Jean Paul USA AS-400 Alto Sax Unbox, Play-test & Review

#bettersax #saxophone #saxophonelessons
Jay Metcalf reviews the Jean Paul AS400 saxophone.

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[jorgegutierrez]

Im still a beginner and I purchased the Tenor Sax. There were some issue but they took care of it right away. Even sent me a new Sax before I had even shipped the other one out. Then on top of that, they let me play them both for a weekend to make sure I was satisfied. Grade A+ in customer service. They even went as far as to give me one of their personal cell phone numbers to make sure my exchange went off without a hitch!! I wish I could comment on sound quality but I’m just not that good to be able to tell you how good the horn sounds, but with customer service like this, they gained a client for life.

[briankduncan]

I purchased an alto after seeing this video. I was skeptical but kept an open mind. The care taken in packaging the horn was impressive on its own. The horn played as well as my $4500 horn. Impressed enough to order a tenor the same day. They offered 5% discount for school (but I’m 58), upgraded case and mouthpiece. Also had a D’addario ligature and cover. And sent a silver horn for the same price as the gold as it didn’t show on the website. Paid $665 total for the silver model with no shipping charge. Mouthpiece is almost as good as my Selmer C*. The review he gave was DEAD ON

[nickvanmaarth]

Great review. Bought one for my son to learn on a while back. I liked it so much I got one for myself to learn on. Both sounded great, to us, anyway. I had a small issue with mine, but the customer service was unbelievable. The guy called me (didn't just email back). I sent the sax to them (free shipping). They sent me a new sax! I dented up the neck on that one (totally my fault)...they sent me a new neck (free)...the fit was too tight, so they said 'send us the sax and the neck', which I did (free shipping). They re-fitted the new neck, and now it's perfect. Even got a couple of calls from a fellow who (I think) is the owner (or one of the owners?) of the operation in Florida...he spent, like, 20 minutes on the phone talking about music in general, and also about a couple of YouTube things my son had posted that he'd taken the time to check out. Amazing customer service; and I feel like they actually do care about what they're doing. Great sax. Great Company. Thanks again for the confirmation, Jay.
--I forgot to add...ours DID come with white gloves :-) I've actually used 'em while cleaning it up (probably have too much time on my hands).

[murrrr]

Watching this makes me feel like I'm an expert on sax, despite I've never even touched one in my life

[lucassstache]

If they made a reasonably priced Bari sax too I would buy that in a second

[nigelcreasy]

I brought the silver AS-400SP as a result of seeing this. It is a heavier instrument and has a great tone throughout the instrument, the mouthpiece was difficult to fit out of the box unlike Jay, s original inspection and struggled initially to play in tune. Upgrade mouthpiece provided for free by Jean Paul (AS-4) and a big thank you to the support team - worked perfectly and within a short period of time managed to keep the horn in tune. I tried a Yamaha and truly prefer the Jean Paul, the tone is richer, the action as consistent, and is a slightly heavier instrument. I sold the Yamaha on. now one year down the line, playing with a second hand Selmer C star ebonite and daddario jazz reeds around 3 soft filed/2 hard, I am totally satisfied with this instrument and the tone it produces. All comments about the case are spot on. It will stay with me, no upgrade required!

[patricklaughlin]

I bought one of these for my clarinet playing daughter who wanted to learn alto for jazz. The one we got we are quite happy with and it is suiting her very well. Her jazz instructor hasn’t complained about it either and is happy with the sound she produces. It’s perfect for what we needed.

[danielbuege]

I got this saxophone a couple weeks ago after watching your video comparing the cheapest amazon sax and the $4, 500 one. After playing it for a couple weeks (it was my first time playing a saxophone EVER) and now watching this video, I am very satisfied with my purchase. Looking at mouthpieces now!

[prestongascho]

So glad you reviewed this! I bought one of these for the start of my school year! It plays amazing!!

[EricPalmerBlog]

Just an update from my comments below.
As a hobbyist still using this a lot, like it.
Key action started getting a bit noisy after 200 hours of play.
Did a full lubrication on it and both pinky group keys work easy now.
Registration still good. No leaks. Am going to replace all the pads with Pisonis, replace some of the cork and felt. Stock pads, felt cork etc, usable, average. Will add extra felt to some of the body where bumper keys connect. Then more registration as needed.
My embouchure is really mature now. Can really control the sound even more with some different reeds.
Venting between side C and left middle finger C a bit different but if you start your practice by tuning it. All good. Same when using palm key D as middle D.
All in all a great horn if one is obsessed with the hobby. Prefer darker sound of this horn.

[billsherm]

Thanks Jay. As a sax newbie I really appreciate the variety and depth of information that you so freely share. After renting an instrument for a few months, I just purchased the Jean Paul AS-400. Looking forward to many years of enjoyable playing. Now back to my pentatonics and long tones 😉

[EricPalmerBlog]

Just got one 3 months ago after a 43 year pause. 1973 to 1980 alto and tenor high end Yamaha machines.
If you get through the non-pro aspect of this horn and put in the work of daily practice, the AS-400 will deliver big time. Really like it. Great sound. Am now up to capability again.
Maybe I will do a mouth piece upgrade (Burnin' 5?) But not there yet.Thank you for all your hard work Jay!
Happy user.

[lucasrojers]

I've been obsessed with the clarinet and saxophone for years, but I didn't know where to start when it came to buying a saxophone. They all looked the same! After watching your ammoon/lade video I was about to buy it, but I watched your video comparing three beginner saxophones and instantly bought the jean paul. It was more than twice the investment, but watching this video on it really gave me a good review on what to expect quality-wise. Im so excited to start a journey on such an amazingly versatile instrument. I've played the full spectrum of string instruments, and I've performed classical oboe for around 3 years now. Learning such a classy jazzy instrument is going to be fun. Hard work, I imagine, but if I even get the fraction of pleasure from this instrument as I get watching youtubers like you play and have fun with it, It will be a worthwhile investment ten-fold.

[danielg]

Can you do a similar video for a tenor sax? It would help out a lot.

[ojaiallen]

Yep. Pretty impressive sax. Beautiful, professional look. Dark and resonant sound. I could own about eight of those saxophones for the price of a yanagisawa. Wow! Hats off to Jean Paul.

[SaxAndFluteJohn]

I just bought one for Christmas after my Cannonball Big Bell broke...I couldn’t believe the horn was $500...plays almost as well as my Cannonball! Thanks for your suggestion, Jay!

[Kay-lqrl]

I found out like 4 days ago that I was going to play alto saxophone in middle school and ever since I found out I’ve been super happy and watching you a lot (I was really really happy bc only 4 people get it out of my entire school and sax was my first choice) any who please Keep posting alto sax vids I absolutely love them ❤️

[aldolente]

I just purchased one and am super happy. I have a $3000 Tenor and wanted an alto to try out. Wow. The review is correct. High quality. ribbed construction. Great seal. nice tone. I highly recommend it.

[abbywendt]

Hi. I got this exact sax for Christmas this year and I tried the 2.5 reed and so far I haven't had any trouble with it.

[paulhoyosm]

I used to play saxophone alto when I was in high school back in 1994 and now after so many years of not playing anything I want to give it a new try and get back into music, so I was looking for the best saxophone 500 dollar-budget can buy and all my searches took me to this video. Thank you so much for an excellent video review of this amazing horn piece, ... I'll definitely buy one of those for me and introduce my daughter into wind instruments, I bet this will be a very good piece of instrument to inherit to her in the future! Thanks a lot!