Classic musicians dilemma

I am a reforming bass clarinet player (yeah, I know the jokes..*g*) who is now playing alto for my church during the Sunday and Wednesday services. Due to other financial constraints, I can't afford a Yani or high-end Selmer or other professional horn. I currently have a used Buffet which, as far as I can tell, was made by Jupiter....with all the quality one would expect from that manufacturer. The horn plays, but has many shortcomings. An overhaul might help a bit, but would probably cost more than I paid for the horn.

Here's the dilemma....do I put money into a Keilwerth ST-90 or other horn in that price range (what I can afford), play it for a year, and sell it on Ebay and upgrade, or do I try to deal with my current clunker and hope our guitarist plays out of tune enough so that my intonation problems aren't noticed?

Paul Bavington

I'd buy a 'decent' horn that is in tune and you like for what you can afford, then every week put $20 in a jar. In a year, you'll have $1000 to spend on a really great sax, plus what you can get for the old one.

Well, if i am not mistaken, the nonFrench Buffet saxes are made by Keilwerth via taiwan. Your horn probably IS an ST-90!

No, there was a period of a few years where they were manufactured by Jupiter and this horn falls into that period.

More recently, yes, they were made by Keilwerth and those played pretty well for student horns.

NEVER rent to own if you know you will be playing for more than a few months. Big ripoff.

Buy a good used instrument like a Yamaha YAS-23 which has great resale. Example - I bought my daughter a nice old Linton oboe for $500, she played for 9 months and I sold it with a new Protec case for $775 on ebay. Moral of the story is if you buy a good used instrument you can recoup most if not all of what you pay when you do trade up. Also, most rent to own situations have you paying nearly full retail should you buy. If you buy new, buy from a discounter like Woodwind & Brasswind or overseas for the best deal.

The Keilworth ST-90 is also a Jupiter.

The Jupiter Artist model is a very good playing horn in a reasonable price range. Just over a grand at WW&BW. Solid silver neck, hi F#, good solid keywork, and very easy to play in tune.

On Tue, 27 Feb 2001 22:20:07 -0500, 'Paul Bavington'

Visit my site 'Merlin's Mouthpiece' http://www.netcom.ca/~merlinw A member of the Sax Ring and the Duke Ellington Ring. 'It ain't got that swing if it's played by a thing.'

There is nothing like the pleasure of stepping up to a quality instrument, but I'm a major believer in buying musical instruments used!

Yanagisawa is probably the least expensive of the major pro brands. Go for the best used Yani 880 or 990-series horn you can find.

Mike Driskill

can't come in today the voices said to stay home and clean the guns

I've had my brand new Keilwerth ST90 for just over a week - as a complete beginner I am wrapped with it. I haven't played single reed before but am already jamming with guitarists in the middle register.

G

I am pretty sure the Keilweth ST-90 is made in Taiwan by Jupiter but it does have an advantage over the older Buffet/Jupiter in that it has a Keilwerth style large bow section giving it that great Keilwerth 'boom' in the lower register. The evette/buffet/jupiter you have is really not that bad of a horn (almost certainly not as bad as many people make them out to be) but... A real pro horn would make a huge difference or maybe even a Unison 'Pro' model (the S300 series) is one of the best values out there- but also is made in Taiwan. Saving up and spending the big bucks once pays off in the long run as you only have to do it once. Keilwerth, Selmer, Yanagisawa and Yamaha Custom are all excellent horns at their respective top end models and I would suggest getting one of those but then there's the tough choice of which one.

GOOD LUCK!