Jean Paul USA Soprano Saxophone, Silver (SS-400SP)

As others have stated a remarkable value. I have played straight soprano for years and didn’t think I could afford a curved soprano sax. The horn plays in tune and from top to bottom (with very minor adjustments by my local woodwind technician). A tad brighter than my straight soprano and maybe not as warm; but that is compared to an instrument that sells for $3,500. I like the sound. The other nice thing is the people at Jean Paul are really nice to talk to (yes you can actually speak to someone if you call them). A quality affordable instrument from a great up and coming company. It shows you don’t have to pay 3 to 4k for a good sax.

The sax looks really nice and solid. Unfortunately, its quality is not up to the price with low register issue (air leak) and all notes are out of tune (lower from a haft to a full note) regardless how much to try with different mouthpieces.

The horn has a nice sound, and played easily down to the low Bb. So far, so good, until I turned my tuner on. The whole horn was a semitone (1/2 step) flat. Even with the mouthpiece as far in as possible and straining my embouchure, it was still a 1/4 tone flat. I have been playing soprano sax for over 40 years, and this was to be my “vacation sax.” I am sad to send it back, because it was otherwise great for the price.

This is my 3rd Jean Paul saxophone, I have their Alto, and Tenor as well and it’s as high quality as the others. The horn blows in tune and there are no intonation issues. All the springs are strong enough for fast playing without slop, and the keywork is responsive. I had previously purchased an Ammoon straight soprano and it was junk, keywork bent from use, intonation and tuning were all over the place, and the springs were too weak on some keys.

The pack in mouthpiece looks like a 4c knock off and it’s brandless. I tossed it to get a real Yamaha 4c mouthpiece. It includes a neck strap in the box, cork grease, a Rico reed, and those white gloves nobody ever uses.

Cosmetically there is 1 flaw on the left hand trill mechanism, The brass in one part has a dark blemish like tarnish that won’t come off. It’s not in an easy to see part of the horn though at least. The rest of it is cosmetically fine. No scratches, dings, or anything like that.

The octave key mechanism that switches octave holes for throat tones was very slow when moving from A to G like it literally took a full second for the neck octave pad to move back and forth. It didn’t have the problem if the fingering was done first then the octave key depressed. It turned out it was the silicon covering on the octave pin binding on the octave key itself. IE silicon doesn’t slide super fast across brass. I put a drop of oil on the silicone sleeve and that instantly resolved the problem.

The sound and playability of the instrument are excellent. I’ve used it in a few recordings already and I love how the tone cuts through the mix but without being harsh. It sounds more like a normal saxophone than the almost clarinet like sound of some sopranos. It’s my first curved soprano and I worried it would feel like a toy in my hands but so far it’s just a smaller, more comfortable and easy to hold, but full sized saxophone. No adjustment at all in my playing. I also like that I can hear myself easier compared to a straight soprano. It is a little hard to use a sax stand though. I use a Hercules and it works in spite of the small size of the bell but it doesn’t hold it as well as the alto or tenors. It won’t fall off or anything but it’s not held very securely and it can move if touched.

Jean Paul instruments are basically Yamaha type quality, but at a much lower price point. I’m not a shill, I have just never been disappointed with their instruments in spite of their low price.

Firstly, it looks pretty good, and to me (a non professional) has good tone and fairly easy to keep in tune (which surprised me the most for a cheap curved soprano).
The pads don’t seem to be highest quality but everything seals well so for the price, somewhat expected. One of the key pearls did come off in shipping, but was easy to glue back on. No other adjustments seemed to be needed (yet). The case is ok and has some nice space for extra stuff. I’ll probably get a different mouthpiece but it is playable with what comes with it.

I liked that the horn was set up very well and I didn’t feel like I needed to do any major adjustments to it just to get it to play. There were no real leaks in the pads and everything else seems to be properly in place. While the instrument does come with a mouthpiece, I suggest that you shop around for a better one and ligature to really let your sound shine. The neck strap that is included is too long to be used without choking yourself so you will need to try to find some solution for that.

Soprano sax is difficult in general and the curved format magnifys these difficulties. If you can’t position the horn properly on your body due to neck strap issues, it’s impossible to playing tune because you will never create a proper embrouchure.

Once you get past the setup issues, the horn is really a joy to play. From the lows to the highest notes, it’s very responsive and I would have no qualms with using this on any gig in place of my Yamaha.

My only real negative is the thumb rest is uncomfortable for me. While it’s adjustable, it’s still metal and it is hard. This may not be your experience. I wish they had a plastic version of it. While it’s wouldn’t be as aesthetically pleasing to look at, it’s easier on you when playing a long time. My solution was to put a rubber cover over it.

In conclusion, The Jean Paul Amateur Soprano Sax should drop the amateur from the name. It’s a solid horn for people on a budget and if you are a great player, you will sound fantastic on it.