LJ Hutchen Mark II Alto Saxophone w/Case & 2-Year Warranty

My daughter loves her instrument. After months of use we found it to have a small issue with the sound. We called the manufacturer and they instructed us on how to ship it back to them. A week later it was repaired and they called us to inform us they were shipping it back. Once it got back home it played just as it was new. Very happy with the purchase. We bought it new off of Amazon with Hyson Music being the ultimate supplier order fulfillment company.

I had a choice of having my old sax overhauled or buying a new one and I decided to buy the Mark II. Big mistake. I have been fighting to keep this playable but I gave up. First, the pads kept sticking so I had to clean them with powder paper several times. Second, it is out of tune, especially middle D. It does not sound good. I don't like the sound of middle C or C# either. Third, the key travel is too great. Fourth, the octave key rises slightly when playing G, F, E, or D. It's unplayable. The local shop said it's an easy adjustment so I may take it there when I get my old sax back. How anyone could give this sax a 5 is beyond me. Now, I'm playing a 1924 Conn New Wonder Series 1 and it sounds and plays so much better.

It's a good saxophone and it sounds great. However the octave key broke a year later, but it was an easy fix.

thank you

STAY AWAY!I was fooled by the words "American designed and manufactured," but that refers to the mouthpiece only. This cheap and flimsy sax is made in China, ( that information is NOT supplied in the description.) My Woodwind Instructor says the keys are sluggish and do not seal properly, and the neck doesn't fit so it can't be tuned. I spent $75 at the repair shop, where the technician had to replace 3 pads (which he said were used, of all things, on a new sax!), replace the neck cork, re-level 4 keys, put glue in the low E♭, and then regulate the whole thing. Then he pronounced it as "adequate," cautioning me to expect only a year or two of use, before I'll have to replace it.Junk!

I'm an experienced music teacher and public school band director. I played and evaluated the new LJ Hutchens Mark || alto last week. I also had it played by each of the members of the sax section of the big band I play with, all of whom are pros. Reactions follow.| Horn appears well-made and arrived properly adjusted and ready to play. Solders and craftmanship look very good. Hefty and solid feel. Ergonomics are very good. Key mechanisms all felt right under the fingers.| I played it into a tuner with a closed-face mouthpiece and rather stiff reed and it played almost uniformly in-tune with itself. Couple of cents sharp here and there when the wind column is "long," like any sax. I thought it produced nice round, colored sound in the low and middle range. Top of the horn sounds good also. Everybody had pretty much the same opinion: For a student horn, this sounds very good and is very satisfactory ergonomically.| The boys in the section all liked the overall sound when they played it. Good sounding horn. Couple of guys thought the action on the keys was "long," that is, a long throw, especially in low Bb and B. Compared to the altos I play regularly (an old Conn 6M from the early 1940s and a Yamaha Custom Z) I'd say the action is long. But, again, for 500 bucks, that's a minor issue. The horn speaks easily throughout its range. Palm keys felt pretty good and the uppermost range also sounded good and full. Octave mechanism is fine. Repairmen would prefer adjusting screws for regulation, of course, but for $500 I can understand why that's not a feature.| The manufacturer says the height of the keys will be addressed in the near future.| I would not hesitate to recommend this as a student instrument. For the price, it is perhaps one of the best values in the market. Although made in China (like every student horn now, including Yamaha) the fit, finish, regulation and sound are all characteristic of what we used to find in good American-made student instruments. If cost is not an issue, the Yamaha YAS26 student alto sax is probably still the gold standard. But the Yamaha comes at at a cost of about four times the new Hutchen alto. For the money, I'd select the LJ Hutchen if I had a kid just starting out and move up to an intermediate horn at the high school level.

So this is my actual first review ever on amazon. I order a lot but I had to review on this. First let me start off that the customer service from Hyson Music is the best ever. I talked with Jesse and he was knowledgeble and awesome. With me being in Texas and the company is in New York, i have no problems ordering from them again. So he talked me through with this saxophone after I told him the trumpet wasn't working out for me, basically i didn't have the patience to learn a new instrument. I'm 34 years old and I played the sax in school (many years ago) until it was stolen. I explained that I wanted to go for the saxophone again. The shipping was fast, even during the busy holiday week. It felt and played like butter. I believe this is a good entry level student saxophone that can easily compete with the yamaha student series at half the cost.So now I am non stop practicing daily. Once I feel like i'm ready to move on I will contact Jesse again to purchase my 2nd sax.Sound: sounds like a sax to me. Has a great low end. By using different reeds I noticed I can play deep smooth or bright.Feel: Feels like a sax to me. Every button is smooth. No need to play super fast now. I'm still at the beginning but know enough to know it's a good instrument.Quality: Don't expect it to compare to a Selmer. It's a student model, however, the quality is good for beginner and even intermediate.