New Yanagisawa cases are awesome. At first glance they don't look like they're all that but they're actually very nice with a ton of storage.

I just got a new saxophone case, and so glad I did! My old one had too much movement inside the case causing it to slide around easily. It also wouldn’t close properly, sometimes causing some problems. So glad I upgraded! Great vid!

Good stuff, Jay! I agree that a good case is really important. After sustaining some low end damage using a "soft" gig bag, I decided to invest in a sturdier case. I found the tenor case made by Hiscox in England to be just what I needed. It is lightweight, sturdy, protects from heat and impact, and locks in case you get gate-checked at the plane. It has a single sturdy strap, which would be better if it were a backpack type. But, I have added a strap when I want carry it on my back. I have had it for about five years and it is the greatest case I have ever had. Two downsides: it is pricey and I don't know who sells them in the US anymore. However, with the monetary and emotional investment I have in my horn, it was easily justified. After my daily practice, I swab my horn and return it to the case, but leave it open so any residual moisture doesn't get absorbed into the padding of the case. Now I figure both my horn and my case will last me a lifetime.

I actually really love the MicroZip line of cases. I bought one for my Tenor, and with the bell pouch, I can fit my Otto Link, Selmer Concept, ProTec neck strap, 7 reeds, and a neck swab in it. I keep the body swab in the mouthpiece area near the neck cutout. It’s truly an awesome case. Small, light, beautiful, and quiet! My old hinged case used to squeak nonstop. It was the worst part of playing my horn. Awesome case, and well worth the money I paid.

Another reason to get a new case is if you travel around with multiple saxes/ instruments at the same time a lot! Recently got myself a Marcus Bonna Alto/ Soprano double case that also has a slot for a flute. It's a huge life saver for me when commuting into university. Having all 3 instruments in one case is just way less trouble when I'm hopping on and off trains.

Thanks to you I swab my sax and MP every time I play. I brush my teeth and rinse before playing. Sax stays clean!

I am going to get a Yamaha-26 Alto to back up my JP AS-400 while I overhaul it. I am going to have a photo of me with that classic Yamaha case and mate up the image of an old photo of me age 14 in '76 carrying my alto case, Bundy II. With the same pose. Also the JP AS-400 case is great. Have a great New Year Jay. Thanks for your inspiration, sage advice and hard work. As always, love your sound.

For Bari, I love my SKB case. Four sturdy latches, wheels, and handles. I’ve checked it on flights multiple times and have never had any damage to my horn.

Good call Jay. I used the Bari case for the first time yesterday dragging it through the ice and snow here in N.J. My Yamaha 62 easily fits in the case with room for a harness, accessory bag (old SM-57 mike pouch) and a NUX-6 wireless mike. It was a good choice to buy. Not sure I would be comfortable baggage checking it on flight however , maybe with lots of extra padding if I had no other options.

I have a bam cabine for my ishimori tenor and it’s so great, I took it as carry on with no problems

One thing I will say, I've got the Protec Microzip Case for tenor and there was a FAIR amount of wiggle room with my VI. I ended up glueing some high density foam to my end cap and that fixed the issue. Just be aware based on the make and model of your horn, there may be space. That said i love the case otherwise and haven't been stopped by any airline since because its so compact.

I bought a "gig" type sax case for my Mark VI tenor several years ago while playing in top 40 and wedding bands. It was a trendy thing and new at the time, but after several months of using it, I found that I really needed the space in the traditional rectangular case for storing my spare reeds, mouthpiece, tool kit, neckstrap, and swabs. I tried, but I did not really like stuffing all my gear down the bell of the horn. Sure, the gig style case looks cool, but the rectangular case is much more useful for me. Also, the rectangular case with its square corners is much more stable than the form-fitting shape of the gig packs. I keep my neck and body swabs in a plastic zip-bag to contain moisture, and when I get home from the gig, I hang them to air dry, so no moisture evaporates into the case. I also take the horn out and place it in my sax stand to air dry for at least several hours, in addition to using a pad blotter to remove excess moisture from the keys (G#, anyone?). I know many artists prefer form over function, but a case is a utility tool, and I prefer function over form. Just my personal opinion. Happy New Year everyone! Love to all.

I wish case rebuilding was a thing. Repair shops used to do this to some extent. But the original case for an old Conn or King, for example, has so much character, and it perfectly fits the horn.

hi im in 7th grade band and your vids have helped me get to high school band thank you

Jay, you are 100% awesome!!!

Still use the stock Yamaha case. I leave it open at home to air out, the sax is on the stand. Only use is for transportation. After 2 years it's in almost mint condition, and smells as new.

I got the tenor version. It very minimalist but you do sacrifice storage but for the seize is great. For some sax the neck and mouthpiece won't fit and will need to go on the bell of the sax but that is accordingly the sax model you have.

Nice video! I just got my new Protec cases for my Selmer alto and tenor today! I opted for the Contoured Pro Pac cases, though. Oh, and I order all my accessories from Sweetwater! Keep up the great videos!

i have the bari case and i love it

I nearly bought that micro zip case last year at Music China. But I didn't like the low quality zippers and single backpack strap. This year they made it double backpack straps and much more rugged zippers, but my horn was moving inside this improved model. Another con is no even a small pocket on the outside. That being said, Boston sax shop ambassador case is the perfect option. Jack said in his last Q&A, that BS will come up with the new ambassador case in 2024. Unfortunately I already got myself a Marco magi case, which is also compact, but requires more care due to having a leather outfit

I love my extremely durable Hiscox Artist Case for my tenor, but am still looking for a similar case for my soprano. If you have family, you do want very stable cases for your instruments ...

I'm a big fan of the Bam Cabine for my tenor

The Bari case looks very good but the bell is very close to the case wall. I have a Bam case for my Baritone. I reckon it could fall down the stairs and the sax would be ok. It has really thick internal padding and a very stiff hard shell. The sax is an exact fit (no movement) and it has back straps and wheels too. I wouldn't recommend carrying it on one strap if you don't want back problems. I always swab my sax after a gig. After I get home I leave the case wide open in my practice room with the plug out to let it dry overnight. I was lucky in that the case came free with a discounted Selmer SA80 II sax in the early 2000s. I would hesitate if I had to buy the combination today but would probably still go with the Bam.

My son has used the Protec Zip Micro for alto with great success, however, when I tried my Yanagisawa WO-10 alto in it, I discovered that the cutout for the neck is not a good fit for its underslung neck. Due to most of the linkage being located on the UNDERSIDE of the neck, the whole neck sits up higher in the case. Consequently, the lid seems to put pressure on the top of the neck when closed, and I'm not comfortable with this. It's interesting that the Better Sax alto neck (also an underslung design) doesn't seem to present such an issue. (Jay... I'd love to hear about your experience with this.) I also have a student who purchased the tenor version of the same case for his Jupiter horn and found that the neck for THAT horn (standard design... NOT underslung) didn't even come CLOSE to fitting. The neck was so tall that the lid of the case was actually propped open more than an INCH by the neck. Trying to fully close and zip the case in that scenario would have DEFINITELY damaged the neck! Moral of the story? When it comes to aftermarket cases, be sure to check the fit of both the body AND the neck. Aside from the neck fitting issue, the Protec Zip Micro seems to be a solid option. If I had to fly with an alto or tenor, I would use the case without reservation and just put the neck in the bell. Otherwise, I'll stick with the original Yanagisawa case, which has a PERFECT cutout for the underslung neck.

the bari case has a huge structural issue in the wheels. went down to my local music shop for a new bari case looking for one of these. they kept them in a back room because were warped and both had huge cracks in the wheels. needles to say i went with the propac instead.

I too play bari and use the pro tech case, I just wish that it would stand up vertically, but other than that I use it every day as a high schooler it stands up well and is a lot lighter than any other case I’ve seen.

Being a bari player I only ever trust the stock case that came with my bari (a Yamaha YBS-62 from 1990). With the stock Yamaha bari case I can fit the base for the Jiffy stand in the compartment as well as a music stand and a flute in the front compartment. Everything has its place and there's a place for everything and nothing is being compromised. Yeah it weighs 20kg, but that's all in the one case and I still have a hand free to carry my alto as well. I fitted suitcase wheels to it so it can be trundled over all terrain and the main thing being the case was designed by Yamaha to specifically fit the sax, so it's well supported and cradled in there which is important with larger saxes as the weight of them needs to be fully supported. I recently retired my 1990 case as I found a brand new YBS-62 case for sale for £250 and that has integral wheels on it which are far more silent and more forgiving than the suitcase wheels I fitted which in turn were far more practical than the four casters the YBS-62 case originally came with which allowed it to be wheeled over perfectly flat or even floors, but not over any bumps or up kerbs. My original YBS-62 case is still perfectly serviceable, but after 33 years I fancied treating my workhorse of a bari to a new case. The only alteration I had to do was cut out some of the polystyrene lining so the Jiffy stand bell clamp will fit in there. I know someone with a YBS-32 who normally used his stock case with it when flying and while it had to go in the baggage hold, his bari came to no harm. Then to make things easier for himself as it is a big case to lug about and hasn't got wheels, he bought a Bam bari case which made transporting it easier. Then he used it on a flight to Malta and the bari was trashed - the top coil was torn off and the body was bent from the side C tonehole upwards as the case didn't offer any internal support or protection for the bari. Lesson learnt the hard way. I've seen baris in Protec cases and the crook and mouthpiece has to go into a padded pouch-type thing which is all well and good, but there's a glaring design flaw - the crook has to slide in and out the pouch and that causes cork grease to get smeared everywhere and the fabric can't be cleaned easily once it's all greasy. What would be much better is a pouch that opens out flat with two halves (like butterfly wings or a clam shell) that velcro together, so the crook can be laid in and the pouch closed and velcroed up, thus no smearing cork grease everywhere. Most crook pouches are the same and it's a complete oversight on the manufacturers. It won't take much to make a padded roll bag or clam shell-type crook pouch with a velcro fastener on the outside.

Adorei esse video!!!

Quick shout-out about Chuck Surack, the CEO of Sweetwater Sound. Around 2000 I wanted to buy/learn a sax, to play solos in my bar band instead of using those hideous synth patches (I'm primarily a keyboardist). I posed the question as to what to look for on my musician forum, and Mr. Surack responded with a detailed, four-page response on what to look for, brands, etc. The CEO of Sweetwater Sound responded to a total stranger, so helpful, and Sweetwater didn't even sell saxophones back then! I still have his response, printed out, in Notebook #1 of my sheet music/notes. He's really a great guy (hope to meet him someday).

The Yamaha student-case shown as the quinessential "bad example" here is the one I ultimately setteled on. It is easy to wipe clean on the outside, as it is not covered in fabric, has latches instead of nasty zippers, which lock up when you least need it, no dangling straps, which get in the way and it is NOT black but a nice vintage-looking brown. With black cases and inlays you neither find the case in a dark trunk nor the parts of your equipment on a badly lit stage. And I already earned nice remarks for this funky 70s case I bought for 30 € in clean and lightly used condition. To my mind the reason why cases changed there traditional appearance was cost-cutting and marketing with little gains in functionality.

Hiscox cases are great (in the UK). Only do Alto and Tenor though I believe.

Protec Tenor cases are also very nice for the price.

Every sax case I find that meets my criteria of: must stand vertically, must have accessory compartment, must have single handles (not the kind that clasp two parts of a handle together across the split), must have backpack straps, and must fit a Keilwerth are all astronomically priced.

Hello JAY and everyone, I have a straight alto sax and I’m looking for a case for like the protec type you reviewed on, pls advice thank you

I’m flying with my guitar and tenor sax to a bunch of college auditions. Anyone have any advice for traveling with instruments (products, methods, etc.)?

I would love to get the Protec case cover for my alto Hiscox case. Has anyone checked to see if the dimensions of this cover would allow the slightly larger dimensions of the Hiscox case? It looks like it would be so close and so good to have.

Does this fit your Saxlab Holder?

I have a 1927 melody C and the case looks to be the original and is trashed. Any options for an old Melody C sax?

I agree with the Swab horns after each use(cheap). After ten years I sold an alto for about the purchase price. I told buyer about swab after each use!

I got a Gruv gear case for Christmas. What about Gruv gear🤔🎵🎶🎷

Very informative video! I'm also wondering if you have tried or heard of the Selmer SSS311 soprano saxophone, as it is a cheaper soprano (which I am looking to buy a cheaper one), but I can barely find any people talking about it.

If I'm paying for a good case I don't want a zip tbh

You were so close to Elkhart. Did you get time for any factory tours?

So no issues with carry-on size on flights with the alto?

Question: How do you have to travel (on a plane) with your tenor? I don't (yet) have a tenor, but this is a question that makes me a bit hesitant buy a tenor.

New case for a C Melody?

"generally funky" is a good name for a band

Back in the day the Selmer Flight Case was ubiquitous. Bam cases are nice but pricey. SBK and ProTec cases get the job done but I miss the old days, so does my wallet. 😂

I miss the non-promotional content...

I swab after every use and use alcohol on the mouthpiece and Legere reed.

I don't like zippers. You have to go all the way around both sides or it won't open. Latches it's click, click. Zippers wear out and become useless.

"The tone is stored in the pleather of my protec alto saxophone case" - Miles Davis

The Micro-Zip cases are REALLY slick...beware. Otherwise really nice "hard" gig bag for the $$

I bought a BAM Defense case and it de lacquered my vintage prestine mark vi alto. Anyone else have that happen to them? BAM buyers beware. Make sure you air out your case to get rid of glue smell or could do the same to your horn.

I really wish the BetterSax swab kit was more affordable - I find it hard to believe that the costs justify the price. I ended up having to settle for a worse-quality Amazon alternative. I trust that your products are good, but $30 for some fabric on a string?

日本語の字幕お願いします！

💫💫💫

Don’t store your instruments in the case for long periods! Ventilation is your friend.

zips... uh no