Yanagisawa AWO33 London Collectors Alto 

One of the most exclusive Yanagisawa Saxophones ever made

To celebrate our 30th Anniversary, Yanagisawa have genuinely gone out of their way to create something incredibly rare: just five limited-edition saxophones made exclusively for us, 2 Tenors and 3 Altos, based on the WO33 platform, featuring a solid silver bell and neck with a brass body, finished with engraving inspired by the London skyline with Hokusai-style detailing.

Yanagisawa almost never produce true special editions like this, so we’re hugely grateful, and honestly a bit stunned, that they did.

Description

Yanagisawa saxes are made by a small family company in Japan that only makes professional quality saxes, and they do it very well. This degree of focus means they are of a quality that even their main competitors recognise as the best. Here at SAX, our technicians love them as they play straight out of the box and they are by far the most reliable instruments we sell. 

Solid silver produces a clarity of sound unequalled by any other metal. Many years of research by skilled craftsmen have resulted in the creation of the ultimate choice of sounds available to musicians today. Solid silver for its clarity and brass for its warmth and resonance. Coupled with the finest mechanism which only Yanagisawa’s skilled craftsmen can produce, the blend gives the musician his ultimate choice. Fully lacquered to minimise cleaning.

This latest AWO33 has an even stronger tonal core thanks to a re-engineered bore and tone holes, plus many upgraded features.

Features

• Material: Solid silver & brass

• Finish: Clear & gold lacquers.

• Key Touches: White mother-of-pearl 

• Neck: Yanagisawa

• Engraving: Hand engraved

• Case: Yanagisawa, rectangular back-pack style

• Mouthpiece: Yanagisawa Ebonite 7CR

• Made in: Japan

• Free Professional Set Up & Free Check over within a Year

• Recommended for: All serious sax players

Staff Review:

These are very much beautiful, one-off saxophones, and I felt very fortunate to be able to test them briefly when producing our You-Tube video in order to advertise their presence.  They look quite stunning in the photos, but somehow they are more spectacular 'in the flesh'!

For me, the solid silver range of Yanagisawas gives us something beyond the usual richness and silkiness of tone that we have come to expect with their horns; there is an additional depth and clarity of tone that changes in character as you push through the dynamic ranges, giving us a huge colour pallete from dark yet defined all the way through to brilliant and rich.  And it's this aspect that, for me, makes them incredibly joyful to play.

Most definitely these limited edition Yanagisawas are a collectors dream!

Jim Cheek