<p>If so, at the end of the summer I'm going to be buying a new sax (junior in high school but planning to go to a music school) can any one suggest a decent alto sax for around 2500-3000 dollars, currently im looking at the Yamaha 87z (i cant remember the name off the top of my head but yamaha's top brand) so any input would be greatly appreciated </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>At $2500-3000 you are into the pro line horns</p>
<p>You ought be wanting a bit more than a "decent" horn</p>
<p>Yamaha has three pro lines, the 62II, the 82Z and the 875EX</p>
<p>all can be had new for less than $3000, the 62II for significantly less</p>
<p>Yanigasawa, Selmer and Keilworth comprise the rest of the "big 4" sax manufacturers.</p>
<p>You need to play the horns. Consider recent used horns as well as brand new ones. </p>
<p>Is this horn just going to be a stepping stone to a vintage Mark VI or SBA? If so, consider finding the extra dollars now.</p>
<p>Finally, check out the Sax on the Web (SOTW) forum.</p>
<p>The Yamaha Z series has a very bright modern sound. I have the tenor version of it and really like it. The main issue with it is Yamaha uses very soft metal that bends easy, so if you set it down the wrong way, you might need to get it adjusted (it happened to me). With that being said, it's not for everybody. If you're looking for a vintage horn or sound, it's definitely the wrong choice. It can cover pretty much all bases though.</p>
<p>My son was looking at pro sounding horns for around that price and we were recommended to try the Cannonball series. Very bright horns, very attractive looks, not a huge price, especially used. We have a tenor, alto and soprano and the only one we're less than happy with is the soprano. But that is mainly because he bought a curved horn and now he feels more comfortable playing a straight. The alto has the best tone of the three, imo, but S loves his tenor as well. All play very smoothly. The biggest concern is that they are fairly heavy horns. But S has no problem with that. If you're used to others you may notice the weight.</p>
<p>worth mentioning I guess that if you spend all that money on a horn -do realize that others will see the value in it as well.</p>
<p>Sons SBA - Selmer Alto serial 49450 original laquer- stolen in Philly 8/11/07 between 3:15AM and 10:00AM</p>
<p>Equipment van broken into at Hampton Inn near airport and $20,000 worth of instruments and equipment snatched. (Sons alto, case and mouthpieces accounting for $7k of the total - ugh)</p>
<p>Band had played a gig in philly friday night and were on their way to Musikfest for a Saturday night gig.</p>
<p>So sorry to hear that about the stolen equipment! So what does a musician/band do when their equipment is stolen before a gig?</p>
<p>Spends the day filing police reports, calling pawn shops and music stores, both trying to track down the stolen items and arrange for temp replacements for the night. the folks at musikfest helped out a lot.</p>
<p>I have a nice, intermediate YAS-475. It's sometimes hard to tell how it sounds, because when I practice in my garage it sounds like crap, but when I practice in the school's band room, it sounds loads better.</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>there is a really nice looking silver YAS 62 IIS with the enhanced G1 neck on Ebay right now with the bids up to 1255</p>
<p>new the horn runs 2345 at Sam Ash. it would be hard to go far wrong with that horn under 1800 (if you don't really love the horn, you could always get your money back (or most of it anyway) when you move to your next horn. this sounds like it might be the sort of "decent" horn you are looking for</p>
<p>I have Selmer series 3 (Paris). It's pretty nice. I have been able to achieve quite a lot with it. I am not sure exactly how much I go it for but I think it was around $3200.</p>