Allora Paris Series Professional Straight Soprano Saxophone with 2 Necks AASS-805 - Black Nickel Body - Silver Plated Keys

I bought it realizing it was in inexpensive instrument but I expected it to at least play well. It was slightly heavier than my recent jupiter soprano saxaphone. What made me send it back was that on the 7 lower notes there was a constant warble. I couldn't play a straight note even though I was using a $260. mouthpiece. I tried different strength reeds, also had another sax player try it, but to no avail. Keep in mind I play 4 different instruments and know my way around the sax. I recommend going up another $400. and buy the jupiter soprano sax.

I wanted to replace my 20-year old Kholert soprano saxophone and have an upgrade. As a result of the great tone I got from that $500.00 sax I already knew that I did not have to spend big bucks to get a better sax. I did a lot of reading before purchasing the Allora Paris Series AASS 801 saxophone. The experience confirmed two important points. Firstly, that in most cases it is the musician that makes the instrument sound sweet. Secondly, a lot of musicians who dis cheap saxophones are largely brand-loyal snobs.There are two broad categories of tone you can get from the soprano saxophone. One I will call the sweet, 'Kenny G' tone and the other, a dry-jazz-'clarinety' tone. My bet is that most people became aware and fell in love with the soprano saxophone because of Kenny G. The tone you get depends on how you play and by that I am referring to the combination of breathing, jaw movement & positioning and embouchure (i.e. use of facial muscles and the shaping of lips.) I was able to get a Kenny G tone with my first sax (Kholert) and now with this Allora Paris Series saxophone.I took my brand new Allora sax to a music store for adjustment. As soon as the worker saw it he said, "I'm sorry but it won't be worth my while to do an adjustment on this cheap instrument." Behind him was the full display of Cannonball saxophones. He allowed me to play the soprano and I got the same tone out of it as I do with my Kholert and Allora. He suggested I return my Allora and he would work with me in terms of buying one of his saxophones. In my mind I was like, "Kiss my chuddies!" lol. I walked out and did my own saxophone adjustment. All I needed to do was to adjust the octave key mechanism. I had my first performance two days after and was blown away by the tone coming from the sax...and me.This sax is a beautiful work of art! You have to see it yourself in person. I love the fact that there is felt attached to the body of the sax so when the key legs (which already have cork tips) hit the sax body there is no noise. I consider this to be a really good feature that I've not seen on other saxophones below $1,000.00 (NB I haven't seen all). It also features a high G!I love the backpack case that comes with the sax. It is extremely convenient!The problem I have is with the switchable necks. My first sax is a full-body straight sax. I bought the Allora thinking that the curved neck would've allowed me to better hold the sax while playing. I rather point my sax more 45 degrees than the almost 90 degrees Kenny G and others hold their sax. The Allora with the curved neck did not play well intonation-wise. In fact, when I got the sax I first played it with the curved neck and thought I had made a really bad buy but when I switched to the straight neck, all was right with the world. So now I only use the straight neck which makes buying a soprano sax with interchangeable necks an uncomfortable decision for me. I say this because with the full-body soprano, I could just hold the bell of the sax and virtually 'rip off' the mouthpiece. With this interchangeable neck I feel like I have to be too careful not to bend/damage the octave key mechanism when trying to take off the mouthpiece so right now I left the mouthpiece on the neck. With the tenor and alto sax neck you have more pipe to hold on too when you are twisting off your mouthpiece. Not so with the soprano neck. A review I read stated that the interchangeable necks on soprano saxes is one other thing you have to worry about going wrong. I agree. I will monitor this situation and update this review if necessary.The other reviewer spoke about warble sound in the lower 7 notes. I didn't have this problem because I had already read a review stating that you have to have the mouthpiece almost all the way down on the cork to avoid warble. This, however, gives rise to another potential problem. You are supposed to be able to adjust the tuning of your sax by moving the mouthpiece up and down the cork. Suppose you are too sharp and need to flatten but doing so takes you beyond the no-warble point? You might be screwed. I've had this sax for only 1 week and have not had the opportunity to tune it with a tuner so I will have to monitor this situation and update this review if necessary.Now, the big brand owners would want to interject and say it's not only about tone but key ergonomics and material used. As a general point on ergonomics, any first-time saxophonist will take some time to get his/her fingers around the keys before becoming comfortable. After playing a sax for a few years you get accustomed to it. If you switch to a different sax that has a different set-up you might naturally feel awkward but this is not necessarily the fault of the new sax in most cases. In my case, the fingering on this Allora is comfortable. The only awkwardness is the palm keys but this is because the palms keys on my first sax are the ones you press down. On the Allora, and most other saxes, you have to push/squeeze in the palm keys. On the materials point, I think the Allora Paris Series is made with good materials and has a sturdy construction. (Still cautious, however, about the octave key mechanism.)Pricing: There are four different finish options for this sax but each is the same sax otherwise. The lacquered is the cheapest which is what I bought. I did not buy either of the two black ones because I believe scratches will show up more. A scratch on a gold lacquer will still leave the sax with an overall gold look. I bought this sax with a 15% discount because I purchased it directly from the Woodwind and Brasswind website. They have a promotion now for, '15% Off Single Item Purchase Over $25 When You Sign Up at Woodwind & Brasswind. Ends 11th August, 2016.'I close with the point about snob appeal. There are some really bad and cheaply made saxophones out there but don't be fooled into thinking that you get a world of difference by purchasing a $2,000.00+ sax. Price should not be your measure of value when purchasing a sax. The first thing you should consider is whether you can get all the notes, especially the lower notes, to play clearly and effortlessly. [Matching the right reed with the right mouthpiece is also important. I use the Rico Jazz Select unfiled 3S reed with the Selma Paris s80 mouthpiece. Wrong combinations can make an otherwise good saxophone hard to play]. Then you can think about intonation. Shopping nowadays is easy. You can purchase a sax online and return it if you don't like it. Much depends on what you can afford. The category of 'Professional' saxophones can lead you astray. Most times young musicians are led to believe that professional saxes are much greater than the intermediate saxes because of the price AND the fact that the pros play professional saxes. Think about it, however, these pros are getting paid big bucks to play and it is their living so the sax pays for itself. Additionally, peer pressure is greater in professional circles than in amateur circles so it is more important for a pro sax-man to keep up with the Jones.

I wanted to replace my 20-year old Kholert soprano saxophone and have an upgrade. As a result of the great tone I got from that $500.00 sax I already knew that I did not have to spend big bucks to get a better sax. I did a lot of reading before purchasing the Allora Paris Series AASS 801 saxophone. The experience confirmed two important points. Firstly, that in most cases it is the musician that makes the instrument sound sweet. Secondly, a lot of musicians who dis cheap saxophones are largely brand-loyal snobs.There are two broad categories of tone you can get from the soprano saxophone. One I will call the sweet, 'Kenny G' tone and the other, a dry-jazz-'clarinety' tone. My bet is that most people became aware and fell in love with the soprano saxophone because of Kenny G. The tone you get depends on how you play and by that I am referring to the combination of breathing, jaw movement & positioning and embouchure (i.e. use of facial muscles and the shaping of lips.) I was able to get a Kenny G tone with my first sax (Kholert) and now with this Allora Paris Series saxophone.I took my brand new Allora sax to a music store for adjustment. As soon as the worker saw it he said, "I'm sorry but it won't be worth my while to do an adjustment on this cheap instrument." Behind him was the full display of Cannonball saxophones. He allowed me to play the soprano and I got the same tone out of it as I do with my Kholert and Allora. He suggested I return my Allora and he would work with me in terms of buying one of his saxophones. In my mind I was like, "Kiss my chuddies!" lol. I walked out and did my own saxophone adjustment. All I needed to do was to adjust the octave key mechanism. I had my first performance two days after and was blown away by the tone coming from the sax...and me.This sax is a beautiful work of art! You have to see it yourself in person. I love the fact that there is felt attached to the body of the sax so when the key legs (which already have cork tips) hit the sax body there is no noise. I consider this to be a really good feature that I've not seen on other saxophones below $1,000.00 (NB I haven't seen all). It also features a high G!I love the backpack case that comes with the sax. It is extremely convenient!The problem I have is with the switchable necks. My first sax is a full-body straight sax. I bought the Allora thinking that the curved neck would've allowed me to better hold the sax while playing. I rather point my sax more 45 degrees than the almost 90 degrees Kenny G and others hold their sax. The Allora with the curved neck did not play well intonation-wise. In fact, when I got the sax I first played it with the curved neck and thought I had made a really bad buy but when I switched to the straight neck, all was right with the world. So now I only use the straight neck which makes buying a soprano sax with interchangeable necks an uncomfortable decision for me. I say this because with the full-body soprano, I could just hold the bell of the sax and virtually 'rip off' the mouthpiece. With this interchangeable neck I feel like I have to be too careful not to bend/damage the octave key mechanism when trying to take off the mouthpiece so right now I left the mouthpiece on the neck. With the tenor and alto sax neck you have more pipe to hold on too when you are twisting off your mouthpiece. Not so with the soprano neck. A review I read stated that the interchangeable necks on soprano saxes is one other thing you have to worry about going wrong. I agree. I will monitor this situation and update this review if necessary.The other reviewer spoke about warble sound in the lower 7 notes. I didn't have this problem because I had already read a review stating that you have to have the mouthpiece almost all the way down on the cork to avoid warble. This, however, gives rise to another potential problem. You are supposed to be able to adjust the tuning of your sax by moving the mouthpiece up and down the cork. Suppose you are too sharp and need to flatten but doing so takes you beyond the no-warble point? You might be screwed. I've had this sax for only 1 week and have not had the opportunity to tune it with a tuner so I will have to monitor this situation and update this review if necessary.Now, the big brand owners would want to interject and say it's not only about tone but key ergonomics and material used. As a general point on ergonomics, any first-time saxophonist will take some time to get his/her fingers around the keys before becoming comfortable. After playing a sax for a few years you get accustomed to it. If you switch to a different sax that has a different set-up you might naturally feel awkward but this is not necessarily the fault of the new sax in most cases. In my case, the fingering on this Allora is comfortable. The only awkwardness is the palm keys but this is because the palms keys on my first sax are the ones you press down. On the Allora, and most other saxes, you have to push/squeeze in the palm keys. On the materials point, I think the Allora Paris Series is made with good materials and has a sturdy construction. (Still cautious, however, about the octave key mechanism.)Pricing: There are four different finish options for this sax but each is the same sax otherwise. The lacquered is the cheapest which is what I bought. I did not buy either of the two black ones because I believe scratches will show up more. A scratch on a gold lacquer will still leave the sax with an overall gold look. I bought this sax with a 15% discount because I purchased it directly from the Woodwind and Brasswind website. They have a promotion now for, '15% Off Single Item Purchase Over $25 When You Sign Up at Woodwind & Brasswind. Ends 11th August, 2016.'I close with the point about snob appeal. There are some really bad and cheaply made saxophones out there but don't be fooled into thinking that you get a world of difference by purchasing a $2,000.00+ sax. Price should not be your measure of value when purchasing a sax. The first thing you should consider is whether you can get all the notes, especially the lower notes, to play clearly and effortlessly. [Matching the right reed with the right mouthpiece is also important. I use the Rico Jazz Select unfiled 3S reed with the Selma Paris s80 mouthpiece. Wrong combinations can make an otherwise good saxophone hard to play]. Then you can think about intonation. Shopping nowadays is easy. You can purchase a sax online and return it if you don't like it. Much depends on what you can afford. The category of 'Professional' saxophones can lead you astray. Most times young musicians are led to believe that professional saxes are much greater than the intermediate saxes because of the price AND the fact that the pros play professional saxes. Think about it, however, these pros are getting paid big bucks to play and it is their living so the sax pays for itself. Additionally, peer pressure is greater in professional circles than in amateur circles so it is more important for a pro sax-man to keep up with the Jones.