Hey!
i really want to get a soprano sax 4 christmas, but i'm not sure which one to get. I know it pays to get a good one, but im not sure if i want to spend more than £500 on one. Do you think I should just start off with a cheaper one or get a pretty decent one like a Yamaha?
Any advice from sax players (or anyone for that matter!!) would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
nomsi

You can get decent Yamaha saxes for £500 ish. My first alto was £519.

Definitely buy a decent soprano. Soprano saxes can be quite variable in their tuning, especially at the higher end and cheaper makes are not always good in this area. I have a Yanigasawa 901 which is over your budget, but the Yamaha 475 isn't bad at all and if you think you could stretch to one then I would definitely suggest you save up a bit more and pay the extra. Also if you want to play the soprano in a band / quartet or take higher grades, you will need a decent, reliable soprano.

Good luck and let us know what you decide

I would advice getting the Yamaha YSS-475 which is the intermediate model or if you have a higher budget the YSS-674which is the proffesional model ($1000)

Go for the best instrument you can afford.

I have a very cheap (paid £385 new) soprano and the intonation on the higher notes is utterly alarming (the palm key D gives a perfect D#) tameable with practice but means I have to concentrate so much on intonation it limits my playing in other respects.

The cheapest Yamaha has pretty good intonation.

Hey everyone!!
Thanks for the advice on which soprano sax i should get. i'm trying to get the yamaha YSS475. can get it for £825 through my school which isn't bad.
il let ya know what happens!!
thanks again
nomsi :-)

Good choice!