Category Archives: Equipment Review

Yanagisawa S992 Curved Soprano Review

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Yanagisawa S992 Curved Soprano

 

I first encountered a curved soprano when I visited my old primary school ten years ago. A number of the students had bought curved sopranos as they were not big enough to play the alto or tenor.

This of course didn’t get the hoped-for results as the youngsters couldn’t keep them in tune, and the instruments were poor quality.

 

This Yanagisawa 992, by contrast, is SUPERB. I own a 992 Bronze straight soprano – for me it is simply THE best soprano on the market today, with flawless intonation, a warm and centred tone and a design that is second to none.

 

Make sure you watch the video and listen to the sound clips below.


Yanagisawa T901 Tenor Sax Review

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Here I am with the superb Yanagisawa T901 tenor saxophone. I was very fortunate to review this beautiful instrument at my local music shop, Wood, Wind & Reed in Cambridge.

What’s it like?

1.  For an entry-level saxophone, it is incredible. 

2. It is just SUCH fun to play. I hope this comes across in the video!

3. You would have to spend a lot of money to find a saxophone that outplays this one.

Comments are welcome – please let me know what you think.

Here I am with the superb Yanagisawa T901 Tenor Saxophone. I was very fortunate to review this beautiful instrument at my local music shop, Wood, Wind & Reed in Cambridge.

Yanagisawa B991 Baritone Sax Review

Here I am reviewing the amazing Yanagisawa 991 baritone saxophone. This baritone was unpacked before my very eyes and only had the packing cork taken out – i.e. there was no setup. It plays straight out of the box – this can’t be said for many other makes.

It’s so easy to play. Even though I haven’t played baritone for nearly two years I can just pop the mouthpiece on and get a great sound.

Highly recommended!

How to Prepare Reeds

Let’s face it, when it comes to the saxophone few things give us more frustration than reeds. Finding a good reed is like finding the perfect playing partner: when the reed plays well, you play well. I’ve found that RICO reeds give me the best chance of finding the best ones; I play Rico Select Jazz 4M at the moment on my tenor sax.

In this video I explain my process of preparing reeds. I’m not someone who spends a lot of time on this – I would far rather be playing! However, I do find some soaking and breaking in helps the reed ‘speak’ better and extends its life by quite a few weeks.

Anyway, here’s my video review – enjoy it, and please leave your comments below!

Yanagisawa T992 Bronze Tenor Sax Review

Here’s my review of the Yanagisawa T992 Bronze saxophone.

I ‘ve found that my choice of tenor saxophone has always been very personal. Perhaps it’s because unlike a lot of saxophonists whose first instrument as a child is an alto, I actually started on tenor when I was just nine years old!

The build quality is exceptional – as you would expect from Yanagisawa. And it plays straight out of the box!

My advice is TRY this saxophone. You won’t find many better tenors on the market today.