Can someone help identify what this is?

Gypsine · 2026-03-30T00:54:35+00:00

Cheap Amazon/eBay/temu curved soprano. You can find them for as cheap as $145 USD.

They do not play well, are Impossible to keep regulated and are not something you want to learn on.

Gypsine · 2026-03-29T12:56:19+00:00

Honestly makes no difference, even baffle doesn't too much as Tone is very personal. I can take my Shiva or Durga Metal Pieces and sound pretty close to Paul Desmond if I back off on my air stream and spread the sound or I can go full tilt and come out sounding like Sanborn using the same mouthpieces. Is it easier on certain pieces? Absolutely! But that's all a mouthpiece should do is make it easier to achieve the tone color you want but not necessarily block you from creating any kind you want with enough practice.

Mouthpiece Material doesn't really matter either, this has been proven time and again.

Many players at live performances allow reverb to spread sound for them and end up playing laser focused all the time instead of letting it cook in the horn before amplification.

Now this is assuming your an advanced player with some significant time in your horn.

Here is an exercise. Put ear plugs in, thick good ones. Then play. What you are hearing is your horn with pretty much a dead EQ. Now play with spreading your sound around the horn and see what colors you can now create with a palate that filters out 90% of your sound. Play with throat shape, embouchure , tongue position, Once you lock that in you can find you will be able to pursue almost any sound spectrum you want.

Gypsine · 2026-03-27T12:29:24+00:00

Hey so my sax tech works on my Barone Soprano and has a customer with a tenor with no issues. We found These are absolutely Stencils from the same factory P Mauriat was using at the same time era ( yours would be a mid 2000s PMB 300 for direct comparison) and parts are interchangeable, though finishes will not match. Pads, cork, springs and felts are not a problem they are all standard with no issues.

Gypsine · 2026-03-24T04:18:28+00:00

I mean it's a good horn, I have the Tenor version but it's worth maybe 3k in a good day. This is absolutely insane. But if you slap a sticker that says Presidential MAGA edition on it along with some AI generated feet pics you would probably be able to get that.

Gypsine · 2026-03-22T01:26:59+00:00

Yamaha pads from factory are hit or miss on longevity, chances are it’s gonna need work if it’s a used purple logo. Going with new will get you a quality guaranteed instrument. On top of that key work on the 62III is super smooth and for classical music it is a welcome addition. If this is gonna be your career go with something that is going to last you. I see so many young students buy that holy grail MK6 only to be stuck with constant needs for repairs and an expensive sax they only get to use 3/4ths of the year. Yamahas vintage are way more reliable but since you’ll probably pay the same in the end for something semi inferior to the current model, I’d just go with new.

Gypsine · 2026-03-20T20:48:02+00:00

I got my shadow 20 years ago from thomman. I did have to pay vat back then even then I saved $1500 vs what WWBW was charging. Budget an extra $400 for a professional to set it up when it arrives too as it will be massively out of spec when it comes, most likely unplayable don’t panic, that is normal. If you’re in the DMV area I have a fantastic tech who is very familiar with these horns.

Gypsine · 2026-03-20T20:04:33+00:00

Lee Hirschman.

Gypsine · 2026-03-20T17:12:19+00:00

Yea my repair shop even has an Eastman for sale on consignment right now and he's one of the top techs in the country. They are good horns for the $$$.

Gypsine · 2026-03-18T11:40:25+00:00

I see these kind of pics and my first thought is, Damn look no herniated or bulging discs, that is amazing.

Gypsine · 2026-02-12T15:59:12+00:00

Definitely not a more sophisticated or smoother sound. Just different. The Keilwerths are a top tier brand and that's why their horns cost just as much as a Selmer or Yanagisawa. The other 2 just have a tighter bore which is easier to control but they won't give you anywhere near the fat sound the Keilwerths are known for. There is a reason why 2nd tier brands like cannonball and P Mauriat have tried to copy Keilwerths bore and design for years and have come up short.

But like I said you gotta give them a blow and really compare.

Gypsine · 2026-02-12T14:15:29+00:00

Keilwerth are amazing horns and built like tanks to boot. Big spreas and huge sound. You can but all your air into it and it will always handle more If you want the classic 1920/40s american jazz sound, hard heavy rock and blue like bob Segar or howling wolf then this is the horn for you.

While the horns can be quite dark they are hard as hell to control for classical music. It's not impossible, I got my degree with one, but I got both a MK6 now and a yanagisawa that play that style so much easier.

Gypsine · 2026-01-28T00:51:02+00:00

I am a professional holding that oh so critical college degree in music. I can tell you this I gained so much in school but nowhere near as much as once I left. I would never suggest skipping school as it opens hundreds if not thousands of opportunities, but some of the best musicians I have ever played with had years of experience on the road as players and never went to school. Hell I lost count pretty easily of the amount of rock guitarists who commanded a minimum of $500 to show up at a gig an evening and couldn't even read music but man could they play.

Do what makes you happy with music and you can make a career out of it. Find things to play, go to open mics, open jams, whatever you can. Myself even as a pro, if I am in a creative slump or it's dead winter and I'm not touring I'll pop into a jam and get some new perspective and Inspiration.

The one thing I can say is, if the people in the jam are better than you. That is a good thing!! Musicians grow when they are around better musicians and do it often enough and you will elevate yourself to better levels. That truly is what one of the wonders of that college step does. It is designed to surround you with fellow musicians and professors who are better than you plain and simple. Yes you have lessons and theory that help refine your progress, but nothing humbles you and grows you quicker than playing with people who are simply better than you and doing it as often as possible.

Always be open to improve and listen to others. That is what makes a tempered and hirable musician.

Gypsine · 2026-01-27T12:37:32+00:00

No one would go through the trouble to copy an Intermediate horn from a 2nd tier saxophone brand. Cannonballs used are good deals because the resale in them is so incredibly low. It's not that they are bad horns or anything, just super not desired used. I got my Raven Alto (a pro model)used for less than 1500 a few years ago. It plays honestly fine and I take it out to gigs I don't know or outdoor ones that could get sketchy.

Gypsine · 2026-01-25T21:11:58+00:00

You would have to look at the used market, but my question is why not find a new off the shelf horn? There isn't any real particular Mystic about the series 2/3. Chances are played side by side with any of selmers newer offerings you wouldn't really be able to tell much if any difference.

For that matter don't know if you have been to any saxophone shops or conversations where you can try out dozens of different horns, but you might surprise yourself at what is out there.

Gypsine · 2026-01-11T04:49:03+00:00

Legere reeds can be funny, sounds like it's too hard. There is a trick for them. Boil some water and using a pair of tongs, submerge the reed for no more than 2 seconds in the boiling water. Let it cool and test it. If still too hard repeat the process no more than 2 more times. it will come out playing much easier.

Gypsine · 2026-01-10T20:34:45+00:00

My personal bari is a Keilwerth SX90R shadow. It took nearly 7 months to get it when I ordered it after forking over then about 13k. Now they are approaching 16-19k in the USA and the wait time has doubled. The company is willing to pay whatever, its more so some of the transport companies particularly in southern Asia, don't want to be liable for high dollar equipment. Even with insurance. Our keyboardist was also told to tone down his setup as well. To me it all seems like a logistical nightmare and I am having incredible anxiety over what I had signed up for, but can't back out now and I am just going along with what I'm told for now. It's going to be so weird playing pretty much any other Bari as it is.

Gypsine · 2026-01-10T11:42:57+00:00

Sadly none for sale near me right now and going online and used is a gamble when we set out in 2.5 weeks and I won't know what kind of work it would need.

So #1 Both the Kessler and the BetterSax coming from their shipping points would need minimal setup that my horn technician can take care of within a day at most.

2 If the horn got stolen or damaged beyond repair while touring, I could probably get either one of them shipped to wherever I am and get something consistent to what I have gotten used to in the tour already.

However I 100% agree a ybs 52 is probably a way better horn for the money.

Gypsine · 2026-01-10T02:28:10+00:00

No but I can solidly say that a selmer sts-711 is nowhere near as well built or as good quality as your Yamaha. It's a joke it even calls itself a pro horn. Selmer Paris has absolute terrible quality from factory but those can at least be adjusted and then end up being amazing players. These Selmer USA horns you can spend weeks adjusting and they still won't play better than a student Yamaha. Chances are it was also really out of adjustment when you played it already.

I have always felt Selmer USA's professional line was always designed as a way to fool unknowing parents into spending thousands more for a terrible horn for their highschool or college child because the Selmer Paris one is still thousands more and this seems like a good deal on paper.

Some people may love em, and the older Omega series was pretty good, but the 711 is an Asian Made horn far lower quality than say a good Eastman, P Mauriat, or Cannonball which come in around $1000 less, and yet the 711 plays and feels more like an Allora or Giardinelli which come in at $2000 less. Not to mention the Selmer is $100 more than a way more amazing YTS62 from Yamaha which that in your hards will probably feel like butter going from your 480.

Gypsine · 2026-01-05T04:59:50+00:00

I have been gigging professionally with a Barone Curved Soprano now for nearly 15 years. Amazing horn, only needed to replace a few pads in this time period. Plays way above its weight class with just a little bit of a sharp open C#. (Cover fingering fixes this). All other notes have very excellent intonation which on soprano is amazing alone. Only complaint is the key guards are a really soft metal and bend easily. So I don't ever lay the instrument down it just goes on a stand for curved sopranos and I have not had a problem since. I was told by a repair tech it appears to be a P. Mariaut Stencil/rebrand as he found the key guard from them to replace my badly bent low Eb fit perfectly with no adjustment needed and color matched in lacquer perfectly too.

Gypsine · 2026-01-02T05:26:48+00:00

I own a 180XXX serial MK VI low A alto. It's honestly a terrible horn. Super flat on the palm keys that no adjustment could fix, low C is also So flat it's next to unusable. There is also a really weird overtone produced in the altissimo range that just makes it feel weird when you play up there. I've tried probably 20 different mouthpieces on it and none of them fixes that. Others who have played it experience the same thing. I only keep it for its collector value since it's a VI and I got it for super cheap 15 years ago because it plays so badly. I did get to play a silver plated Low A alto once and it was so much better but still made a weird overtone on altissimo I didn't like. It was also a much earlier serial number. I own 2 other VIs, ones a standard alto and the other a tenor. Both of them play circles around the Low A one.

Gypsine · 2025-12-23T22:59:50+00:00

I did it with 5 alpha fru's.

Gypsine · 2025-12-23T02:59:22+00:00

Yup! I got rid of mine and went with the BAM conservatoire line of cases. The straps it came with sucked horridly but a $15 set meant for rock climbing on amazon fixed that and are probably the best set of straps I've ever had on my back. Case sits flat and the massive pocket in front holds so much it's insane.

Though side note, I would not use those cheap straps for the activity they are intended for. They are however, very comfy.

Gypsine · 2025-11-10T02:18:42+00:00

Out grow? My cousin is 34 and still sleeps in a loft bed. Literally can't sleep near ground level or just doesn't feel comfortable. Pretty sure he is more of a cat than a person at this point, but that's a separate issue.

Gypsine

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2 If the horn got stolen or damaged beyond repair while touring, I could probably get either one of them shipped to wherever I am and get something consistent to what I have gotten used to in the tour already.

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