GLORY B Flat Tenor Saxophone with Case and Reeds

25 years ago I wanted to learn to play saxophone but didn’t have time for band and quite frankly we really couldn’t afford an instrument like that on a NCO salary.

About 2 years ago I started learning harmonica and really got into it. After a while I had a small collection and was playing with the church worship team (we have a contemporary worship style with a pretty blues/rock feel for a number of songs). Someone commented about how the sound reminded them of a sax and we got in a conversation about how back in the early days of blues the harmonica was often called the poor man’s sax.

This brought up the old desire to learn sax and I decided to look into how much it might cost. I work 2 full time jobs and don’t have a ton of extra money but we are debt free and have a small savings so I figured we might be able to afford one. The prices for “student” instruments were up there and I considered them but have a hard time dropping that kind of money on a hobby, especially considering I’ve never played. I looked into rentals but they weren’t exactly cheep. Most seemed to be designed around the idea of buying the instrument in 2-3 years. I did some more research and heard about a bunch of imports from Asia that were decent and cheep, which eventually led to this instrument.

It took 6 months before I could bring myself to pull the trigger though. The reviews were a bit of a mixed bag and that made it difficult to make that move. Since I’ve never played anything like a sax before, I was worried I wouldn’t know the difference between my lack of skill and a bad instrument.

I was back and forth on ordering this or doing a rental. Eventually I decided to just get this one and take my chances. I figured, based on the reviews, that I had a pretty good chance of getting a good instrument and the worst of the negative reviews made it sound like the QC issues were pretty obvious (missing keys and springs etc.).

It arrived quickly and looked great. I went over the keys and everything appeared to be in good working order. I assembled the sax and tried playing a simple lesson. It took a tiny bit to get the mouth piece to play but when it did, it sounded pretty decent. In the past 3 weeks I’ve learned a couple of simple songs and even been able to play What Child is This in front of the church Christmas morning.

The reeds that came with it were ok. I used 1 until the rico reeds I ordered came in.

The mouthpiece that came with it was reasonably good. I ordered a Yamaha 4C based on the reviews but TBH I don’t notice a huge difference. In a few months I think I’ll look at a better mouth piece but honestly I think the one that came with it would serve for initial learning. Maybe after more experience I’ll be able to tell the difference between it and the Yamaha but it seems to be pretty entry level too.

The pad saver seems decent. It loses some fibers but not significantly. It seems to pickup the moisture. I did a lot of reading about how these can actually damage pads when left in the instrument so I use it after practicing then store it outside the case.

Speaking of the case, I actually like it quite a bit. I’ve not got anything to compare it to but it fits the parts well so they are secure and seem well protected. The front pouch is kind of small but I have the reeds it came with and the carry straps stored in it. The rico reads, tool set, neck strap, cork grease, and cleaning cloth all fit nicely into the accessory storage compartment in the case.

The gloves are WAY too small for my hands. Maybe I should look into some hat fit but I’ve not really heard about it being necessary to play and don’t see anyone using them so I’m not going to bother. I wish it came with a pull through swab, neck saver, and or mouth piece saver instead of gloves, which are more size specific and won’t be helpful for a lot of people.

The neck strap was way too short (I’m over 6’2″). It is also very thin and not exactly comfortable. I ordered a different one but used this in the interim. To make it work I used a cord that I tied into the sax that extended the connection point by about 4 inches. That made it work correctly until my replacement neck strap came in. I’d suggest ordering a neck strap with this instead of waiting like I did.

The toolkit looks ok. I’ve got better tools but the tweezers are actually very nice. This style is the kind I use for dealing with inevitable ticks (we live in the woods so you can’t avoid them). While I’ve already got a couple like this, it’s probably very helpful for people who don’t. I haven’t had to adjust anything yet but I can see how it would help.

The cork grease was a very welcome inclusion. I actually didn’t think about it at all so when I was assembling it and got to the part of the video on using cork grease I was like “oh, I forgot that” but then saw a tube in the case and though, “oh perfect. Glad they included it.”

I think that covers everything. In summary, I’d definitely recommend getting a different neck strap and pull through swab. I also think something to clean the mouthpiece is worth having. Other than that I was able to use this to learn quite a bit in just 3 weeks. I practice 5 days a week for 30-60 minutes a day.

I would definitely recommend this to someone looking to get started with the sax. It’s worth the gamble. The way I see it, you’d invest this into renting a student instrument in 1-2 years and after you’ll own the instrument. When it’s time to step up to a higher quality instrument, then it might be worth considering a bigger investment, but by then I expect to have the skills to understand the difference, though I do plan on getting a better mouth piece as an interim step.