the alto sax was made in Indonesia especially pasuruan east Java . I am proud to work there and provide quality products and pleasure to all of you. Thank you! Terima kasih

Man that takes me back to 1984. My dad bought me my Yamaha YAS-23 (made in Japan). I still have it and I started lessons again. Improving well. I love it. Don’t know if I’ll ever get another saxophone. I’d love a tenor and a curved soprano.

This is the horn I´ve started with. A mere 6 weeks ago...I´m totally in love with it (here hoping my wife doesn´t read this :D ). I will say, though, that my cork wasn´t as gentle as Jay´s example. It needed some proper grease to be able to get the mouthpiece in. Fulfilling my life goal of learning to play the sax has been one of the best and more rewarding things I´ve ever done. As such it deserved a proper instrument, and this one certainly is.

Howdy, Jay. Love your videos. They have been a huge motivation/help for me focusing back on playing Saxophone for the 1st time in 25 years. My background: I'm 49 and started playing in 7th grade with an Armstrong Sax my parents bought me for around $250 in ~1982. After progressing through Junior High/High School I bought a Mark VI Alto between my Junior and Senior year of HS. After HS graduation, I did 3 years in an Army Division Band playing Saxophone and gigged (mainly jazz/funk/real book combo type stuff) for about a year after leaving the Army while starting college. I acquired a Balanced Action Tenor (sweet horn) and a Yanagisawa Soprano (S880?!? I believe) dur9ing my time in the military. By the time I was 23, I stopped playing and sold off my horns-getting a little more serious about studies. Never really got serious enough to try to make it full time (professionally) after my Army time, but I was a decent player. I started having interest in saxophone again in the last 6-12 months and can't believe how cheap some of the Asian/Chinese horns are. So after watching your Alto Sax (Lade/Ammoon) video a couple weeks back I thought hell...I can go cheap and get a full Soprano/Alto/Tenor range of horns for less than $1k (much less if you really want to cheap out...which I did). So far, I have 3 decent playing horns and am enjoying playing for the 1st time in ~25 years. Thanks for your well thought out, professional videos and courses/tutorials.

I still have mine (made in Japan) from when I was in 6th grade, and I’m 26 now (you can do the math). Only had it repaired once and for being a student sax and this many years old it still sounds really good!

I’m still playing the YAS25 (precursor to the 280) that I learnt on and that I’ve now had for 28 years. I’m not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I am an enthusiastic amateur and I love this sax - great quality, great tone and it’ll last. The only thing I’ve changed is the mouthpiece.

I have played alto sax for almost 2 years now at my schools band. so my parents are going to buy me this and your video helped so much!!!!!

Thanks for the review. I totally agree that sax could span an entire career.

I still have my starter alto. Recently bought a soprano sax off of amazon. Haven’t played in ten years after high school graduation, but is coming back to me at least!

Exactly what i needed to know...i have a young player who thru pandemic, home from school, went from a novice learner to mimicking Charley Parker and John Coltrane. With some help from private lessons, he is now the first chair sax in 9th grade of his HS marching band. Its time to move him off of the starter horn that we bought him at age 9 to this...I'd love to get him a YAZ480, but this one will do. If he plays in college, a YAZ 480 will be his graduation gift.

Great review. When you put on your mouthpiece the sound just hit me so sweetly. Thanks Jay, I always enjoy learning from you.

Oh man does that take me back. I still have my Yamaha YAS-23 student saxophone that my parents bought me in the 6th grade and, much to their dismay considering how much it cost, abandoned after two years. Its in surprisingly good shape considering how little respect I had for things back then. It even still has the bright green streak of corrosion inside the bell from when I ate a bag of sour patch kids right before band class and my super-acidic spit tried to eat through the brass.

I agree that Yamaha saxophones are great for beginning players. They are well built, keys work nicely, low maintenance. But many serious players, even amateurs like me, will eventually want to get a professional level sax for the improved tone. I switched to Selmer and bought a second-hand alto and also a tenor, from music shops where they have been checked over. For about double the cost of a new Yamaha alto, I got an excellent quality Selmer which I have played and enjoyed for the past 13 years.

This is absolutely the video I need. I am from Denmark and just considering ordering from I.K. Gottfried.

I'm still on my student model horn, it's a yas-200AD it's a pretty good horn. I am hoping to upgrade my horn sometime next year

I've had my YAS-280 for 3 months. It took the place of a 1970's YAS-23 which was also a very nice horn with maybe a slightly mellower sound while the YAS-280 seems a bit brighter. The YAS-280 has an F# key which is nice to have. It also has a very nice case as shown in the video. The G# key can get sticky but that's easy to fix. I only wish its tone was a bit mellower, but I still like it a lot.

So happy i bought this as my first sax. Even before jay released this helpful review 😊

Great video, thank you so much! I decided to get myself one of these after viewing your video. It arrived yesterday. Great horn! Straight out of the box.

I have yas 275 for 7years now excellent horn indeed

I could hear a bit of difference when you changed your mouthpiece but any beginner could go very far with this horn. After 20 years of having my student model yamaha, I was shocked to find out how well I played it after just pulling it out on a whim after having not played it because I was using my SA80II in all my work. Blessings dude keep the good stuff coming.

Loving your "amazon influencer page", cant wait for your recommendations on tenor saxophones!!

I love music so much and I’m a woodwind even if I want to play brass and I love all your videos, so on behalf of the people I wanna say thank you

So you live in France, have worked in Denmark, and have an American accent. That’s awesome.

I’m in band at my school and I play a yamaha alto sax 😌 I do have a c⭐️ mouth piece and a different padded neck strap and in my class we use 3’s for our reeds

My school is starting band next year, and my sax is a Yamaha YAS-280 (like the one in the video) and it is so good to play, nic e sounds and overall is really good.

I have never played an instrument in my life, I'm 61, but the sax has always been my favorite. It's on my bucket list, albeit, I don't think I have developed that part of the brain. I just bought a used, only used for one year, Yamaha Advantage alto sax. Hopefully I get started and keep going. Seems incredibly hard to play. My dream is to learn this so I can buy a King Super 20 tenor sax like Dick Parry used on Dark Side of the Moon.

You got ripped off. No white gloves unlike the Chinese saxes. Just kidding!

im a beginner and these vids are great

NO GLOVES ! NICE! 😀 seriously, it sounds better with your mouthpiece.

11:55 for the spit drip. Excuse me, "condensation" drip.

WHAT, NO WHITE GLOVES???????????

Wow the 'Myer (100yr anniversary)' really opened up the sound though ... sounds Great!!!

Fantastic video. My kid has a YAS-23 and it’s excellent. This one is now all gold lacquer and I spy a high F# key also. Single post construction probably makes the horn slightly lighter in weight for kids too. And that case itself is a good value - solid, big accessory compartment and outside pocket, AND backpack straps. That alone is worth good money.

waiting the courier to deliver it for my son ... he plays clasic quitar 3 years now and wanted and a sax too... 🙂 thanks for the detailed videos and comparisons... there was very helpfull to deside whitch one to buy.

I just got a Jupiter artist series tenor sax that’s about 7 years old and It’s beautiful quality. Sound and design!

I've had few YAS's 23 (older version of the student level) and they were all good experiences. All of them used, bought usually from kids that grew up and gave up on the instrument, so I need to do few repairs, but the deals were amazingly good. Some I resold in here, and some I sent to my home country where they worth a fortune. Not rare to see Brazilians professional level players, mainly in military bands, playing those YAS 23's. Tunewise, I have a YAS 62, that has a beautiful sound, but I think I have a f*d neck that is sharp in some areas, flat in other areas. It's tuning nightmare that I'm just happy to be around +/- 15%. The 23's and my tenor 52, are like clock precision.

I bought this sax (from the link provided of course) based solely on your review, Jay. I love your videos. Thank you so much. I'm finding so much enjoyment learning a new instrument.

Nice plug for the Gottfried store! I bought my one and only saxophone at their shop. It is surely worth a visit.

Love your videos... Love them short and full of practicality and purpose... You don't waste time talking your way through the video; if you are improvising and not planning or following a script, it doesn't shows. Thanks,

Getting this sax on Thursday I am so excited can hardly breath considering being cryogenically frozen to skip tomorrow this video gave me a better idea of what instrument I’m getting

Yamaha make real work horses. I've had my YTS23 Tenor since the early 80's, been literally around the world with it and play it every week and it's still going strong. Have only had it in the shop for overhaul once. Would love to get a new Yamaha alto!

4C was really narrow. Your favorite mouth piece was a different universe. Like, a real instrument. Vivid, timbre, character. Thank you.

Can you make a video of the cheapest bari sax and do a comparison

That case is a far cry from the plywood hard case my student Yamaha came in! way back in 1988. Now I've got two Yamaha student models and a Conn from the 1920/30's I got from a college professor. I was equally impressed by the

I love that key guard kind of like the 61 man what a difference in that Meyer sound

Wow! What a difference with the mouthpieces. I use a Meyer 6, and I can definitely tell the difference; especially with my YAS 23.

I have quite a few professional Conns, Bueschers, and have had some very nice Selmers come and go. My alto of choice, that I refuse to part with, is a YAS-21. Regarding playability, I haven't noticed a difference between Yamaha's first student sax vs their most current ones. The Indonesian horns do seem to be using a lower grade felt as keywork bumpers. The result is a horn that will spring a few minor leaks after a year or two of player saliva hitting it. No big deal, as a tech can fix the issue very quickly. I have a few students who had this very issue. I just quickly knocked out the felt bumpers and replaced them with cork. I know that Yamaha changed some leveraging of keys throughout the years, but the change is more of something you can see rather than something you can feel. The new pinky keys, on both hands, are cut a little differently. Once again, this is something that's easier to see than it is to feel.

I bought a new Sax 6 months ago so the video played on anyways but I kind of tuned it out like the voice from a Charlie Brown Peanuts movie when a parent or teacher talks...wa wawa wa wa wa....then you started playing....WOW !...what a wonderful sound....Thanks Jay what you are we may become...well not really but maybe somewhere within sight of you

wonderful video Sir, i love your content.

Always fair and honest! Love your work!!!! Rocket 🚀

cool sax. i just a yas 23 in mint condition for $600. it looks like someone got the horn and threw it in the closet for 10 years. i also enrolled in your classes. i played the sax for 6 years as a teenager. my instructor played the trumpet. lol. thank you so much for your curriculum. it's a lifetime journey when it comes to the sax. i only wish i had online classes back then. thanks again. the support i am getting after buying the online bundle is amazing.

I also played on the YAS25- I am 37 and started in 5th grade. In Middle School we would literally sling the hard suit-case style cases across the floor like bowling balls and the case would smash into other instruments in the storage room. LIke everyday after band class from 6th to 8th grade. Then it sat around in the basement for a decade. I took it up again in my twenties. In 2021, I played Nana Mouskouri on it almost daily. Only the low C key wouldn't play. I tried to sell it at a Sax Shop. They weren't interested, even for 200 euro, it was in such bad shape. But it still played really well. I professor bought it from me for like 240 euro, said he was gonna repair it.... that instrument was well built. I am pretty sure I dropped it a few times too, it was banged up like mad and still retained some value in the end and was entirely playable with a beautiful sound all the way through. I did however not play it constantly over 30 years, it spent a lot of time in its suitcase unopened.

All my saxes are Yamahas. Only played barys that are different brads. Can’t stop loving Yamahas

I suggest our students the Jupiter 500 or 700 series. This instruments have improved so well and sound better than Yamaha.......👍🎷✔️🔝

The low C#, B, Bb key guard reminds me of the YAS-61. The YAS-280 appears to be a nice horn!

Jay, I love how the spit ran out as you tipped up the sax… just shows that you really played that baby hard and not just for show. lol

Thanks for good explanation! I plan to buy that model tomorrow after starting playing Sax since 6 weeks ago! Greetings from Germany near Airport Frankfurt!

I'm a simple man, i see new BetterSax videos, i press like.

Jay at 10:50 , this is not the YAS280, but another sax. I recognize my sticky G# hahaha but then after this is the YAS280 :) Cheers

I may be one of the few people in the world who’s never played a Yamaha student model. I’ve been playing my Keilwerth student model for years and i always liked the sound i had compared to everyone else with a yamaha. Interesting to hear a professional review it

I love when new students come with those horns.

I am planning to buy a used yas 280 and your video has been very useful. Thank you so much.

About 30 years after I quit playing my alto sax, I got a YAS-01 Q Class Sax and started playing again. After playing with it for 10 years now, I absolutely love it. Definitely have got my monies worth out of it. Looking to get another Yamaha sax that will allow me to play more altisimo notes. I'm certainly sold on Yamaha saxes.

I had a YAS 23 and a Evette Buffet. I needed some money so I sold the Yamaha and kept the Evette only because I could get money for the Yamaha and nothing for the Evette.

The world's foremost saxophone effort now lives in Monterey, CA: Kurt Heisig. He radicalized my band teaching.

Thank you for your videos! I think the YAS280 is not as good as when it was made in Japan ... First, I think, and some of my colleagues agree, that the 2nd octave D and E is pretty flat and the YAS280 metal is a little bit thinner. However, it is one of the best saxophones for beginners. It's quite expensive, but as you said - over the years it will not lose its value if you take care of it ... For comparison-5 years ago the local music school bought 4 new saxophones - 2 YAS280 and 2 Trevor James 3722G. Only after 5 years of playing, it is amazing how big the difference is in the build quality. TJ has a lot of problems like some corcks are detached, some screws are loose and the key noise is annoying. For YAS280 - No problem at all. Nothing! So .. I truly recommend the YAS280 as a good saxophone and, as you said, not only for beginners but also for more experienced players.

Well I learned on my original American made Bundy, not a Bundy II. I like it and it still works great.

My only problem with this kit is that it does not come with body and neck swabs. You must buy these separetely and should not play it without being able to clean it properly afterwards.

So glad I found your channel. Like and subscribed. Your very informative, knowledgeable, and down to earth.

Hi Jay, thanks for this session. Am looking for a Saxophone so it was very helpful information

Just got mine and I love her

Great review- I would have liked to hear a few riffs in the lower register to help me assess the sound.

Thanks for a useful review. Just ordered my own to take up alto playing after a 30 years' break. You sound good with both mouthpieces. The Meyer sound is more solid. But the Yamaha has a sligthtly "can-like" edge to it that I find very charming when you blow it.

diggin' the drool, that drips out at 11:56, nice gob.

Very good video. I bought a yamaha saxophone for my daughter. She had a Yamaha Yas 25 but it was not her saxophone. It was the harmonie's saxo. She was playing 3 years with it. But now, she will integrating the conservatory. I hope it's a good investition. Thank you very much. Now, i will see other videos of your chain, because my husband is a beginner saxophoniste, and i want to offer him a saxophone for christmas but i haven't lots of monney for buying two Yamaha Yas 280. Perhaps i will find a sax less expansive made in china for him i hope it's make the job. I'll follow your advices for find the better.

I happily own 280 alto for 4 years, wonderful sax, I upgraded the mouthpiece to a 5m Vandoren v16s vandoren Java red size 2, my set up works well. As the man said unless you’re a really really good player, you do not need another sax. Just get a Tenor 280, gray stuff. Very good honest review 5 star.

You play so good you could play througb a straw and make it sound great. I like that saxophone from what i hear

I say Jay that was a very interesting clip. I have a student Yamaha, model As-100 that I bought 3rd hand in 2014. I have had complements on how nice the sound is. I’m not sure what year this was made. Cheers John

I bought my 280 in gottfried Copenhagen:))

Thanks for the really useful review Jay. I'm currently about to treat myself to a new saxophone and the YAS - 280 is right up there on my list. The one thing that is holding me off going for one is the issue of sticking pads. You mentioned it in your review and I've seen other mentions online too. I'd be grateful if you can reassure me regarding this as the last thing I want to do is spend £800 on a saxophone that may cause me some problems. Maybe others out there who have the same model can give their opinions too. The other saxophone that I'm considering is the Elkhart Deluxe which also seems to get good reviews. Thanks for all the videos that you make that I'm finding really helpful and keep up the good work.

Always enjoy your videos Jay I know your a Yana fan, but it’s nice to hear about some Yamahas Couldn’t afford to go back to Selmer very happy with YAS-62, mine is a 2011 so made in Japan, but knowing that a Yamaha student not made in Japan passes your inspection is really impressive of Yamaha.

Just bought mine. Awesome review! Helped me to make decision. Thanks!

I want you to review the Thomann Handmade Alto MK IV. It's a gorgeous sax and the reviews on their site are stellar but I trust your assessment the most.

Interesting video. When I bought my first alto sax I tried both the Yamaha 280 and 480. I personally didn’t get the response or click with the 280 and much preferred the 480. Survived me a good 4 years until I got my bronze yani 😍

Love the videos. Getting a saxaphone for Christmas.

Used Yamaha student altos are running $350 to $500 here in the middle of the USA. I picked up a very nice used P.Mauriat alto, complete with abalone touches, in playable condition - got a deal - and so far, so good. It's already been to the tech - one new pad, some corks and felts replaced, a handful re-seated, regulation, &c. Big band rehearsals start up again in two and a half weeks. I'll probably keep it.

I’ve been playing Sax for about six years, and my first Horn was a yas-23 that I bought at a thrift store for 100 bucks. Best sax deal I ever made, and I’ve only ever had to replace one pad on it and I the only repair it’s ever needed. Older though, probably 1980s. I now play on a Yas-62 IIII (4).

I'm in my early-mid 30s and have been deciding on what sax to start with. I think this just might be the one.

Fantastic horns. They also make fantastic brass instruments. Consistent, well-engineered, play like a dream. If you’re looking for more from a horn, check your playing and practice more. The problem is probably with you, not the tube of brass you’re playing. Lol.

thanks for your demo, great playing

Sounds like an excellent value. I wonder how my circa 1987 YAS 23 ( that I’ve had since new) would compare? Comments from anyone?

Thanks. Liked your sound on the stock mouthpiece better...jmo..enjoyed !

I bought a Saxophone from the Chinese brand Muslady - it was the cheapest I could get in Vietnam, about 300 USD. My teacher offered me to buy it straight away, because he loved the quality of it and I am also having a lot of fun with it.

I asked the question from what’s better(Jean-Paul vs Yamaha). Thanks for answering my question!! Don’t know if it was by coincidence. Keep making these videos!!👍🏼🎷

...and what a difference the mouthpiece makes. I will be using a vandoren V5 A25.

Lucky I bought a Yamaha YAS-280 to start my sax journey then.....:) Jeez you can ring some sexy sounds out of any instrument Jay! Would like to hear what the Selmer C* sounds like on that, I have this mouthpiece for my YAS-280 and noticed the difference in tone straight away. Especially with a 2.0 reed, for a beginner like me. Thanks for the review, always love your work and knowledge. You set the standard for me to follow.

Some of the B roll is of the YAS-480. The 280 does not have the rocker mechanism on the left pinky cluster as shown at 10:51. The correct B roll is at 11:03.

The mouthpiece makes a whole lot of difference!

Epidemic sound for life, used that exact track, it is called the Thief in Marrakesh or something like that.

WOW, change in the Mouth Piece is doing wonders