A used student saxophone is one of the best buys in band. Yamaha built its student models in huge numbers, they're simple to service, and a good one will carry a player through school. The catch is that a sax is a machine with a lot of moving parts. Yamaha counts about 600 parts and 25 tone holes on one, each tone hole closed by a felt pad covered in leather, so a horn can look shiny and still leak. Here's how to read a listing, what to ask the seller, and what to check when the box arrives.
Start with which sax it is
Find the model stamp in the photos before anything else. Yamaha stamps the model on the body, and the high F# key is a quick tell. The US student YAS-26 doesn't have one, while the international YAS-280 and the Selmer AS500 do. On a pro YAS-62, every generation is stamped YAS-62, so you place it by the logo, key guard and neck instead.
Selmer needs extra care. Henri Selmer Paris makes professional saxophones in France, with Made in France on the horn and its laurel logo on the bell. Selmer USA horns, sold by Conn-Selmer, are a different line, and Paris itself warns buyers not to confuse the two. Model numbers repeat as well. A listing that says AS711 could be the student Prelude by Conn-Selmer or the step-up Selmer SAS711 with its Paris-made neck, so read the letters and look at the bell engraving.
Pads: leaks, sticky pads and worn leather
Pads are where most used saxophones need work, and they're the first thing to look at in the photos. A good pad is flat and smooth with an even ring where it meets the tone hole. Tears, dark crusty rings, hard shiny patches and mold all mean the pad has dried out or stopped sealing.
Sticky pads are common too. The G# pad is the usual culprit because it sits closed when you're not playing, and the low keys and palm keys stick as well. One Dutch repair shop that took apart an 18-month-old YAS-280 found the G# and low E-flat pads black and clogged, so even a fairly new horn can need attention.
The quickest test you can ask for is sound. Ask the seller for a short video playing low C, B and B-flat softly. If those notes only speak when the player blows hard, something is leaking.
The leak light test
On arrival, or at your repair shop, a leak light shows exactly where the problem is. In a dark room, slide the light inside the body under the pad you're testing and close the key with a light touch. MusicMedic, a repair-supply company, warns that pressing hard will seal almost any pad and hide the leak. If light shows anywhere around the edge, or one side of the pad touches the tone hole before the other, that pad leaks. Their rule is simple. If light shows, it's a leak, and even tiny leaks hurt the response.
Bent keys, rods and dents
Look along the body in the photos for dents, then look again at the tone holes. A small ding on the left side of the bow is normal from bumping chairs. A dent beside a tone hole is different, because it can stop the pad from seating or damage the tone hole itself. Also check for posts pushed in, keys sitting crooked and a dent or bump where the bell joins the body. The saxophone site Bassic Sax notes that a bump inside the bell opposite the brace usually means the horn was dropped in its case.
On arrival, wiggle each key gently on its rod. Keys that rock side to side have worn rods or hinges, and that's shop work. Fold it into your offer if you see it in a video.
The neck, the tenon and the octave key
The neck matters more than its size suggests. Any damage to it can change the tone and tuning, and repairing a neck well takes a skilled technician. Ask for a side photo. The bend should be smooth and round, with no flattened or oval section under the octave key. KB Sax, which makes saxophone necks, says that kind of pull-down usually happens while the horn is being put together, when someone twists the mouthpiece on with the neck already on the body, so always fit the mouthpiece first.
Then check the fit. The neck should seat firmly in the receiver with no wobble when the screw is snug, and the screw itself should be there. On arrival, finger low D, then G, then A, and press the thumb octave key on each. Every note should jump up an octave cleanly, which tells you both octave pads, on the body and on the neck, are opening when they should.
Corks, felts and springs
Corks and felts quiet the keys and set how far they open. In the photos, look for cork between the keys and on the neck that's crumbling, flattened or missing. Henri Selmer Paris notes that technicians sometimes replace guard felts with a different color, so mismatched felts on a used horn are only a sign of past repair.
Springs are an on-arrival check. Press each key and let it go. It should snap back briskly, and a lazy key that drifts back means a weak or unhooked spring.
Lacquer wear or a relacquer
Worn lacquer where the hands rest is cosmetic and doesn't change the sound. A relacquer is a bigger deal. It means the horn was stripped, buffed and resprayed, and buffing softens the engraving. Boston Sax Shop's tells are lacquer over old scratches or dents, red buffing compound around posts and ribs, blurry engraving, and drips that no factory finish would have.
What should be in the case
A student sax should arrive with the body, the neck, a mouthpiece with its cap and ligature, and a case. Yamaha ships its student horns with a 4C mouthpiece, and the SAS711 comes with a Henri Selmer Paris mouthpiece. The neck is the piece to insist on. A replacement has to fit the receiver and match the body, so skip a horn sold without one. Missing caps, ligatures and straps are cheap to replace, so fold them into your offer.
Rental returns and school surplus
Plenty of used student saxes come out of rental fleets and school band rooms. They've had heavy use, so expect dings and look extra hard at pads and posts. If a horn has a school name engraved or an inventory tag stuck on, ask how the seller came to own it. The serial number lets you check a horn hasn't been reported stolen, and a scratched-out serial is a reason to walk away.
Needs work or play-ready
A listing that says needs work usually means pads, corks and adjustment. That's a normal shop job on a sax, and Twigg Musique, a Montreal shop, suggests a regularly played horn see a technician every three to five years anyway. Fold the service into your offer. Two copies of the same model can be far apart in value simply because one just came out of an overhaul, so a play-ready horn with a recent receipt is often the better buy. On a student horn, a full overhaul can be more than the instrument is worth, so get a quote before you commit to a big job. Walk away from a bent body, a badly dented neck or damaged tone holes.
Alto or tenor for a beginner
For most kids starting band, the answer is alto. Sax School Online, which has taught thousands of students, recommends alto for younger players because it's smaller and lighter. Every saxophone uses the same fingerings, so a student can move to a YTS-26 or YTS-280 tenor later without starting over. Tenor suits an older student or adult who wants the deeper sound and can manage the size. When a player is ready to move up, see our step-up horns, including the YAS-480.
For more school-band shopping help, read our back-to-school buying guide, or browse every saxophone we cover.
