That’s the question that Music Factory Direct is asking in their auction of a JinYin Bass Saxophone Model A600G.
Over the past couple of years we’ve seen prices for American-designed, Asian-made bass saxophones of vintage American design go all over the place. Check out the other posts in this series to see what the prices on these horns have been. When you do, you’ll notice that none of the prices have been as low as they currently are on this JinYin.¹
Source: eBay.com
JinYin is the manufacturer of all the new American-style bass saxophones—regardless of what name appears on them, or what finish they come in.
The good people at Music Factory Direct do mention in their ad that JinYin is the manufacturer of this bass. Here’s how they describe it:
The JinYin Model A600G Bass Saxophone. Through its vast resources of engineering and manufacturing skills, JinYin is only one of a handful of companies in the entire world producing a bass saxophone. This instrument they produce has it all! Excellent tone and response, good intonation and comfortable key work. This bass sax, without a doubt, is one of the most incredible values you will find, with other models costing anywhere from $3,000.00 to $10,000.00 more. Comes complete with mouthpiece, cap, ligature and deluxe lightweight case.
Features:
Key of Eb
Execellent tone and response
Affordable price
Ergonomic hand position
Comes complete with mouthpiece, cap, ligature and deluxe lightweight case.
Oops, I guess that was a typo. I’m sure they meant to write that this bass is in Bb, not Eb. That aside, they certainly seem excited about this bass saxophone.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Here’s the case that looks just like the one that Glenn G. recently bought for his Keilwerth bass. He wrote a review about his new case on June 16, 2010.
Source: eBay.com
If you are in the market for a cheap bass saxophone, I don’t know how much cheaper than this you can get. At the time of writing there was 1 bid of $3,600.00 on the horn.
This no reserve auction for a new JinYin bass sax ends today at 11:29 PDT. So there is not much time left to get your bid in… If’n your interested in a cheap bass that is.
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¹ There is 1 brand of American-style bass that was—for a very brief period of time—apparently available for considerably less than this JinYin is currently being sold for. The Canex bass saxophone was listed for a mere $2,000 in June 2009, but in September that same year it had jumped to $3,000.
Last time I checked Canex no longer includes a final price for their bass. The listed price was apparently for “reference” only, and a “… detailed price due to final confirmation !!!!” Whatever the hell means. :scratch:
I assume that means they don’t want to change their website regularly, or be held to the price that they state on their website. Perhaps they got burned and actually had to sell a bass at 2 grand. That’s gotta’ cut into their profits. 😉
Update: Well this cheap Asian bass sold to the 1 bidder for $3,600.00.
I’ve not played one of the JinYin bass saxophones, therefore I haven’t had my tech’s input on one either, so I can’t speak to the specific quality of these saxophones. However, as a wise person once said: You get what you pay for. And that is equally true in the large saxophone—bari & bass—world.
I really hope that the new owner is happy with his/her new horn. I would love to hear some good reviews of these saxes. I would love to hear how they keep their regulation. How these long rods manage to not get bent by the simple acts of playing and handling the horn. I’d really like to hear that the metal is strong, and will take the rigors of being moved around in the case, being kicked in the case, and being banged into chairs, stands, and whatever else bass saxophones get banged into over the course of their lifetime.
So if you’re the new owner of one these cheap bass saxophones, please chime in. Tell us what it’s like to own one. How often do you have to take it to the tech? What does your tech say about it? Does it hold up like the vintage Bueschers, Conns, etc to the simple act of playing? Because even our beloved vintage basses do go out of alignment faster than the smaller horns due to the length of the rods and levers. If your repair tech has experience with vintage basses, how does the modern Asian bass compare?