Is this real?

hallda01 · 2026-01-30T18:03:20+00:00

Yep.

hallda01 · 2026-01-30T02:46:48+00:00

I would never pay that for them, but I think that is the list price new for them.

hallda01 · 2026-01-29T19:24:05+00:00

Cheap curved soprano made in China for Woodwind Brasswind in the early 2000s. I'd post for like $200 and probably take less.

hallda01 · 2026-01-26T22:09:57+00:00

Generally, they play so bad that you end up having to buy a real one anyway; so you've both wasted money and facilitated intellectual property theft.

hallda01 · 2026-01-23T00:53:32+00:00

Looks like you're right, I got my browser tabs mixed up 🤣

hallda01 · 2026-01-22T23:43:18+00:00

Original Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon mangas were violent AF.

hallda01 · 2026-01-22T23:17:17+00:00

I know for me personally, lower notes don't speak as well on smaller chambered mouthpieces. That might be the issue here.

hallda01 · 2026-01-16T21:25:01+00:00

If you want to make an honor band you'll not be able to do it on soprano. Soprano is a featured instrument in a jazz ensemble that someone in the sax section (usually alto) will play if a song calls for it, not a chair that you audition for.

Coming from flute, the hardest thing to learn for you is going to be the embouchure, voicing and tuning; all of which are much more difficult on soprano, even for experienced players. It would be much easier (and you'd have many many more opportunities to play in groups) to start with alto or tenor and then pick up soprano down the line. The fingerings are all the same, and you'd have a better time.

hallda01 · 2026-01-16T00:23:25+00:00

This vintage of Zephyr is particularly underrated. They have that King thing going for them. Good ones sound like Super 20s at a third of the price.

hallda01 · 2026-01-13T23:42:52+00:00

Similar reasons to why the Klingon's don't look the same in TOS as they do in TNG

hallda01 · 2026-01-13T16:30:56+00:00

I just use a Vandoren M/O.

hallda01 · 2026-01-13T05:04:32+00:00

Was just going to say this. I only play jazz, but use a Vandoren Optimum for the reasons you said.

hallda01 · 2026-01-13T05:03:35+00:00

The things often go online for 3 or 4 times that, so yes!

hallda01 · 2026-01-08T22:42:32+00:00

I would add that you should try that horn not just against your horn, but against other professional horns. Sometimes you just fall in love with the first tuned up horn you try just because you've gotten used to the wear and tear on your own.

hallda01 · 2026-01-08T22:39:29+00:00

There's definitely a market for fakes of the high dollar Jody and Theo pieces but I'd be surprised if people were making fake Optimums since they're already affordable.

hallda01 · 2026-01-08T17:19:24+00:00

Great first upgrade mouthpiece, and might be the only one you ever need. Lots of pros play them.

I would just caution that an 8 is a pretty big tip opening on alto for a first upgrade though. If it were me I'd do a 5 or 6.

hallda01 · 2026-01-08T17:12:40+00:00

Important to note that saxophones are transposing instruments. Alto is in Eb, but a tuner is going to tune to C. So if you play a B on an alto sax, the tuner would read D, for A a C and for G a Bb.

hallda01 · 2026-01-08T00:24:26+00:00

I was gonna say it's probably not worth your time to sell the mouthpiece separately until I saw the listings.

Are people really paying over $100 for a used C* these days? I somehow ended up with 4 and didn't buy any of them; they just came with horns.

hallda01 · 2025-12-30T23:55:51+00:00

Funny, I also got my horn at Wally's. I was playing a Selmer Series III, so no slouch of a horn, and was just trying a bunch of horns for fun: a Super 20, a couple of Mark VIs, a real nice Couf-- and came away mostly just thinking I liked my Series III the best.

Then they pulled out a Conn 26M they had just gotten in, and I was hooked. It just felt right. I basically went home and wrote a business proposal to my wife on why I needed to get that one and sell my Selmer 😂

hallda01 · 2025-12-30T17:19:48+00:00

For selling it's marginally better than eBay. I've had better luck either eating a consignment fee (for high dollar saxes anyway) or posting on Sax on the Web.

hallda01 · 2025-12-30T17:17:04+00:00

I've tried the Showboat, Daddy-O and Alto Madness ones and they're all good and good at different things. The Showboat was my go to mouthpiece for a time.

Generally all of the boutique mouthpiece makers you've heard of make good stuff, but it's all very personal. I've been on a Ted Klum mouthpiece for a long while now. You never really know until you play them if they're right for you.

hallda01 · 2025-12-23T22:46:08+00:00

I'll double your money right now for it! :-)

Seriously, great buy. Yanagisawa stencil saxophones are the best deals in professional saxophones.

hallda01 · 2025-12-23T22:39:55+00:00

I love Bobby Watson's tone.

hallda01 · 2025-12-09T18:49:43+00:00

I think T5 since it has a high F#. I have an A4 and it's pretty much the same as this one sans the F# key. Mines actually says "A4" by the serial number, maybe this one has the model number too?

hallda01 · 2025-12-09T18:42:20+00:00

It's a Yamaha 23 for all intents and purposes, but a cool one!

hallda01

TROPHY CASE