looking for a dirt cheap sax (probably tenor)

i want to teach myself sax for the sake of ska (when i play one step beond on tbone it doesn't sound right!)

i think i'm looking for a tenor but i'm new in this area and i really just need whatever is easiest to learn on and cheap as possible, i don't mind if it looks battered as long as it still plays ok

Thanks,
Skeej

I think alto is easier to learn, but tenor sounds so much better. Good luck finding a dirt cheap one though!

well, i mean dirt cheap relative to normal prices, the sax guy in my class at college has 17k worth of saxs! and he only has about 3 or 4

alto will do as well then, i'd rather be able to play before spending money on a better sounding piece of kit

read as looking for dirt cheap sex (preferably a £10)
left disappointed

lightowler wrote:read as looking for dirt cheep sex (preferably a £10)
left disapointed

Visit York Road in Southend. You may get the AIDS though.

Is an alto low enough to play one step beyond?

Not in the right octave. On tenor it starts on a D and that's an A on the alto I think.

I got an alright one on gear for music, it wasn't to expensive and i got a teach yourself DVD, which got me as far as mary had a little lamb, and that was about it! useless dvd!

I've got a yamaha (YAS-23) alto sax i want to sell if you decide you fancy alto.



I'm just selling it cos i play too many instruments, & i usually play tenor if i go for sax (also my housemate has an alto, so can always scrounge) ...basically need the money more!

The girl i bought it off was an old friend, and she did grade 8 on it. It plays fine - is covered in fine scratches, but no dints.

Selling it for £350 (what i payed 3 years ago) if you're interested.. from brief googling they seem to go for $1400 - $1700 new.. whatever that is in pounds!

our sax player might be selling an alto. can ask him if you want? He stole it so could probably sell it to you dirt cheap.

haha!

SKA MUTINY DOES NOT ENDORSE THE SALE OF STOLEN GOODS

ahh yea. best say its not stolen. you know. cant be too careful. but yea, drop us a message, i'll find out from him tomorrow probably.

hey sian, really nice lookin sax but i can't really afford 350 right now ( =[ )

how much would your sax player sell his for tyrannosaurasben?

thanks

edit: didn't see you'd sent me a message, nice one, let's hope for a wee loan off the parents

does anyone know a good way to teach oneself wihout a teacher? i have a few saxy friends that could help me at my youth band but that'll be more just helping me learn where all the notes are

yeah, if you're wanting to play one step beyond properly you'll need a tenor, but y'know.

alto and tenor aren't any difference in difficulty.

don't bother buying a really cheap sax, in my opinion.
you won't find one for less than £200, and if you do, it'll probably cost you more in repairs than if you'd bought a more reputable make.

my tenor cost about £300ish, and has had fuck loads of repairs on it.
johnny fucking roadhouse

Francis wrote:yeah, if you're wanting to play one step beyond

and lets be honest here, who doesnt

edit: due to my fail typing hurting my eyes

lightowler wrote:

Francis wrote:yeah, if you're wanting to play one step beyond

and lest be honest here, who doesnt

it just doesnt sound right on trombone =[

You should start on alto and work up to a tenor, that's what i did. i never had a lesson i taught myself, dont read music either i play completely by ear, dont buy a second hand sax, not worth the trouble trust me, your best bet is to buy a cheaper make, my alto and tenor are both j michael, its the player that makes the instrument full stop, you can pick up new alto's cheaply they just wont be a good make.... also make sure you buy the sax in the right key, take someone who knows with you to buy one.

thanks skankin dragon but i did the opposite just a few days ago i look silly with an alto anyway and it feels weird cus i'm used to big instruments (tbone, bass, drums) so tenor feels a bit more comfortable

i got a second hand boosey and hawkes tenor off ebay for 158quid, not getting lessons but getting other saxy friends to give me a kick start. it was picked out for me by someone who knows sax's really well so i'm hoping it's a good choice

how did you start off teaching yourself?

when i first got my sax the two songs i wanted to play were they left today by lightyear and cousin cleotis by capdown i figured when i learned those songs i would be good, it only took a month to learn those songs, after a few months i could play everything by capdown and came to realize that jake wasn't as good a saxophonist as i had previously thought....after that i got really into david hillyard and tried to emulate his style i have also gained a healthy interest in jazz especially john coltrane
learning was hard at first but it got easy quickly, once you get into the fact that basically your dealing with six buttons and once you can run scales fast....your set, right now your breath is letting you down, gotta try and hold a note for as long as you can over and over again each and every day. its like othello a minute to learn a lifetime to master....im still learning and its been 4-5 years

i'd love to be able to play ska wars xD, i'll try both the songs you did and hope i'm magically good. also gunna try one step beyond cus apparently it isn't actually very hard but it sounds mint.

breath shouldn't be much of a problem as i can play really long notes on trombone so i'll have enough breath, it's just making sure i get the embouchure (sp?) right

how long do reeds generally last? being a skint music student i don't want to spend all my money on new reeds, they're prety expensive for someone with no money!

edit: i clicked the thanks thing cus you've been helpful, enoy your three cool points haha

never buy reads in a music shop, thats rule one they are much cheaper online
always buy rico reeds
you could start on a no2 if you can blow a bone
it depends, if you wet the reeds for a long time before playing or you leave the sax out of the case allot so the reed is getting dried in the sun it wont last long, if it looks warped change your reed, when they warp they are useless whereas if you have a crack or small chip you can still kinda play it for a little while
i prefer to fit the reeds dry, i just lick the back so they stick to the mouthpiece while i fit on the ligerture

don't get me wrong dude i was really crap for the first two weeks i was just playing 4 notes cuzz i couldn't figure out how to play the bottom ones, first song i learned was give me tomorrow by long broken up long forgotten scottish skacore band ex-cathedra, its only 3 notes haha

oh yeah here's a tip, you need to growl to make one step beyond not sound like shit, growling the first note is really hard so play it clean and growl from the second note
and in case ya dont know to growl you just make a sound as you blow

awesome, thanks =] yeah i heard rico are good so i'll try those out

i transposed one step beyond cus i found the music somewhere and played on tbone for a giggle, i nearly cried it sounded so wrong so i'll do my best when i try it out on sax

i'll enjoy the initial rubbishness as it will be revenge on my neighbours

My reeds generally last quite long. It's not in the sun but it's out of the case. It might be the plasticover thing though.

I also add my support for rico reeds and endorse neotech slings.

Parg wrote:My reeds generally last quite long. It's not in the sun but it's out of the case. It might be the plasticover thing though.

I also add my support for rico reeds and endorse neotech slings.

my green neotech sling is awesome

got my sax today and it has a neotech sling which is actually really comfortable =] about 5 rico royal 1.5 reeds which i'm quite happy about as the discription on ebay didn't say it came with any and you guys bigged up the sling and the reeds =]. everything seems to work, i'm just so embarassed to play it cus obviously i don't know how to play and my whole family's in and it's impressively loud!