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Makes of Saxophones Source Sax
Shop Yamaha | Yanagisawa | Selmer | Buffet | Keilwerth | Conn | Martin | King | Buescher |
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INTRODUCTION |
There are about 100 different brand names. A few pros and cons of the most important brand names are addressed below. For new saxophones, Japanese brand names are most frequently sold. At the moment a lot of saxophones come from the countries in the Far East such as The Republic of China and Korea. Seven years ago their quality was very poor, but not any more. Dixon and Jupiter produce reasonable saxophones for students. However, care is necessary, these factories deliver a lot of different models with various quality levels. It is common custom among wholesalers to order a whole range of instruments in these countries under their own brand name such as Boston, New York Symphony, Windsor and many more. The cheaper Evette model of Buffet Crampon e.g. is produced in R.O.C,. The price-quality relationship is difficult to understand for an 'innocent' consumer. For instruments of the same quality there is sometimes a difference in price from 20 to 80%.The fact is that too often a new saxophone needs too much correction to play properly. Within Europe there are only two countries which can be taken seriously, France and Germany. The Italian brand names have a poor price-quality relationship. Probably, they won't be able to compete much longer with the Fareast. Schenkelaars, a producer from the South of Holland has gone bankrupt already. America has over the years produced four well established brand names: Conn, Buescher, Martin and King. From the twenties to the fifties good to excellent saxophones were produced. In the sixties and the seventies the quality level came down and now they produce good quality saxophones for students but not excellent quality any more. Examples of these types are: King Cleveland, Buescher 200 and Bundy . Nowadays America doesn't play an important part in the world of the saxophone industry. They are completely withdrawn from the scene because of bankruptcy or poor quality. However, many saxophone players rediscover the old instruments from the glory period of the American industry. If they are overhauled well then you can easily see the craftsmanship. These saxophones have a full sound and the sound is full of expression. They are well-suited to play jazz or pop. Some examples of the better American saxophones:
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MAKES OF SAXOPHONES |
LA Sax Cecilio Jupiter Conn. The showpieces of this once famous brand name are the Conn Conqueror, the Conn Ladyface and the Conn LTD or Chu Berry. The application and the comfort to play was for that period in time excellent. In particular the fullness of the alto sound (with tuning-neck) brought many player in pleasant confusion. The more recently produced 16 M models are a worthy second best. Nowadays Conn produces only very poor quality. Martin. The main characteristic of Martin is its
thick soldered tone holes. King. King is especially known for its Super 20 model with its massive neck made of silver. A little less famous is the King Zephyr Again as for other saxophones the real champions are among the older models. Many players prefer the King S-20 in stead of the Mark 6. Please note! Brand names named New King come from Eastern Europe and there is no connection with the King from the USA. Buescher. The older types have rather thick plating and this makes the clarity of the sound very harmonious. Such an instrument can whisper beautifully soft. The Buescher was in early days rather late with improvements on modernizing of the application. When Conn started their new manufacturing techniques in the twenties and the thirties, Buescher was still producing an old key systems. The best ones are the older 400-series and the Aristocrat. In general the older saxophones represent an era where craftsmanship was available everywhere and the wages were low. There you find the masterpieces. The older instruments are becoming more and more expensive. Buying a quality instrument is a good way of investing your money e.g. in the Conn Ladyface or the "The Martin". In the more expensive countries such as Japan and Germany the prices are increasing rapidly at the moment. The price of a Mark-6 is already very high world-wide.
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is market leader in selling the student models
(23 & 25 series). (25 = a 23 with high F sharp-key).
The clarity is rather good and the mechanism is
of good quality, with no great differences between
the various models. 
Another
very good manufacturer is Yanagisawa. This is
an example of creative imitation of the Mark 6
Selmer. They continually improve their instrument.
The application is terrific and the technical
finish is very good. The Yanagisawa is, at the
moment, the only brand name whose products are
delivered fault-free from the factory. The price-
quality relationship is excellent. This brand
name has achieved a market position among the
better quality brand names. The fullness of the
sound has perhaps less personality than Selmer
saxophones or the older American ones. Yanagisawa
build a semi-professional model and a more expensive
"Elimona" pro-model. One can also buy all
kinds of extra's saxophones build of bronze, and
of solid silver. Even pure gold is a possibility. 
Selmer This French brand name has a lot of advantages:
a tradition, an instrument with a good application
and a many-sided fullness of sound. The instrument
can be used for pop music, jazz and classical
music. A lot of players are very fond of this
particular brand name. Nevertheless, the time
has passed when professional players automatically
chose a Selmer. There are two reasons: 1 Competition.
The Japanese brand names get better and better
and competition from this country is enormous.
And a lot of players have rediscovered the robust
sound of the older American saxophones. 2 Carelessness.
The design of the Selmer is very good, but the
technical finish is not always good. Faults, such
as leaking pads and mechanism which doesn't work,
occur too often. A lot of saxophone players complain
too often; "The instrument has a nice sound, but
the lower tones sound miserable". This is caused
by leaking pads. The instrument is never corrected
after it has left the factory. Sometimes the pads
are stuck with glue instead of shellac. This is
an example of poor workmanship and may damage
the firm's reputation. We are not suggesting that
these saxophones are no good at all their finish
in the factory needs to be improved and unfortunately
a lot of retailers and consumers don't recognize
this. But the last years Selmer has improved a
lot.
Keilwerth saxophones are known for their dark-old American
sound. The cheaper ST-models are largely build
by Amati. 
(R) models
are build in Germany, They are build very solid.
The SX-R saxophones even have rolled tone holes.