Thanks for posting this! People on the forums really trash these instruments. I’ve had good luck myself with off brand Asian horns. My first saxophone was a “great mind” curved soprano from ww&bw. Later another curved soprano from eBay, and recently a curved mendini by Cecilio second hand on eBay. Sorry now that I let the first two go.
I have definitely run into that posting this video to the forums! While these saxophones aren't the "hand made art pieces" of the bigger brands, manufacturing has gotten to the point where they're able to make perfectly functional, if not quite good, horns for a much more reasonable cost (especially if you're just a local working player).
Lol. I've recently learned how hard it is to find a good cardboard box that fits a saxophone well! Pretty smart of them to make their own out of foam and tape.
Hello, man. I'm just wondering if you could help me. I learned how to play sax with my cheap alto Global Saxophone. I did pretty well with my playing. Then, at some time, a friend offered me her Curved soprano Fernando Sax because she wants to buy an alto sax for her daughter. So i decided to swap our instruments. We swapped. Now, the problem is, it really gives me a very hard time to give a decent sound. And when I make one, I just don't like the sound of it. The way your sax sounds is different from mine. Is it broken? Or does the mouth piece and reed matter? I have 2.5 in my previous sax as well as with this curved soprano. It sounds so deep. I really think it should sound sexy. Please help.
The mouthpiece and reed play an important role in tone production, but soprano is generally more difficult to control (and make sound sexy) than alto. If some notes are easy to play and not others, you may have leaky pads and need a repair person. If you can't make and control a decent sound on the mouthpiece/reed by themselves, you might need a better mouthpiece and reed combo. Try to find something that's comfortable and sounds good. If you practice more you will sound better eventually.
Another winner video, great playing. May I ask how this saxophone is holding up? Lots of people are. saying there's some really good Chinese horns, and then you got some not so great ones. And this quality distinction isn't always determined by price😁🎷
Hello again and thanks for checking this out. Baby Yoda's holding up fine. My current belief is if you can spring a little more, maybe get an Antigua, Kessler, or other slightly more known brand that uses real pads and pad glue, but if you want something quirky in a custom finish or just to toy with, the Chinese brandless horns ain't bad. Here's the last IG vid I used it on about 3 months ago. instagram.com/reel/CjmT4fDN8V6/?igshid=Yzg5MTU1MDY=
@@SaxPedalGuy Thanks for your great feedback. Good points made. Antigua is an American brand, I'd have to import it to Europe. It seems to be a great horn. Right now I'm haggling with a seller in China, trying to get a nickel and gold soprano for around $250, free shipping (plus $60 for import customs). Still unbeatable value if the horn plays alright. I'll good to Instagram now to watch your video) 😊
@@smoothvelvetsinger Go for it! The Jean Paul curved sopranos are supposed to be pretty good, but for that cheap, you can buy two and practice re-padding one yourself, and buy a nice mouthpiece. The horns are just metal tubes and if you watched the IG video, Baby Yoda sounds pretty dang close to the 10-20 times more expensive Yanagisawas. I still want a Yanagisawa, but I don't expect it to function 10-20 times better.
@@davedolengewicz9494 Yes, I've done some neck cork changing myself. I'd like to try re-padding too😊 Funny you should mention Yanagisawa, the nickel and gold soprano I mentioned is a W037 replica🤣 Jean Paul is probably pretty good yes, but considerably higher priced than what I'm hopefully getting this one for.
@@SaxPedalGuy I guess, going to take shiping tomorrow..... before, I have been playing tenor sax and soprano strait but need to curved. Cause, make a practice in the my car.
@@Ugo392 yeah. İt looks good. Will see soon good or bad but advice buy it. Cause, today satutation never find cheap sax. Thnks. (Evet, guzel gorunuyor. Ne olacagini ileride gorece. Tavsiye ederim. Fiyatlar ucuyor, baska caresi yok. Kolay gelsin.) write translate. Thnks
Enjoyed the video....linked found through your post on SOTW. Chinese horns I've bought in the last two months since coming back to playing after a ~25 year break from eBay/Amazon: 1 straight "Lade" Soprano ($170), 5 Altos off of eBay ($140 avg. per horn, all branded..Lade or Ammoon), 1 straight "Schiller" eBay Alto ($440-used/like new), 1 "Glory" Tenor ($300) off amazon & 1 "Estella" Baritone ($550-used/VG cond.) off amazon. Why did I buy them? 2 reasons:1. Horns at this price point (especially adjusted for inflation didn't exist the in the mid-90's) simply weren't available the last time I was actively playing and 2. I'm an idiot with impulse control issues. That being said, the Soprano, 2 of the Altos and the Bari actually play quite well. Thanks for taking the time to post this video! Mike (zapatista on SOTW).
Thanks for sharing and checking it out Mike! It's a fun market right now for sure. I just ordered a tenor directly from a Chinese factory with a custom tiger engraving because that also would have been impossible 20 years ago. I'm also interested in a ridiculous new bari one day too. Glad you're liking yours. Have you posted any videos?
@@SaxPedalGuy I haven't...though I should...I've been funding the purchase of all the horns (and several vintage Conn/Bueschers) through camera/lens sales on ebay/amazon so I have all the gear to do decent videos.
@@OldAssSax Very cool, do it! I could use a proper DSLR for video myself (my Nikon body's a bit too old), and the XingYue music co might be looking for someone to represent them on Amazon USA. Not trying to be an enabler, but jus' sayin'... Mind sharing your ebay store?
