z
• Custom EX

For Tenor saxes the range is exactly the same as the alto.

The variations for Soprano and Baritone have slight differences in the fact that they don't class any of these saxes as student or intermediate and for baritone there are only two models.

If you are in the market for a sax and you fancy a Yamaha Sax then you might want to check out the auction sites. You can expect a saving of about £100 on a new alto, sometimes more. If it's less then you have to ask yourself is it worth it. Remember, it is second hand and comes with no guarantees and you don't know how the previous owner treated it. Good luck with whatever you decide but you can generally rest assured a Yamaha Saxophone is a good buy.

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