Eastar Student Alto Saxophone E Flat for Beginner Sax Full Kit with Carrying Case, Mouthpiece, Straps, Reeds, Stand, Golden Lacquer, AS-Ⅱ

I’ve primarily been an alto sax player all my life, but I was good enough to snag the second tenor jazz ensemble chair in college when it became available and later, when I became a tour and studio musician for my first career of 15 years, I played as much tenor as alto. Well into my second career, I still played my alto, but I stopped playing tenor altogether. I decided a few months ago, however, to start up again on tenor. I bought a BetterSax tenor, enrolled in a jazz improv/performance class at my local city college, and it’s been a blast-- my tenor chops are coming back. When I recently took some vacation time to visit my folks in the Midwest, I was a bit bummed at the thought of not practicing for a week. I thought: “Wouldn’t it be nice if I had a tenor at my folks’ house?” [I hate the hassle of carrying a musical instrument on a flight and I would never check in an instrument as baggage!] Enter the Eastar tenor sax. After I did some research on the numerous budget/student tenors on the market, I decided to roll the dice with the MIC Eastar. The BetterSax tenor I recently bought (also MIC) came from Sweetwater for $1500, and at that price they provide a 40-point set-up/inspection. It played great right out of the box. Naturally I wondered if the Eastar from Amazon would need a set-up. I can say I am pleasantly surprised! I ordered the tenor on the Friday that I caught my flight and it showed up at my folks house the next Sunday. [Thanks Amazon Prime!] The rectangular box had big writing: “Fragile,” “Tenor Sax,” “Made in China” and the Eastar script logo. Inside the cardboard box was the sax case wrapped in plastic and a sax stand also in a plastic bag. It’s so much fun to open up a new instrument case, and after watching many Jay Metcalf YouTube videos (the sax guy behind BetterSax who reviews budget and pro saxes alike), I conducted a semi-pro inspection. I noticed right away that the sax body, itself in its own light-fiber bag, was snugly in the case without any movement, which made me hope that the horn was adequately protected during shipping. Taking the sax out of the cloth bag, it feels substantial, medium heavy, not like the student Buescher rental horns I remember as a kid. The light gold lacquer color is shiny beautiful, there is a simple elegant floral etching/scoring on the bell, and in the traditional space you see the Eastar logo imprint on the bell (the same as seen on the box and embroidered on the case). The key touches are apparently faux pearl/white plastic, slightly concave inward and provide a nice feel to the fingers of my average sized hands. Consistent with the idea that the horn didn’t suffer during shipping, there were about eight little pieces of cork that were set along the body column to keep the pads locked down, which I removed with some patience and a mini screwdriver to get into those small spaces. With the keys freed, the action feels crisp. I checked the keys/pads for any movement side to side and only found a slight bit of play with the low C key, which later proved insignificant. Pulling out the plastic tenon plug, I discovered it was actually the top of a fiber cleaning rod. [These devices seem to be a supplemental swabbing device, but I would never leave it in the horn after playing…even after you swab the inside, the pads likely retain some moisture, and I think the cleaning rod would prevent the evaporation process and hold moisture against the pad…not good!] Speaking of the pads, they appear light brown and feel like leather…they have metal resonators. A lot of sax advertising boast Pisoni pads…I don’t know what type of pads the Eastar tenor has, but they are at least Pisoni-like, and they seal well to my naked eye (I don’t have a leak light). For the actual play test, I didn’t use the included mouthpiece because I wanted to narrow down the variables and isolate the horn’s performance. I also didn’t use any of the included five reeds provided. Since college I’ve always used for my tenor a Meyer 8 medium chamber hard rubber mouthpiece, and that’s what I brought with me on my trip, along with a brand name 2-1/2 reed. The neck slipped into the tenon without any problem, and it feels snug after adjusting for playing and tightening the tenon key. The included sax strap works okay, it’s nicely designed to adjust for height, but it essentially supports the sax with thick strings, and it would be better suited to use with an alto sax. I later replaced it with a Neotech strap and now I don’t worry about letting the sax momentarily hang from my neck. I started my play test with my usual long-tone warm up. I start at low G and chromatically work my way down to the low B-flat. The horn blew pretty easy with more effort naturally needed as I went down the register; but there was no issue with sounding all of the notes. The same with the mid and upper registers, there was no problem sounding all the notes up to high F-sharp. It did take me a few minutes to get used to the upper stack, particularly moving from high C to high D, but that was a “feel thing” that worked itself out after about a half-hour of playing. As I re-learned “Body and Soul” on the tenor (I love Dexter Gordon’s version), the horn started to feel fluid and expressive. I have the Real Book play-along USB stick saved on my laptop (real musician backing tracks) and that helped me get comfortable with this horn. One thing I noticed is that the intonation on this horn, jumping from one octave to the higher, was very good, with just a minimal embouchure adjustment needed to keep in tune, which is just a fact of life when playing any saxophone. About the extras: the sax stand seems pretty sturdy; there are white cloth gloves included; there is a swab for both the body and the neck, both do the job; there’s a small plastic bag with four white cylindrical caps, not sure what those are for; there’s a polishing cloth; and there’s a small black cardboard box with the Enstar script that contains just one of a different type of reed guard. About the reeds: the five included reeds are individually enclosed in cellophane plastic with a mini desiccant bag and in its own plastic reed guard—they have no marking as to brand or reed strength. [I did actually use one later with my Meyer mouthpiece and it played fine, so I assume the included reeds are medium strength]. About the mouthpiece: the mouthpiece is cellophane wrapped and is in a plastic cap and a ligature, and also has a reed on it [the mouthpiece has no markings as to brand or size/style, it’s just a generic plastic one, apparently to get beginners started; but the mouthpiece, I believe, is key to the playing experience, so every purchaser of this horn, beginner and experienced alike, should research to find a mouthpiece-reed combination to suit that individual’s need/style]; All in all, the Eastar tenor attempts to emulate the Selmer design and playability, as does just about every modern sax manufacturer. I think it does a pretty good job of doing so. I can still play an occasional weekend club gig and I would be able to use this tenor, no problem. Likewise, I think I could record sax parts or a sax solo and you wouldn’t ever know the sax was a student horn. Watch a Jay Metcalf comparison video, where he plays a blind test, budget v. pro horn, and you’ll see what I mean. There’s not a lot of information out there about the Eastar company or the Eastar tenor, I suspect more reviews will be coming. There was also no documentation in the case (no info card, no warranty card with an address, etc.) so I searched the web. Eastar does have a website, theeastar.com, that provides some general background on the company, and it essentially places itself in the category of “a brand dedicated to providing reliable, student-friendly instruments across a wide range of musical disciplines.” It also asserts “using durable materials and precise manufacturing processes to ensure that each instrument meets our high standards for playability, tone, and durability.” Elsewhere on the web, us.donnermusic.com, Eastar is described as “a sub-brand of Donner, specializ[ing] in beginner musical instruments, encompassing violins, wind instruments, children's drums, and more.” As a side note, the tenor saxophone I bought to get into the college jazz band, the horn I used for my professional years, was a good condition used Selmer I found at a pawn shop for $500. I didn’t know much about the Selmer manufacturing history back in the late 70s, but since I played a Selmer Mark VII alto, I knew a Selmer tenor would fit the bill. I “retired” the horn in the late 90s (after getting it re-padded/refurbished) and stuck it in a closet with plans to play it again soon, of course. Well, it’s still in the closet and I suppose it’s time to take it out for a play test [I didn’t want to use it for my new school experience because I’ve since found out it is very valuable, even as a used horn.] The $500 I spent in the late 70s for the Selmer tenor would be about $2420 in today’s money. It seems crazy to me that today you can buy a brand new, decent tenor sax, for $500 and have a good playing experience right out of the box, even as a student horn. Twenty years ago, buying a Chinese-made horn was apparently not a good idea, but you can’t deny that the Asian market has upped its manufacturing game and it’s a double-edged sword for the world market. Many of today’s professional level horns are also made in China or Asia generally, and they start at about $4000 and go up to about $10k, e.g., for a top-of-the-line Yanagisawa. I have to leave the trade wars up to the politicians, but for now, as a musician who wants the best bang for my buck, I’m very pleased with the Enstar tenor. This is probably the best $500 I’ve ever spent for a musical instrument. But then I had another dilemma: should I take the Enstar back to California upon my return? I know I really wanted to!

Great, easy to get ready to play, easy to clean and sounds great. My 13 year old grandson loves it.

I got this about 3ish years ago and it's still held up pretty okay. It has some intonation issues, and it is not necessarily built the best, but it is great for someone who is starting on tenor sax. Overall, it works pretty well and sounds good, but you still should be careful with it because it is kind of prone to breaking. The neck strap that comes with it is terrible, though. It broke in 5 minutes.

My main is bassoon, but I used to play saxophone in marching band and wanted to take the risk to see if this horn was worth it. I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of the instrument and case. The item shipped very well and came with everything needed to start playing right away (except cork grease), but my cork didn’t need any on arrival. I’m still breaking in some reeds, but the saxophone is very responsive in the low range and I’m able to hit altissimo notes. Now this may not be as good as an intermediate/advanced upgrade for high school/college- but for the price it is perfect for any beginner or anyone doubling. I went ahead and bought new reeds, a rovner ligature, and a mouthpiece along with it just to ensure the best chance of success. I haven’t tried the mouthpiece, reeds, and ligature that came with the instrument, but I’m sure they would be fine until you decide to upgrade those parts. Overall the instrument is beautiful and exceeded my expectations for the price. I actually bought two so my friend could get back into playing saxophone as well.

Excellent instrument for beginners and intermediate players. I find the tone to be very good. I bought this one to see if I could play after a 45 year layoff. The keys are very responsive as well.

My son was needing a saxophone and all the local rental places were out and could not give me a date for availability of one. My only option was spending $1600+ for a well know and reputable brand used sax. After a bit of research and a couple of review sites, it seemed this brand was actually in top 5 for student level sax. Yes! $1000 saved and I won’t be out a chunk of money if my son decides to switch instruments next year. This will pay for itself in 1.5 years instead of renting. My son will own his first saxophone which will be neat. 1.5 months after purchase, the band teacher says this thing has a ton of notes that don’t sound the way they should. My son is in a band school and his teacher has won national championships with students he teaches. My son is trying to teach himself improper ways to make the proper note sounds, and by default learning improper muscle memory. According to this band teacher this is really bad and in the long run make playing quality instruments harder. Update: Definitely worth buying. Eastar was prompt about getting back to me on my 2 star review and worked with me to make everything right. Fantastic customer support. The technician also mentioned to me that he has not worked on an Eastar before but was impressed with this horn. He mentioned he has dealt with less well know brands before and typically they are not very well made. This thing is a solid instrument after a technician tunes it up. Eastar is a great company to buy from in my experience.

Always been my dream to learn the saxophone. I finally got this one because it was affordable. Even though I was skeptical I got it anyway since I’m a beginner and figured I can upgrade later when I’m better. The build looks nice. It felt solid but that was deceiving. Two days into practicing just as I could tell I’ve gotten slightly better than the day before, as I’m cleaning it to put it away a small pin falls out and I panic. I flip it over to try and see where it came from and on of the spatula keys falls off. I immediately requested a return and packed it all up. It’s disappointing that it fell apart from just handling it. This is a beginner instrument and maybe my issue was just bad quality control. Might have even been easily fixed but it made me wonder what else could just randomly fall apart. Very sad I had to send it back and of course the price went up so I couldn’t have a replacement sent. I will be saving for a better quality saxophone in the future.

Having used this pretty much daily for the past 6 months, I have to say my expectations were blown away. I am new to learning saxophone, but not new to music and performance. When I received the sax, over the course of a couple weeks, it already started to develop some problems. Having experience rebuilding flutes, I decided to adjust a couple keys. One was a turn of a screw, the other required bending a key. I am tempted to remove a star, but I have had no problems otherwise. Also, it turns out saxophone don't like to be shipped. I am now an intermediate to advanced player, with a good tone w/vibrato, and this horn sounds great. I did replace the mouthpiece on day 1, with a yamaha 4c. Then a couple months later a yamaha 5c. I wouldn't expect a cheap horns provided mouthpiece to be great. As far as maintenance, I swab it after each playing session, and store it on a stand.... not in a case. I don't have sticky key problems etc. I do believe storing it on a stand helps it. The horn does not have an odor either. With proper embouchure and voicing, this horn plays in tune just fine. I use Legere synthetic reeds. Yes the key pearls are just plastic. I am sure they could feel better. But I don't expect a low budget horn to have not cut corners and used plastic instead of pearl. I've never dropped it or abused it, so I can't speak to how well this horn takes abuse. I wouldn't expect it to withstand abuse.