SO, let me get this straight!!!!!Some of you say the helmke is good (not great, good, it owuld be enough), others say you pay for what you get and other ones say it is crap!!!! I am confused!!!!
Do I have to thinks that all the praisers are directly involved with Helmke???
On the other hand, I wrote to some buyers on e-bay and received 2 comments that were fairly positive: it is no pro, but it plays well.
What I would suggest to do to all other interested people is to do the same, in order to get so many anwsers possible.
Once we have those, we can post the results on this forum. Than anyone can decide for himself if the price is worth the risk (at the end of the day is a small risk, but it always a risk).
As many of you, I just want a cheap soprano that can play well. Let`s find out together!!!!!

Let me just say again: You get what you pay for, IF you`re gonna compromise costs and expect to get a great sounding horn, the chances are very slim. Once again I advise getting a Monique...But a word of caoution about them: For those who are unaware, Monique is not one group but two. Dont ask me how but there are two different types of monique. One is Chinese made and it has very poor construction, besides being made so that it falls out of tune very easily. The Other type is Taiwan made and are extremely durable. Some even have American made pads and are direct copies of the Selmers worth 5,000. This, to me, is the best compromise because the quality mirrors the quality of a yamaha or selmer (I`ve played both). Make sure that you also have an appropriate mouthpiece, it makes a hell of a lot of difference. Good luck...

okay, let me provide some info that i didn`t read here (I didn`t read everything but hey, it`s a long thread).

Currently production of saxes are primarily in [a] Europe, b] US, [c] Japan, [d] Taiwan, and [e] China. Of course there probably is more but that is the most areas.

For current production, not historical:
[a] Europe saxes are your Selmers, Keilwerths, and the list goes on. Mostly professional saxes & intermediates.

b] US production is primarily Selmer USA - not to be confused with Selmer Paris, France. Selmer USA is basically beginner and intermediate.
Unison, Cannonball, Jupiter, Antigua Winds, i believe, all have their tubes drawn in Taiwan and they put the keywork on them in the US. These can be excellent horns and they can be mediocre horns.

[c] Japan - the big names are Yamaha and Yanagisawa. Yamaha offers student up to pro level saxes. Very good, excellent saxes. They also make the Vito saxes, ship the tubes and keywork to Kenosha, WI to bypass custom tariffs and are put-together in the USA <-- ie, can get really good deals on Vito becz they are basically a Yamaha 23 with a few little differences.
Yanagisawa offers no student line, they are strictly Professional.

[d] There are are many other Taiwan brands, which vary greatly in quality from horn to horn much less from manufacturer to manufacturer. Since everything is computerized they can change the name on any horn for anyone that wants to sell them (you and me too). But normally these horns have thinner walled main tubes, and keys, rods may be softer metal and more prone to need more adjustments, thinner lacquer, etc. As the price for a new horn goes down, *stereotypically* they lower the price somehow and that is usually in the arena of long term durability and dependability, etc.

[e] China - they cheapest saxes out there. thin walled tubes, soft metal rods and keycups. They look nice but rarely come shipped in 100% working order - remember , rarely, but that`s not saying that they don`t play well. They also prone to have things fall off of them after a short while. But, there are more decent ones which are more rare.

Of course, Taiwan has been improving their horns over the years and i`m sure China will too. Some manufactueres are probably better than others, etc.

Many new manufactuers simply reverse engineered a Selmer Super Action 80 horn, or Mk VI, or other horns. If it says French Engineered or German Engineered that simply means they reverse engineered some horn. It may or may not ever involve and french or german ppl.

Alot of your Helmke (not to be confused with Hemke but made to confuse you in thinking so), etc. are made in Taiwan. If the price is under $400 is is probably made in China.

Buyer beware. If there is no website then really beware.

That`s the short of it. I could write on for pages and pages.

btw, Hemke isn`t on a great quality reed (some think not) but *he* is also a fantastic saxophonist. A professor at the University of Wisconsin who does tour to other univerisites all the time.

on the question above about a cheap soprano.

For $650 + shipping you can get a very good durable, playing ,etc. soprano. Antigua Winds current (not their older) production sops are very, very good. check www.kesslermusic.com for prices and www.antiguawinds.com for details.

The 1 piece horn is $650 and worth far more. They are a reversed engineered Yangisawa horn.
The only problem is the mouthpiece is a piece of junk.

If you go lower than that then i`ve only heard of problems.

I play a buescher tenor and a yamaha alto.

I play a buescher tenor and a yamaha alto.There are great. my friend tenor and alto Bundys

i had my eye on a Jupiter-869GS but im not sure if it is a good brand i also like Yamaha-52, Yani-T901 and a Keilwerth SX-90. please let me no

Thanks Jay

Jupiter apparently has a factory in Taiwan and China. Their older models are apparently not very good - though I`ve never played any and have only heard this from other ppl.

Their newer models are apparently decent horns.
Check
http://saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=13971&sid=7097803b51996b471f3f3cb059ba928d

for more info.

My son has studied sax from fourth grade, and now studies at the university level. Over that time I have purchased a lot of saxes, heard a lot of saxes, made friends with the local instrument repair technicians and made friends with a lot of musicians.

If the sax is a Yamaha, Yanisagawa, Selmer, or Keilwerth. It should be a well made sax, no matter the model. These are the companies noted for the "Best" professional models. There are, also, good saxes made by Cannonball, LA Sax and some others.

Over the past five years, the market has been flooded by Chinese made saxes that are not well made. The technicians in my area won`t even do repairs on them because of the construction quality.

In general, I wouldn`t recommend any of the saxes that are not recognizable brands that are sold by local retailers who have repair shops. If they will fix them, they are worth fixing.

Don`t get attracted to the looks of the cheap saxes. Some of the saxes I have seen on the internet for prices that are hard to believe that are silver plated with engraving that is more intricate than the old King Zephyr Special. The Chinese manufacturers make saxes that make the young players want to have it, and make it look so nice that the parents think they must be good. They even call the saxes "Professional" models. My grandfather used to say, "You can gold plate a cow pie, but it`s still just a cow pie."

On the other hand, the student models of the better manufacturers have no decoration, because the manufacturers put their investment into the manufacture of a quality instrument.

As an investment, the cheap horns are zero.

On the other hand, you can purchase used student saxes in the $ 500 range that are made by the abovementioned companies. They are well made and the value will, probably, never get lower if they are well maintained.

If you want to save money, buy a used sax that was made by a good manufacturer.

As an additional comment, if the sax is for a beginning player, nearly any sax with good mechanics and a good mouthpiece will do. Once the musicians skills increase, you can see more difference between lower and higher quality saxes. At high levels, sax players will pay over $ 400 for mouthpieces, let alone the cost of the pro level saxes.

Does anybody no anything about them.

Take the Keilwerth, Yamaha or Yani. Play them all, take the one you like the best. I have had good experience with Yamahas, the first sax I bought for my son was a YAS-23 and his first Tenor was a YTS-23. He also played a YTS-62 for a couple years. If you buy a used Yamaha, Yani, or Keilwerth, you should not lose money on the deal. If you take care if it, it should be worth as much when you sell it as you paid for it. As you improve, you will want to get better saxes. Over the past 10 years, my son has had 3 altos, 4 tenors and 3 sopranos. Each new sax was a step up and each of the old saxes provided part of the cost of the next one.

The Jupiter is not as well made as the others and will not maintain the value.

I heard of Milwaukee ... but like the above said ... they are cheap and most mechanics won`t work on them. It doesn`t make much sense buying a really cheap horn when it needs adjusting about every other month or so. At $60+ a pop for adjustments, it will cost more than the horn did after a short time.

for intro models, Yamaha is is good bet becz they offer the full line. Otherwise you could get a Vito, which is basically a Yama 23. Pro models, as said, any is good just what you want.

either that or get a gold plated cow pie ... funny one wasn`t it?

I am interested in purchasing a Alto Saxophone made by Helmke on eBay. You can see this sax if you type in "white alto sax" on eBay. I am beginning and need to know if this is a good brand.
Thanks SOOOOOOOOOO Much,
Keka

I talked to my local music dealer. They said Jupiter sucks. It is made in China or Tiawan. I forget which. I am confused on the helmke deal. Are they good or bad. The model I want to purchase is an M4570. Help are these saxes good or bad?
Me

I have a Yamaha Tenor, vintage Buescher C-Melody and an early vintage Conn alto. If I need repair or adjustment I can get it at several reputable music stores in my area (Southwest Ohio)for any of the three. A store I go to a lot (Buddy Rogers Music) won`t even accept most of the off brands for repair work anymore. So you may get a good initial price and in a year have a very expensive door stop