GLORY E Flat Alto Saxophone with 11reeds

I bought one of these for myself and it’s perfect for a beginner. Thank you.

 This integrity to bestow to me was so superfluous and pleasing after using and getting good at clarinet from Recorder Alto was the apprise to the met venue not arm and leg costs for high finishes like a point of no rimple or mars to my sheen of Eb alto made my day Durocast .. and light any other requires used to the job to perform for fun.

The Alto E Flat is so fine and smooth to grand a perspective.

I was a seasoned Alto Sax player at least back in the day (Junior High concert band 95-97 and Middle School to High School Marching band 97-2000). I haven’t played since about 2000 and used to own a Jupiter Alto sax back in the day that was recently stolen from my storage garage in my apartment complex in 2013. I was devastated to lose my sax and have been wanting to get a replacement for a long time but the Jupiter ones are still pricey. I went back and forth on the reviews of a few of the lower priced saxes on here and wasn’t sure if I would want to get back into it fully or not. For the price this one fits the bill as it comes with everything you need for under $200. Some people have written glowing reviews and others have written poor reviews, probably as a result of higher expectations but not realizing that this is priced under $200 for all that you get. There are some good things and some bad things about this item and I’ll try to break them all down.

I went with the PR4 model which is called their professional series. Aside from the case shape difference and the color itself, I don’t know what supposedly makes this more professional than the other ones as I imagine all the includes parts are probably the same. I honestly couldn’t find any descriptions online or in the sale ad as to what makes the PR versions professional exactly. So if it’s just a case shape and a color difference and nothing else, you might as well save $40 and go with the regular models over the Professional ones. I will say that the sax itself is of very nice quality with a nice lacquer on it and the engravings are nicely done. I personally prefer the rectangle case that comes with the regular versions vs the shaped case of the professional models because there is more internal storage space, otherwise you’re kind of losing the extra storage on the professional model case. Mine was actually missing a couple of items (the single reed, the adjustment tool, and the mini screwdriver). That is somewhat of a bummer as one of the lower right pinky keys is not even with the other one that is right next to it and I would like to try and adjust the height to make them even (I believe it is the Low C key).

On some additional negatives, the original mouthpiece is actually pretty low quality and bad. Some say that they like is, and I guess it depends on the person honestly but the thing does not seem to flow very much air through it, meaning you have to blow extra hard for the notes to sound and by then you would not be able to sustain multiple notes before having to suck in and breathe again. That was disappointing but I figured as much with a low priced item and there are plenty of others who have complained about the mouthpiece. I ordered the recommended Yamaha 4C and will see if that does better. Another negative are the cheap reeds that come with these, and reviewing through the different posted pictures some people were given 2.5 reeds and the ones that came with mine are actually a size 2. From reviewing around since it has been a while, beginners are recommended at a size 2. I made sure to get the reed extra wet and boy these things are dry and flakey, somewhat fraying and just give a terrible sound. When you are blowing into them you can tell the reed itself if the cause of the sound issue. I have since bought some Rico reeds which is what I used as a kid and hope they will improve the sound as hopefully they should and as people have mentioned. With a new mouthpiece and reed combo I am hoping to have a good improvement. A last negative about the mouthpiece area involves the ligature, which seems to have poor bends in it and is poorly made and you can barely get the last bit of the screw in to tighten it.

The sax itself does not sound very good when playing and cannot seem to sustain or make out almost any of the notes I key in at all and is very squeaky in almost all notes (with the stock mouthpiece and reeds that it came with). I assume the poor sound quality is due to the mouthpiece and the reeds it comes with so I purchased the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece that was recommended as well as RICO 2.0 reeds which is what I had previously used when I was an active player. First I tried the new RICO reed with the stock mouthpiece, this gave MUCH better sound than the original reeds and there was a lot less squeak so that right there told me the reeds themselves were poor and the cause of the squeak. Next I tried the new reed on the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece, which in all honesty did not necessarily make it a whole ton better. There is a slightly different shape to the top of the mouthpiece where your upper lip and teeth would go and the reed seems to fit better with the ligature than the stock mouthpiece. But the sound quality was only slightly better, with less squeaks and I will say there was better airflow as it did not require me to force my breathe as hard through this mouthpiece compared to the original one. Now the part that made me sad about the sax then at this point was with a good reed and good mouthpiece and the squeaks eliminated, the sax seems to struggle with holding the very low notes and then cannot seem to produce the highest notes at all. There are times where it will dial itself right in on the low notes and then just flutter away when trying to sustain them. On the high notes it will not even seem to register the high F or the few notes just below that on the scale. BUT the middle ground notes seem to work just fine and sound good to me!

In all, I would give this item a 3 stars, for some of the quality issues and the missing parts but this is likely to be expected from a sax at this price range as well as the poor overall sound quality.

Pros:
-very nice packaging that it came in, packed and shipped well and very protected from any damages, and the saw and all items are wrapped and bagged nicely
-the finish is very nice on the PR4, it’s a smooth lacquer and it seems to be very nice for the price, the engraving is actually really nicely done on this one as well tho I would have preferred no flower engraving in all honesty

Cons:
-1 of the reeds was missing, came with a sealed pack of 10 but not the single one
-The adjustment tool and screwdriver were also missing
-Some minor blemishes on the PR4 professional finish
-original mouthpiece was terrible, you can feel the poor flow through it, squeaks badly
-the pack of reeds feel very frayed and poor, they do not seat well and squeak badly
-original ligature is pretty bad as well and does not fit well on the mouthpiece when there is a reed in place (almost cannot even get the threads to connect)
-some of the keys need an adjustment to be even (some of the lower right pinky keys are not even at least)
-I actually prefer the larger rectangle case that comes with the normal models as it has a larger internal pocket for items while the professional case is shaped but lesser internal storage space.
-my model did not seem to have the “jewels” people talked about on the saxophone mine instead is just empty and you can see the green fuzz from the key braces where the outside of the keys are pushed back to, no jewels which I guess would have been a nice touch.

I am a semi-pro musician. I play a lot of local town gigs and have my own band, about 2 or 3 a month, so I’m not some guy who is just getting back into the sax after 20 years and can’t play. I know what you’re thinking, “what kind of paid musician plays on this Chinese crap?” Here’s my assessment of this brand.

This is my second Glory alto sax. The first one I got was the blue with silver keys (I love that horn). I have played the blue sax for 2 years: it is in tune, has a clear sound, and the action is great. I have not had any problems with it breaking down bigger than losing a cork or 2 and by now it has a lot of miles on it. The pads are just now starting to look a little worn, and I am overstating “a little worn”…it still plays about 99% as good as it did when it came out of the box.

Now the new horn…the ENGRAVED FLOWER DESIGN-Glory High Grade Antique finish series PR4. The horn is beautiful, and just like the blue one plays near-perfect right out of the box. There is a little flutter on low C if I play below mf, but I’m gigging so no worries there! This horn is loud while still having the great, clear sound of the blue model. Every pad (EVERY pad) has a metal tone booster, so plan on playing this in a big band and not having to blow your brains out. I haven’t had much volume trouble with the blue one, but the metal tone boosters are a plus in case I don’t have a mic and am playing in a big club. Finally, the engraving is top-notch and stands out over dark silver-brush finish.

Both of these saxes were obviously meticulously set up right before being shipped, something you probably can’t say about that $3000 selmer you just got! Yes, these come off an assembly line, but so far the machinery and keywork is perfect. They are near-flawless Selmer USA clones, and this new one feels a bit closer to an SA. The action feels a little faster, and the keys are slightly lower than the blue’s (not much, but noticeable). The springs are a little stiff, but I think they are the same as the blue’s and know they will break in nicely.

Cost…come on. Get the 3-year accident protection. So the new horn cost me 275-ish altogether and if I drop it or if a key breaks or someone steps on it, I can cash in the protection for a new sax! Both saxes and I’m only in for about 550 and so far have not had to use the protection plan, but why not get it just in case when these amazing saxes are so cheap!

One more thing, this sax came in the sporty gig bag seen (black with light-blue trim). I swapped cases on my saxes to have the gig bag match my blue sax and the straight black case match my new sax. Inside it comes with a case strap, neck strap, mouthpiece (have never tried it), some reeds, cleaning cloth, silica gel, cork grease, tweezers (!) and a flat-head screwdriver.

Finally pro-level saxes for a very affordable price. Once I save a little more, I will be buying a tenor.