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Would love some advice !

Ok I know you guys are probably tired of this scenario but I'm almost 50 and empty nest is here :(
I played alto sax in grade school and would love to start blowing again. I saw the Allora interned. and the pro series horns on sale and wanted y'all's advice on getting that.... or another brand... i'm open to suggestions.
I'll upgrade the mouthpiece and get accessories but would like to keep the cost below $ 1500.
Is that reasonable?
Thanks so much!!!
 
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On that budget you can find a good used alto. Keep your eyes open for a Yanagisawa 900 or 901, or a Yamaha 61 or 62. There are a lot of other choices at that price range.
 
The Allora that's currently available -- not the one from B&S -- is a student-quality instrument that is made in China or Taiwan. I wouldn't recommend it.

I wrote a post about older pro-level horns that I'd recommend to, well, anyone, right here. You can find these horns for $1000 or less and get a decent overhaul for the extra $500. More in a minute.
 
Here. Buy this. Like now. It's a Conn Connstellation 28M. It's repadded. It's a great pro horn. It's $1200. Yes, it's a relacquer. Yes, it doesn't have the original keyguards, but whoever fabricated the new ones did a great job. Do I think you'll find a better horn for the price? No. (Tell Dave I sent you. I could use the discount to get my wife's horn fixed.)

a. Call our 'site sponsor, Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns, and see if Quinn set you up with a Yanagisawa 800 or newer or a Yamaha 61 or a intermediate-level Yamaha (52, 34 or better). He may be your overall cheapest bet. I just don't know what stuff he has/will be getting in. (Mention you were referred by me. I could use the discount.)
b. Here's a YAS-61 pro horn for $950. It's not pretty, but probably doesn't need that much work.
c. If you've gotta buy a new horn and Quinn can't make you a deal, try Kessler Music.
 
You also might consider a Chateau student alto from Musicmedic.com. They are made extremely well and the Music Medic Pro Shop goes through each saxophone before it is shipped. IMO as a teacher and repair tech it is the best value for the price which is only $875.00.
 
You also might consider a Chateau student alto from Musicmedic.com. They are made extremely well and the Music Medic Pro Shop goes through each saxophone before it is shipped. IMO as a teacher and repair tech it is the best value for the price which is only $875.00.
Not that it matters, but I'm curious. Where are they made? I ask because I very much like my Ridenour Lyrique which is made in China but finished and tweaked by Ridenour.
 
Seems to me I remember someone on SOTW starting up their own line and calling it Chateau. I remember it distinctly because a local supermarket chain branded their house brand food items as Flavorite and their TP is branded Chateau. The person never acknowledged this.

I'm not sure if it was from HK or mainland.

search results:

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/member.php?47862-Chateau-SAX-USA
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?156552-Chateau-Alto-Taiwan

Chateau is the name of the saxophone line manufactured by Tenon Industries in Taiwan. Jerry Chang is the head of the company. There was a full display of saxophones of all levels made by Tenon at this year's NAPBIRT convention in Portland. The quality and playability of their saxes literally blew the competition away. Chateau USA is a relatively new network of dealers to market their instruments in the U.S. If Curt Altarac of Music Medic stands behind them, you can rest assured that they are excellent instruments.
 
Thanks y'all ... I've checked out the Music Medic site and the Chateau's look nice. I've sent them a text and hopefully something will work out.
I'll keep you posted.
 
This is a very old thread, but I'm wondering if any of the Pros or Teachers have got any current feed back on this brand? Feed back where you have seen one go through its paces over a length of time, say 5 years, and can tell how they have held up against others for example Yamaha or Jupiter.
All your input would be appreciated
 
MusicMedic now only carries the student model. There's only one dealer in the UK, but they do carry Chateau's pro model.

IDK if 5 years should be the standard for how long a sax should be "put through its paces," but that might be a different discussion.
 
I would recommend a Yamaha, maybe a YAS-280. It is easy to play for beginners, but you can also play it after three years.
 
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As this topic's been reopened, I wanted to point out that MusicMedic now sells Wilmington horns that they customize, to an extent. They still sell the Chateau student model.

I've not done extensive research into student or intermediate quality horns in a loooooooong time.
 
I'm just hoping peejer didn't end up dropping $1500 on something like an Allora. As I remember, in 2014, that was Yanagisawa 800 money....

 
It appears that we will never know...8+ years later.
It's understandable that new comers to the Sax/ music world do not see why it is preferable to purchase an older "war horse" Sax as compared to a factory fresh new Sax.

Those Wilmington Saxes are interesting. Music Medic enjoys a positive reputation in the Sax world. Also, Kessler comes to mind - Kessler's best selling horn is their Chinese Bass Clarinet according to Dave K.
 
It appears that we will never know...8+ years later.
It's understandable that new comers to the Sax/ music world do not see why it is preferable to purchase an older "war horse" Sax as compared to a factory fresh new Sax.

Those Wilmington Saxes are interesting. Music Medic enjoys a positive reputation in the Sax world. Also, Kessler comes to mind - Kessler's best selling horn is their Chinese Bass Clarinet according to Dave K.
I've got a price chart floating around here, somewhere. I think it was from the 20-teens.

The little page I created with pictures of old pro horns that were around $1000 is probably best found at the Internet Archive. I'll probably get my old websites on line someday. Maybe. I'd have to sit down with a couple ISPs for a day and that just doesn't sound worth it.

Kessler's low C bass clarinet has been reviewed by some top-tier players and they find it between good and fantastic for the price. I've heard from folks that the Kessler-branded saxophones are good Yani (sorry; YANY) copies.

While I still think it's a good idea to recommend a tried and true Yamaha 2xx as your new player's student horn, it'd be nice for the student's teacher to pick out a nicer, older horn. However, you're getting into a smaller and smaller niche: you'd have to have a teacher that knows about vintage instruments, then know which ones are as good as or better than a new student horn, then be able to say how much it'll cost for the horn to be repaired. Just because I can see an actual overhaul price, worldwidesax.com says an alto overhaul is $1299. A Yamaha YAS-26 is $2428. It might be more difficult, now, to find a good make and model horn for under $1129. I shall check ebay.
 
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... Then I stopped caring a bit, as it looks like all the horns I listed way back in 2014 are still out there and still around $1000.

* I didn't see any pro-level Yanis under $1129.
* There were a couple really nice looking, Beaugniers, Dolnets, and Pierrets listed and for really cheap.
* I saw a couple of Selmer (USA) Omega Model 162s that sold for well under $1129. That's a reeeealy good horn.
* I didn't go into Kohlert land. There were a couple 57s that looked pretty beat up.
* There were a lot of Yamaha intermediate (3xx, 4xx, 5x) to slightly below pro models (575) that I didn't list.
 
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I've had much better luck with Reverb, Craigslist and Facebook. Better prices and nicer overall experience for buyer and seller on Reverb than on ebay, and no fees on CL or Facebook.

For example, I picked up a practically mint Buffet for $250 on CL a while back in far better shape than the ebay one above. Similar story for Yani and Yamaha. These days, mostly because of the insanely high fees, ebay is my absolute last resort for both buying and selling.
 
Palo Tung from New Orleans was importing his own Chinese saxes for a while... I have no idea if he is still offering them. His website is somewhat out of date, but he's a fabulous tech and if you're going to buy an import sax you could certainly do worse. The cool thing about his import instruments is quite a unique finish... gold plate, with lacquer on top. This means, where the lacquer wears, the finish will not fade. So, for a cheap horn, the cosmetics will hold up for a lot longer than practically anything else.

 
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