Thanks for the replies. I was talking about the 300 dollar bandnow soprano on wwbw that is getting 100 percent ratings across the board. Has anyone ever played the bandnow? Also, has anyone ever bought from an ebay dealer called adeal4u. He`s supposedly reputable as a dealer for sopranos. I know everyone keeps saying you get what you pay for, but everyone ive spoken to has said that the saxes play great. One guy even compared his to his keilworth. Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Thanks

The mouthpiece of the saxophone is
almost at a 90 degree angle from the
mouth, so the body of a curved neck
soprano should be held down (closer
to the body), as compared to a straight
neck soprano.

I don`t own a Bandnow one, but wanted to mention...I bought my Pearl Flute from music123, and my Woodwind soprano Saxophone from its sister site..wwbw, and I have found that with both the reviews were pretty well right on. Plus they let you try it for 45 days. If you aren`t satisfied, you can return it within those 45 days. I almost bought the Bandnow one myself, but came across a special edition one for such a good price, decided to go with it instead.

Thank you Mike, that is how I am holding it. Not straight down, but within about 3 inches from my body. I notice when I go too far either direction, the sound isn`t quite right.

I haven`t heard of the brand before. I havn;t read all of the replies yet, but for the note; straight sops are generally in better tune, but I prefer the curved sops due to thier better tone. I have an old 1940`s Wolitzer, and it has a very gusty loud jazzy tone.
!wildband!

I have found wwbw.com to be very helpful. I recently purchased one of their brands (one of their prototypes)...the price was amazing and it had 2 incredible reviews. I read just about every review for lot`s of brands and overall the prototype seemed worth the price. I got the last one, but the Woodwind brand was my second choice...if for whatever reason I don`t like this prototype (it`s being shipped today) i`m going with the woodwind brand. I suggest trying one out at a dealer and then check out wwbw.com for prices. If you have any questions about the instrument, the customer service department is really helpful...as for the maxtone...haven`t heard anything about them...i usually try and play it safe with an instrument that`s been reviewed....

I just bought a 600 woodwind soprano sax from wwbw. This thing is absolutely amazing in both sound and performance. It is a saxello, so the bell is curved, the intonation is perfect except in the altissimo range of course where a little lip bending of the pitch fixes the problem. The finish is an amazing silver that stays amazingly clean. This thing blew a selmer mark vi soprano that i played a while ago out of the water. It is very easy blowing. It did not come with a mpc so i bought an 80 dollar meyer that works great with it. For the price I would reccomend this in a heart beat

Hey i play soprano sax and i also play clarinet there is a slight difference yes ermm ive also tryed a cuvered and a straight one both wiked intruments i got the cuvered one think it looked alot more nicer though they both sounded pretty sweet. yer think it would be a good idea to try them before u buy it think i wouldnt mind gettin a straight one was really nice and wasnt much change from the clarinet sorta supose lol

Laura x

hey Beckey ermm not exactly the same fingering no the saxophone notes are like all the higher notes on a clarinet if that makes much sense but there is alot more too it than that when u know a fingering for the saxophone its the same on the higher notes really pretty easy stuff well i thought it was lol

Now you should automaticly get a professional soprano because not every soprano is good now winstons are good and yamaha`s but as far as curved it makes harder to hold the sax because of how much brass is added to the sax that is my opinion.

The upper register fingering of a sax is almost the same as the upper register of the clarinet. And guess what, the lower register of a sax is pretty well the same as the upper register. There are some minor differences involving the middle B and C notes. But no big deal.

So if you know the upper register on your clarinet, you should be able to adapt to sax fingerings very quickly. You should also be asking youself why anyone would want to play the clarinet again after experiancing the freedom you feel while playing the sax.

Good Luck,

Your Handy Computer Guy

I have a Burnished Brass Artist Series LA Sax Soprano. It is a professional model and it is absolutely amazing. You have never seen a finish like this before......I promise you. Plus....2 necks and Hi G key. You can get a really good deal on them right now. Call Jerry at Orpheus Music in San Antonio, Texas. Tell him I sent you. You won`t be sorry.

K, first of all,someone asked about the Essential Elements book for learning soprano. I suggest getting a tenor sax book, because it has the same fingerings, and tenor is in the same key as soprano. The only difference is that the soprano is pitched an octave higher than tenor. Also, I have a chance to buy a maxtone fairly cheap and would like to know any feedback. Someone asked if soprano was hard also..I tried out a cannonball soprano and played it like i played it for years..this was the first time i`ve touched it (i`m 16). But that doesn`t mean its that easy for everyone. Soprano is usually extremely hard to pick up, but i`m an exceptionally gifted player with about 4 or 5 years on alto.
Next thing, bout the angle, dont worry about a degree measurement. Worry about if the mouthpiece fits in your mouth and you can get the optimum results from that certain position. And i`d like to add that the only person i know of that plays soprano sideways is Kenny G. With that in mind, dont bash him....i`ve heard that he can improvise bebop style really well, but chooses to stick to the smooth jazz. At least he makes some good money playing those songs yall criticize him for.

I know this is a cheap sax but I`m a beginner and don`t want to spend a lot of money if I don`t like it. Is there a better mouthpeice to get a better sound? And also does the ligature make a big difference?