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Yamaha

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  • Sold Out

    Yamaha SILVER YSS-82ZRS Soprano Saxophone Mint Condition Setup Excellent

    $ 4,900

    This is a mint condition Yamaha YSS-82ZRS soprano. The Yamaha 82ZRS is basically a reissue of the popular Yamaha 62 soprano. The silver versions were the most desirable of the Yamaha YSS-62R on which the 82ZR is based. So if you have always wanted to get a Yamaha YSS-62RS this is nearly identical, but with some upgraded keywork. The main changes are that the left hand pinky (spatula) keys are now easier to operate and the palm keys are a little more comfortable. Yamaha tells me that the bore and dimensions of the 82ZR are exactly the same as the 62R, and on purpose. It is meant to be a modern reissue of the enormously popular 62R. With the 62R, Yamaha finally broke with the Selmer Mark VI soprano tonal concept and do something warmer, rounder, and more pleasant. It became an instant classic. There’s a big demand for more of these, so Yamaha helpfully rose to the occasion.

    The reason that the 62R/82ZR is so popular is the combination of one piece design – no neck joint to lose air or resonance – and the warm, complex tone that these horns get. And the bent neck, which brings the horn down onto the neck strap for added comfort. Branford Marsalis plays this model, and sounds wonderful on it. I think he helped with the keywork improvements also. In short, it’s probably the best modern soprano available: Lightest, most resonant, very in tune, most comfortable to play, best long term investment. It’s a modern classic.

    If like me, you have always wanted one of these horns in silver, now is your chance. They are hard to find! This one just got its checkup and is ready to go! It is in basically mint condition, but has been played maybe a couple of hours total.

  • Yamaha YAS-23 Alto Good Condition Best Student Alto Beautiful Shape 302437

    $ 1,000

  • Yamaha YAS-23 Alto Saxophone Overhauled Best Student Sax! 149431A

    $ 1,000
  • Sold Out

    Yamaha YAS-26 Alto Near Mint Condition Great! U72312

    $ 1,450

    This is a fantastic condition Yamaha YAS-26 alto saxophone, that is the top recommendation of most band directors for a first alto saxophone. At $2166, the new price can be a stretch for many band parents. This one saves you $700+ off the price, and the horn looks basically new and plays better than new, because my repairman just went completely over the horn made sure that it’s playing its absolute best. (It got way more attention than a typical YAS-26 you’d buy at Music and Arts or whatever.) Looks new as well, and I can also jump start your saxophone career with some free accessories, and advise you on a good mouthpiece and reed setup to get you going (this can help a LOT).

    Only one available! But if you aren’t the lucky family that gets this one, check the altos category for more YAS-23’s and YAS-26’s. I buy them and fix them up as a service to young saxophonists. I make virtually no money doing it, but every good saxophonist I know started on one of these. They really do put you on the right track as a young player. They’re also excellent altos for pros who double on alto or who want a dependable backup alto.

  • Yamaha YAS-61 Alto Original Lacquer Old Pads 8822

    $ 1,500
  • Sold Out

    Yamaha YAS-62III Alto Saxophone Brand New with Warranty!

    The YAS-62III Alto saxophone from Yamaha is the go-to, top recommended first professional alto saxophone from most teachers and band directors I have talked to over the years. Again and again online, someone asks something like, “We want to get our daughter/son a good saxophone. Our budget is around $3000. What should we get?” The most common answer is basically always a Yamaha YAS-62III alto. Why? It just works. It’s a professional horn that is extremely reliable and made in Japan, with excellent build quality, great intonation, and a top quality factory setup. You can use virtually any mouthpiece on it, and it will still tune well. That lets you take the (admittedly rather vanilla) tone in myriad directions. Yamaha is a conservative company, and their crowd pleaser YAS-62III alto saxophone is meant to get the job done without over-determining the tone.  It’s clear, medium bright, and round. Not too loud and in your face, not very dark or too bright. Works for classical or jazz.

    It’s hard to keep these horns in stock, as Yamaha has been backordered on them for a long time. I have one available late September, 2022. These come with a new horn checkup before they go to you, meaning my (experienced/skilled/picky) repairman makes sure that the horn plays like it should. Often there are 2 or three little tweaks that take the horn from good to great, and that’s actually a big added value to you to have us do that before you get it. Most of the differerces between new horns of the same model at a store are due to the lack of a good new horn checkup.

  • Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone

    Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone – In stock now!

    $ 799

    November 2022 Inventory Update: Two in stock!

    The Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone is a new kind of digital saxophone. It is more like a real saxophone than any digital saxophone that has come before, because it has regular saxophone keywork. So unlike an EWI 4000S, 5000, or a WX5, you don’t have to switch to a different keywork feel in order to play the digital saxophone anymore.

    This is going to be huge for people who want to practice saxophone quietly rather than people who just want a midi or digital interface sax. You can practice with headphones on and not bother your neighbors at all hours. Or play it quietly on one of the 15 volume settings. The Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone also works fine as a digital input into whatever sound processing software that you want to use. But it feels more like a regular saxophone under the fingers. I’ve been having fun with digital saxophones ever since the Casio DH-100, and I think like the Casio, this Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone will probably become an instant classic of its genre for the same reason – it feels more like an actual saxophone to play than any similar option.

    In brief (more below) are the main features of the Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone that you might care about:

    1. The Yamaha Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone has a speaker in the brass bell, so that the sound you generate vibrates the instrument’s body tube. As you play louder, you feel more resonance.
    2. The Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone has a regular saxophone mouthpiece (basically a repurposed Yamaha 4C soprano piece) and even a ‘reed’ so that it feels like a saxophone in your mouth also. The reed doesn’t vibrate though! You can even swap out the Yamaha mouthpiece for your own mouthpiece, as long as it has a similar bore to a 4C, though this won’t do much to the tone if anything. It might make it feel a little more like ‘home’ to you.
    3. The Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone has an advanced breath sensor that responds instantly to small changes in breath support by changing the tone that you generate. Again, you see the theme – feels a bit more like a saxophone to play.
    4. The sound it generates is actual sound samples taken from real Yamaha saxophones. You can switch among Yamaha soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone tones on your Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone. It’s a pretty good idea, thought it still sounds like a midi sax to me. The bari sax model is actually pretty good though.
    5. There’s an app that lets you further modify and control the tone you get from the Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone. The app is actually quite good! And you can also input the sound from your Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone into Ableton or Garageband or ProTools or whatever you like and modify it there, or even run the output into analog or digital pedals, like in our saxophone looping video here.
    6. Interestingly it’s keyed from high F# down to low A so you can use it as a baritone model! And the tuning is adjustable within 5 hz so you can play with a flat piano or in different temperatures with acoustic instruments whose tuning changes with changing weather etc. Not a bad idea!

    Shortcomings of the YDS-150 are as follows:

    1. It’s a bit awkward changing notes with the digital switches on the keys versus the analog feel of a real sax.
    2. Similarly, starting and stopping notes with breath is different from how you articulate them on a real sax. So playing four quarter notes staccato requires you to learn habits that don’t transfer to sax.
    3. Reed doesn’t vibrate, so it doesn’t really feel like a saxophone to play.
    4. Saxophone sound samples don’t sound all that much like a saxophone. See our A/B comparison video for comparison of a Yamaha custom alto vs the YDS-150 alto sound model.
    5. No vibrato or control of tone with embouchure – breath only.

    I’ll put more Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone details and some review videos and sound clips in the long description below, so scroll down for the additional info! And for only $799, it’s not bad even just as a tool to get some late night practice time in.

  • Sold Out

    Yamaha YTS-23 Tenor Very Good Condition Plays Great!

  • Sold Out

    Yamaha YTS-62III Professional Tenor Saxophone Brand NEW with Warranty and Pro Setup

    $ 3,798

    The YTS-62III Tenor saxophone from Yamaha is the go-to, top recommended first professional tenor from most teachers and band directors I have talked to over the years. Again and again online, someone asks something like, “We want to get our daughter/son a good saxophone. Our budget is around $3750. What should we get?” The most common answer is basically always a Yamaha 62 tenor. Why? It just works. It’s a professional horn that is extremely reliable and made in Japan, with excellent build quality, great intonation, and a top quality factory setup. You can use virtually any mouthpiece on it, and it will still tune well. That lets you take the (admittedly rather vanilla) tone in myriad directions. Yamaha is a conservative company, and their crowd pleaser YTS-62III tenor saxophone is meant to get the job done without over-determining the tone. It’s clear, medium bright, and round. Not too loud and in your face, not very dark or too bright. Not very smoky or complex. But you can add most of that back in with a well-chosen mouthpiece.

    It’s hard to keep these horns in stock, as Yamaha has been backordered on them for a long time. I have some more coming in pretty soon (Maybe June 2022) These come with a new horn checkup before they go to you, meaning my (experienced/skilled/picky) repairman makes sure that the horn plays like it should. Often there are 2 or three little tweaks that take the horn from good to great, and that’s actually a big added value to you to have us do that before you get it. Most of the differerces between new horns of the same model at a store are due to the lack of a good new horn checkup.

  • Yamaha YTS-62III Tenor Saxophone Mint Condition

    $ 3,600

    I had a new horn checkup done on it pre-sale, and it is ready to go. You can’t really beat the YTS-62III for quality per dollar among pro saxophones. That’s why everybody buys them. This came in on trade brand new!

  • Yamaha YTS-82Z Custom Tenor Saxophone Near Mint Amazing D04511

    $ 4,000

    This Yamaha YTS-82z Custom Tenor Saxophone is about as close to new condition as it could be. It just got a careful tune up and plays just like a new one as well. This is a few years old at least, so not the 82ZII.  It’s basically impossible to tell any difference in how they play, for me at least. If you’ve been wanting a new Yamaha pro tenor and you want to save some money, but not compromise on condition, here you go. It even smells new. There are some tiny surface scratches near the neck strap hook if you look closely, and that’s really it. Intonation, ergonomics, low register response are all 10/10. You can take the tone lots of directions depending on your choice of mouthpiece and reed. If you want a tenor that just works well, responds easily, tunes well, and is easy to keep in adjustment, that’s what this is! It also holds its value well. The new price on these is getting up there!

    Only one available!