Yanagisawa A-9935 Alto Saxophone 268xxx Solid Silver New Pads

Description

The bronze and solid silver Yanagisawa altos are among the best alto saxophones made today. The Yanagisawa company makes only saxophones, and they make them with a continuous commitment to improvement. They have the best build quality of any modern saxophone, across the board. The solid silver horns are not only beautiful. They also have great potential to go up in value over time. Intrinsically rare, they are the “silversonic” of our day, and this makes them worth the investment for long-term ownership.

This is the A-9935 model, which is identical to the A-991 in design. The difference is that the 9935 has a solid sterling silver neck, body tube, and bell, with bow. The keys are brass, giving the horn a nice two-tone look. This horn is in excellent condition, with only the most minor wear in the lacquer top coat that Yanagisawa puts over the solid silver, by the strap hook and in a few other little spots. It has not been played much at all and is in top playing shape as well. To top it off, this horn was just given a thorough setup by Matt Stohrer, and it now plays better than new. There are no dents, no dings, no resolders, no past repairs. It ships in the original case in excellent condition.

Inevitably someone will want to know about the difference in sound between 991 and 9935. In my experience with a few dozen horns, I would say that the 991 is basically a clear, round tone. The 9935 is a significantly darker and more complex, with a distinct, focused edge when pushed. It’s quite an expressive saxophone, and it sounds like nothing else that has ever been made. These horns work well with a wide range of mouthpieces, and that is, after all, the most important way to shape the overall tone.

This sax sells for right around $5700 new online, and I am asking over $1000 less, even though this horn is in excellent condition AND has had a lot of extra setup work done by an excellent tech. (And new horns need this to be done to them too in many cases.) That should be a great deal for someone, and it should also make it so that the buyer can either afford to also buy a great mouthpiece (strongly recommended, whether from me or elsewhere) and/or easily get his/her money back out down the road without any trouble, should that become a necessity. After all, used saxophones are not like used cars – they don’t wear out if you take care of them, so used in great shape is just as good as new, only less expensive.