 The Doublers BBoard
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Author: Janice G
Date: 2024-06-05 13:16
Hello everyone. This is my first post. I started clarinet in 1970 (classical at high school)but hardly played from 1980 until I retired in 2018. During our covid lockdown, I decided to learn to play jazz. I now play regularly in jam sessions here in Andalusia. However, at times I struggled to be heard over the saxes and guitars. I borrowed my brother in law's old alto and I alternate between that and my B&H imperial 926, depending on the tune.
My issue is that my borrowed alto is a generic no name instrument and I would like some advice about buying my own. I am clearly a beginner at the sax but have a lot of clarinet experience. My budget is up to £1000. A friend has recommended the Better Sax alto and I know that Yamaha student models are well regarded. What do people think would be a good choice for me?
I use legere european cut reeds, 2.5, with an open tip B&H no. 3 mouthpiece on clarinet and american cut 2.5s on my current sax (with a generic mouthpiece).
I am also posting on SOTW, but I would like some clarinetists' views too.
Many thanks in advance for any advice.
Janice
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Author: ACCA
Date: 2025-02-25 20:43
Clarinet player here who taught himself sax- since it's a bit quiet here on this board I'll have a go. I'm sure the SOTW crowd has been a lot noisier;}
If you can find a Yamaha "32" or "52" (ie old intermediate versions) and get a good tech to go over them, this may be about the best you can get value for money wise.
another option is yanagisawa 50 or 500 that sometimes come up second hand for a good price- these tend to sound a bit quieter and more mellow than the Yamahas but that can be changed with the right mouthpiece.
re.e. jazz jam sessions: your mouthpiece is going to make a big difference re. volume, tone, and playability. There will be loads of different opinions. Even for Jazz, I use a Rousseau NC5 which is a "classically" oriented mouthpiece but with a fairly wide (for classical) tip opening that can play quite loud and jazzy with the American cut reed.
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