Intermediate vs pro alto sax which is right for you? P Mauriat le bravo vs 67R

First! Awesome video Nigel. I'm playing on a Trevor James SR alto and Yamaha 475-II soprano - both intermediate horns. For where I'm at, they do the job absolutely perfectly and the saxes take me as far as I'm capable of going. Sure, I'd love a pro sax in my hands because, well, they are the best you can get, but a pro sax does not a pro sax-player make... I've got years of work before I could fill the big shoes of a pro sax. Anyway - great video!

The 67R is better though I still liked the Labravo

Really liked what you played. Is there a chart of that?

PM makes a LeBravo bari that I really liked when I was shopping around for a bari. I ended up with a Selmer, but I always think about replacing it with the LeBravo which is a gorgeous instrument.

When I was upgrading my alto sax from a Yamaha YAS-280 in 2020, a few people mentioned I should try a 67R if I had the chance and it was in the price range I could afford. Usually in that price range (£2000-2500 or so) the typical saxes that come to mind are the Yamaha YAS-62, Yanagisawa AWO1, Selmer Axos and Yanagisawa AWO2. I ended up getting a Yanagisawa AWO2 which I really like, it has custom Roo Pads and silver plated brass airtight Maestro resonators which make it feel slightly heavier on the fingers than the stock pads and it has a slightly louder sound too. I have yet to play a 67R but if I get the chance, I would like to see how it compares. In your playing, I liked the darker sound of the 67R but I still liked the LeBravo.

OOH ! What if you put the Le Bravo neck on the 67R...

The Le bravo is more in tune.I Prefer it.

An intermediate sax is imo a complete waste of money unless it happens to be an intermediate that hits way above it’s weight class like the YSS-475.

The Le Bravo 200 sounded a little brighter, and a little "thinner." But I think the difference in sound also depends on personal preference and can be made up for by using a different mouthpiece.

" Really gets me excited" . Well said Nigel!

At last, an evaluation of 2 horns that I can agree with. Thank you.

1. PMXA-67R
2.Le Bravo 200

Here's a thought, I found that I made better progress faster on a 'better' horn than I now have. Could this be purely psychological ?

this back to back at the end , really showed a good comparison, which made me, to like the R over the Bravo

I actually prefer your sound on the LeBravo. It just seemed to have a tighter core and came across as more expressive. What mouthpiece set up were you playing on this?

The ale Bravo 200 sounds brighter and not as warm and the high end can be a bit shrill and grating. The 67R is the one I prefer for sure

I have the PM on Tenor and I LOVE IT!! Best 1000€ I've spent in my life, yes, you heard right, 1000€ brand new, I even asked the shop owner why half price and told me it was the only one he had and PM was discontinuing the model...

I upgraded to PMXA-67R in vintage over 2 years ago from my beginner's Jean Paul alto. BTW, the vintage finish looks 1000 times better in real life than on any picture/video I've seen. Love the looks to the bits. PM looks absolutely stunning, mechanics is so smooth, keywork is faultless, pads never stick but from the very first moment it was way more difficult to play especially in the high register. Having paid 5 times as much money on the upgrade as previous beginners sax, the stunning beauty arrived so I had big expectations for the sound - I jumped to play it and my disappointment could be any bigger. I thought so many times that I made a huge mistake upgrading, making my learning much more difficult. I got used to it after a few months - the looks of this instrument is so amazing that I just kept persisting. After 2 years+ I still think it's significantly more difficult to play and I know people who have given up on them going back to something easier to play, so probably not the best beginner's choice.

The sound/tone of a Saxophone is governed by the mouthpiece and the reid. Rolled tone holes stiffen the tone hole edge and stops it from vibrating. Rolled tone holes interfere with air flow through the tone hole. As it introduces another edge.

Welcome to P. Mauriat Nigel 😁🎷🤟

I owe the P. Mauriat 76 2nd edition alto GL and its a great saxophone. Gorgeous sound and it looks great.

I did find the 67r having a more fuller sound, but the Le Bravo 200 was very good. Honestly, if you can afford it, go for the 67r and hopefully, you won't have that feeling to need to upgrade anything after that. Otherwise, go for the Le Bravo. If you want a bit darker sound, then you could probably get that through a change in mouthpiece setup. The one model fron P. Mauriat I would skip would be the 76 Series. I play tested it and it never appealed to me. It didn't sound much different from the Le Bravo and it is almost as expensive as the 67r. Not worth it, IMHO.

Really close for me but the 67r's won

The very second Nigel began playing P Mauriat 67R, I reacted, "Oh, this one has rolled tone holes." It's quite audible from the sound of it. In the video Nigel also asked if the rolled tone holes make audible difference? They do. The sound is more "enveloping" or 3D in quality. It's more nuanced because the sax reacts faster to even the subtlest airstream. Playing pianissimo is easier, and legatos are smoother, dynamics (very quiet to very loud) more controllable, long notes are more even (pitch is more stabile). If you play a good saxophone with rolled tone holes for a wile, switching back to straight holes saxophone is difficult.

When I started playing the sax, I had a Jupiter 700 series. The action was stiff and it was heavy. I struggled with it, especially because I have long fingers and arms. So, I had a hard time learning how to relax while developing any skill on the instrument.

I switched to tenor and bought a P Muriat Le Bravo 200. I found that it not only suited my body type ergonomically, much better than the alto but I really enjoyed playing it and finally started to relax and develop.

I was so impressed with how well it played and how solidly it is built that I bought the alto model too, trading in theJupiter.without hesitation. Absolutely no regrets!

I enjoy playing both and can't believehiow much I dreaded playing the alto, before.

I am a huge fan of the brushed finish of the instruments. It's incredibly attractive and people compliment me in them all tge time! I don't care much for the highly polished, lacquered finish. Never have.

Unless I really have the need to upgrade , I'll be sticking with these instruments but if I do, I'll definitely check out the higher end models.

Can a pro use a intermediete horn and be great?. Or do you absoulte need to get a pro horn. I play on the Yamaha yas 480 which is a intermediete or atleast thats what it is labeled as but do I need to upgrade at somepoint.

Great review my favourite is the 67RX Influence with rolled tone holes & nickel key touches - could I ask what headphones your using they look superb

Me gustó el LeBravo. Tiene un timbre interesante para funky

They both sounded good but l would buy a saxophone without adjustment screws.

The intermediate sounded brighter.

The 67R is darker. The sound is bigger, and rolled tone holes have my attention. Why I love my Martin Indiana. The LeBravo is brighter, and I could hear less resistance when you were playing. I prefer the 67.

The 67 was richer and warm.

LaBravo. Nice.

Wishing you much success in 2024!

Funny story. Just bought a 40 year old Vito (Yamaha yas-23) to have while I fix my JP AS-400.
Playing it and discovering this machine defines me. Surprise.
Probably how I would react to the LaBravo.

Bit of a shock. Did a quick fix on my neighbour's Selmer Super Action 80: it doesn't have adjustment screws for the right hand stack.
Keep up the good work