Hello,
Currently, I have learnt the saxophone (alto) for precisely six months, and I have managed to play 3 octaves, from low C to high C altissimo with relative ease. Nevertheless, I have to admit that high F# and G does not come out as easily as high A or C. Is there any way to improve, or just keep practicing and long tones?
I have played the alto for some time and currently looking for a quality tenor sax. I do want to go to stores to try and test them, but since I live in Southeast Asia, saxophone store is something rare here. Also, most stores do not allow play test unless you guarantee them that you will buy the horn. They mostly sell unknown Chinese-made sax that, according to my teacher, plays terribly.
I once bought an old YAS-22, from Facebook, for a price of around 400 USD, which is quite an amount here, only to having to send them to a technician to fix them with the staggering cost of 200 USD. As it turns out, the horn was already in such a state that he can only made it functional and warned me that it may work for around 6-8 months at best. He also told me that if you buy horns on Facebook, you have to prepare some extra money for potential fixings.
Then I saw Eastern Music, and I read mostly flattering review of their tenor, alto and soprano. It seems that if I contact them directly, I can ask for custom horn at a reasonable cost for my budget, while being made with impeccable quality. Nevertheless, I have some concerns on their metal and whether they are durable enough or not.
So should I roll the dice and buying a custom tenor and potentially, soprano, on Eastern Music, or scrolling through Facebook and betting on the horn's quality every time I want to buy one? They both sounds equally risky and any advice is well-appreciated.