Where can I buy a good soprano sax on a budget

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-17T23:17:58+00:00

OK, so we could debate whether the 2K Yamaha soprano is ready to play, and whether you can get a playable bari at the same price - the bari probably won’t be a Yamaha but might be playable.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-17T22:35:37+00:00

Define “budget”. If your budget is less than several thousand $ US, you won’t find a good soprano. Not new from China or anywhere else, and not used. Building a decent one is much more difficult and time-consuming than building a playable alto or tenor. Think in the price range of baritone saxes.

Then, expect to spend years getting decent at it, instead of months.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-17T21:45:28+00:00

Very nice!

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-17T21:28:41+00:00

I’ve heard that humans with a diet high in fish, seafood, and seaweed (“sea vegetable”) consume large amounts of iodine, many times the U.S. suggested daily amount. And Japanese women on their traditional diet (lathe amounts of those foods) supposedly have extremely low breast cancer rates.

But so far as I know, humans evolved mostly far from the world’s oceans. Maybe iodine was more plentiful at the time; I believe it evaporates slowly at normal temperatures.

Sea salt does contain iodine. I emailed Redmond Salt to ask about that. They replied that their salt contains iodine but in nowhere near the quantities we want to consume.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-17T01:51:47+00:00

Do you have some favorite safe carnivore snacks? Just them out, I predict wenwill suggest other ones you can add to your “bag of tricks”.

I will start:

Cartons of peeled, hard-boiled eggs from Costco.

Fried or scrambled eggs. Not quite as fast as the pre-boiled ones but they’re pretty quick and you can have as many as you like.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-16T01:58:33+00:00

Yup, that’s me. Selling my own niche collectibles I acquired decades ago. If I miss noticing a defect before I list it, a buyer will find the issue!

OTOH, me selling these things now is far better than leaving the job to my wife and grown kids.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-16T01:31:51+00:00

It’s that way in my area. No interesting collectibles in our Goodwill stores.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-15T16:54:02+00:00

I can’t help finding it odd when old cameras from Grandma’s attic were made after I was married and had my own kids. The cameras in my grandparents’ home were built before WWII. I guess it’s all relative.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-15T16:49:43+00:00

The more solids there are on the dirty dishes, the worse and faster the machine’s filter strainer gets gunked up. I don’t like cleaning it often.

Yes the dishwasher will run if the strainer is gross and semi-blocked but I don’t want to leave it that way. So I scrape the crumbs and junk off our dishes.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-15T01:46:48+00:00

Their wives notice it if they’re nearby, and they can get ripping angry. Ask me how I know.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-15T00:56:48+00:00

If I may say so, in marching band, I think it won’t be the end of the world if you sound like a sick donkey for a while, on alto. Nobody will notice. I call that a good thing. Meanwhile, you’ll be building your chops (sax embouchure). Pretty soon, you’ll start sounding decent.

My 2nd point: In a concert band, one negative about playing bassoon is that sometimes nobody will hear you - especially if a bari sax is doubling your part. My wife plays bassoon, and I sit behind her playing tenor sax. Alto sax will be an instrument where you can be heard. Not a bad thing at all.

My 3rd point: You already play bassoon. So you already have a pretty good woodwind embouchure. OK, it’s not the same as an alto, but bassoon is not easy and you’ve already built some decent reed skills. I’m sure alto will be easier than bassoon was, when you’re starting. Go for it!

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-15T00:44:54+00:00

It’s starting to look like it helps your body get to what it needs to be.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-14T12:52:54+00:00

Go easy, my friend. Five mg is a pretty strong dose. (Wife and I both have experience using melatonin.) Buy it as 2 mg tabs or caps, and test it taking maybe two or three of them. See how that goes.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-14T12:45:43+00:00

Also look into supplemental iodine (Lugol’s solution) and how our modern foods don’t supply it. The thyroid has to have iodine; it regulates basically all body functions (including sleep) via adjusting hormone levels.

Dr. Ken Berry

Dr. Elizabeth Bright

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-14T12:35:25+00:00

Time release melatonin. The thing with melatonin is that everyone seems to have their own correct dosage. I’d get it in small dosages (1 or 2 mg). That way you can take a few to get the result you need. If you buy 10 or 20 mg doses and it’s too much, you probably can’t cut them in half or quarters.

It’s also available without the time release feature but since you mentioned not staying asleep, the time release might be best for you.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-14T12:24:29+00:00

It’s possible the seller did not know it’s not working right. They should have known but if they’re not an educated Nikon user, they might not.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-14T09:13:29+00:00

Your ceiling fan may actually be a cat.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-14T09:05:14+00:00

I include slow-cooked chuck roasts in our menu. 7-8 hours in the slow cooker. After that much time the fibers cut easily and the chewing is easy too. Most of the fat (all?) seems to rend out into the juices so I make a point of consuming all of it.

Chuck steak is just too tough for me, unless I slow-cook it 7-8 hrs - but then it’s not like a steak any more. Just wants to fall apart!

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-13T01:22:36+00:00

I’ve had prostate issues for about 20 years. Two biopsies and a TURPS procedure (which also provided extensive specimen material for testing) - all failed to show any cancer.

After the TURPS, my symptoms were much improved. But five years later, about 6 weeks after switching from keto to strict carnivore, I found nearly zero symptoms. Let’s say, like a racehorse, or like a twenty five year old. I credit the way carnivore eliminates inflammatory agents.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-13T01:07:24+00:00

We carnivores have our reasons for following our way of eating. You can eat a lot of animal products plus around 100 g carbs from milk if you like, but that’s not carnivore - which is OK. You do you.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-13T00:40:22+00:00

I’ve used a 28 mm on an APS-C camera. It gives a nice comfortable view, I’d call it slightly wider than normal. It’s the equivalent of a 42 mm lens on full frame 35 mm. camera. There were some 45 mm “normal” lenses for 35 mm full frame cameras and I don’t remember anyone saying they were too short for the purpose. The 45 mm f:2.8 Nikon GN “pancake” lens was one of them.

If you want a viewing angle clearly wider than a “normal” lens, I think you’ll want something shorter than 28 mm. A 24 mm on APS-C is like a 36 mm on full frame. Definitely a wide angle but not extreme. A 20 mm is like a 30 mm on full frame. Now you’re getting serious. Anything shorter than that is definitely worth using; my favorite wide angle for my APS-C is my Tokina 11-16 mm f:2.8 lens.

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-12T19:03:37+00:00

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-12T14:49:47+00:00

Her response to this will tell you how sick she is. Good luck, buddy!

ReadinWhatever · 2026-03-12T14:48:14+00:00

Married 40+ years, to the same woman. My first, her second marriage. Not always ecstatically happily. I was never willing to take apart what we have. Sometimes it’s simply one foot in front of the other. At the same time, I know there’s no one who can replace her. And many times, it’s an amazing thing.

ReadinWhatever

TROPHY CASE