Has Anyone played the Jupiter in question above and what does it play like??

I have heard many reviews on the net calling it Jupiter's first pro saxophone but I would like to know if anybody has a different opinion on it.

Also any opinion on the jazz side of things would be good.

Thanks

Saxlad

Don't know the horn ... but when you say 'the jazz side of things', what exactly do you mean? If you mean, 'is this a good saxophone for jazz' then (no offence intended) I'm not sure that this is a meaningful question ... you can play jazz on any instrument at all.

That said, Steve Howard's website (shwoodwind) has some interesting and informed instrument reviews

If you are looking for a particular tone, then generally the instrument is less significant than e.g. you or the mouthpiece; and you would have to specify the sort of tone you are looking for.

good luck!

Too harsh, I think ... Of course, Jupiter are not a top line make, but they are half the price - and fairly consistent, as far as I know. They're certainly not like the old Chinese/Eastern European horns. Though you could probably find a Yamaha 62 for only a little more, and that is a very well-made, well established horn.

See:

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/...r_989_tenor.htm

Jupiter have moved on in leaps and bounds in the last few years, and they now make reasonable instruments to get going on. Anything made after about the year 2000 will be an OK starter instrument, as long as it's been looked after.

We've never owned a Jupiter Sax but I'd stay away form a student Yamaha.

That is a good point nick and I know what you mean but in my opinion some saxophones are more 'classically' built while others are better for jazz, I just wondered whether it was a classical sax or a more jazzy sax, even though either can be used for both.



Thanks Jon but I started off with a Jupiter 700 Series Alto Sax and it has given me no problem with tuning and tonality in the 5 years I've been playing. This is partly the reason I've been looking at this one.



and to finish up with thanks Nick this proved really quite helpful.

Any more views out there please share them.

Thanks

Saxlad

I think it's more to do with your mp/reed/lig set up and the way you play them than the saxophone itself. I went to see Rob Buckland (RNCM sax professor and serious classical musician) playing a jazz/funk gig the other night. He uses the same saxophones (all Mark VI's) but has a different set-up for classical and for jazz. Andy Scott is the same - uses the same saxes but changes setup for jazz and classical.

I do the same too, but I'd go with the first 2 guys as examples rather than me!

I think my point is that there is no single 'jazz' sound - just compare (to name but two) David Sanborn and Lee Konitz ... or Brecker and Ben Webster ... or ... you get the idea.

Regarding tone, the two questions that matter (IMHO) is how much resistance you like (I like a resistant horn, so prefer Selmers to the open/easy blowing Yamahas) and how flexible the sound is - what sort of variation can you get, what happen when you push the horn a bit (again, I like the Selmer for that reason).

But strokes for folks - some people will find it easier to get the sound they like on a different instrument.

There's also the question of volume .. some horns are louder (Yamaha again!), and that may be helpful with amplified gigs.

I didn't know that Rob and Andy changed mpcs - they always sound pretty much the same to me (Rob in particular has a gorgeous tone)!

But the sound he has on jazz gigs is very different to the sound on classical gigs. I've seen Rob do a very good demonstration of the differences between his classical and jazz set-ups. The classical set-up is designed to keep everything as pure as possible, it doesn't like swoops, bends etc. The jazz set-up amplifies every little change. I know he has a Selmer soloist C* for classical on alto and uses something like Alexander Superial 4 reeds - I can't remember what the jazz set-up is. Rob believes quite strongly that if you're going to play classical well and jazz well that you need 2 set-ups. In his opinion you can get something in-between that works OK for both but it's going to be a compromise for each.

Alan Barnes reckons he can get all the variety he needs with one set-up - admittedly he doesn't play any classical sax - at least I don't think he does, but he does play different styles of jazz.

[quote name='jonathan leathem' date='Jan 8 2009, 12:41 AM' post='777393']
in my opinion if you buy a jupiter sax, heat up a large melting pot, put your sax in it
and sell the brass as scrap metal!

serously though selmer, yamaha, and yanagasawia are the best



[/quote]
[/quote]
Jupiters are fine. My son had a student Jupiter alto and still owns a Jupiter tenor. There's nothing wrong with them at all and were recommended by the music shop we bought them from over yamahas, which the (very knowlegable) shop owner said were overpriced.

He's tried Yamahas and not got on with them at all. He now has a Keilwerth alto, which he prefered to the selmers, yamahas and yanagasawias he tried. Yanigasawia was the second choice, though. I'm sure it's a matter of personal opinion.