I have played the alto sax once. I just picked up my friends sax(after washing the mouthpiece and getting a new reed) and my friend showed me the fingerings(kinda similar to the clarinet) and we played Phantom of the Opera. Anyway, I want to buy a cheap, used sax and I was wondering how much one would cost and what brand to buy. I also play clarinet, flute, and oboe. Thanks.

Chelci

Chelchi,

In my opinion, a used horn is really no good. You never know what the previous owner has done with it, and it is more than likely in bad condition when you get it. You can get lucky sometimes with a really excellent horn that someone just didn`t want anymore, but it`s generally a shaky business.

Selmer makes an entire line of inexpensive beginner instruments called the "Prelude" series. From what I`ve heard, their Prelude altos are pretty good for who they`re made for, and their very low price. Here`s a link for more information.

http://www.donmack.com/Prelude2.asp

By the way, it may seem a bit pricey at first, but most professional saxophones are a LOT more expensive. Professional altos that I`ve seen can be more than $4000. Here`s another link for comparison:

http://www.usahorn.com/

Cheers,

Thomas

Thanks a lot. You`ve really helped.



Chelci

Not a problem.

I got my Alto, brand new, with a hard case, spare mouthpiece, mouthpiece guard, sling, i think it was 12 reeds, a cleaning cloth, gloves, and the thingy for cleaning the inside of the sax, and all that cost me just £127 that was including the p&p but i did get my nan to bring it back over from the US.

it`s on ebay, `buy it now`
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16232&item=7335492628&rd=1

or you could go to the company website

http://www.123musicalinstrument.com

i hope this helps, i`m probably too late though.

Kinda off topic, but...
You actually bought that sax?!?! How does it play?? How it the intonation? How is the hard-/softness of the metal?