The Best Brands of Saxophones
For a musician to perform to his or her potential, the instrument involved needs to be of high quality, and be well maintained. The success of the woodwind player, specifically the saxophone player, depends greatly on the type of horn and reeds used. There are several types of saxophones, from the rarely-used bass sax to the smooth-jazz staple, the soprano horn. According to TheSaxophone.com, the "Big Four" horn manufacturers are Selmer, Yamaha, Keilwerth, and Yanagisawa.
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Selmer
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The Selmer brand is probably the best known, and features horns for all ranges of ability and budgets. A French company that was founded in the early 1900s primarily as a maker of clarinets, Selmer expanded after exhibiting the new saxophone at the 1916 World's Fair. By 1918 a former employee, George Bundy, was selling the family's wares in New York. According to saxophone expert Roger Charles, "each [Selmer] saxophone has a distinct voice and sound. Selmer saxes are varied in shape and size, thus producing a subtle yet distinguishable variety of sounds."
Yamaha
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Unlike Selmer, which deals almost exclusively with woodwind instruments, Yamaha is the behemoth company that produces almost every type of instrument you've seen in a high school band room. The Japanese company began in 1887, producing reed organs. Yamaha saxophones are dependable, expressive, and usually can be purchased or leased for a very reasonable price. They're especially good horns for beginners. Although they've only produced saxes since 1967, the brand has overtaken the academic market.
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Yanagisawa
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A relative newcomer to the market, the Yanagisawa saxophone wasn't available until 1954. According to Matthew Neill of the Saxophone Players Guide, "Most models have the option of being purchased lacquered or unlacquered. Although this may seem like a purely aesthetic choice, lacquer can have a huge influence on the sound of your sax. Saxophones that have not been lacquered can have a more mellow tone than their lacquered counterparts."
Keilwerth
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The flare, or width, of the saxophone bell alters the sound produced. According to Roger Charles of The-Saxophone.com, Keilwerth saxophones feature subtle differences that professional players notice and appreciate. "For one thing, the flare of the bell on a Keilwerth is a little larger than that on other brands. This gives the horn a big sound and a little larger feel," says Charles. "The 'action,' or how the notes feel in response to the player's hands, feels a little different because of this "bigness." Keilwerth makes both student and professional horns; the student line is manufactured by Jupiter, a brand that is also well known but has less of a reputation.
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