Thomann TSI-350 Sopranino Saxophone Reviews

Surprisingly excellent 👏🏼!

This is a great instrument and a great value for the money. However, you will have to spend another $400 on a decent sopranino mouthpiece. I was about to write a scathing review and return the instrument, but the Vandoren mouthpiece I purchased arrived and it was the 'game changer'.

You can't get a true reference on the instrument using the included 'inferior' mouthpiece. Otherwise, this is an excellent instrument at an awesome price! I've been an International Touring Musician for over 30 years and I've been observing the development of modern saxophones and technologies. This sopranino is a product of innovation and evolution. I can't wait for my Bass saxophone to arrive. If it's anything like the sopranino, I'll be a 'happy camper'!!!

Great Horn, Great Value

This is a rare instrument and allows me to play songs that would require soprano altissimo notes. It's better for this, and more natural for this instrument.

Cheap and Lovely! Buy one

The interweb will find you reviews of various Sopranino saxes and the problems with them. Using those I checked my new purchase very carefully. Looking very closely you can see slight machine marks, and the cork pads that the various keys rest on so they don't mar the body are not 100% aligned and beautiful but they most certainly do the job. The keys and how they are mounted are solid, none of the looseness you can find in reviews on the interweb.

The thing is tiny so it really does take more love and care than we have paid for to get an instrument without small imperfections.

Intonation is good, no need to buy a new mouthpiece just to get the thing to intonate. I was pleased by that, the 'quality' mouthpieces are damned expensive!

Sound? Happy so far and it really is a fun thing to play. Overblowing and bending notes is serious fun, the downside to that is some practice on long steady notes will be needed! But you knew that about a Sopranino anyway didn't you?

Very happy with my choice and I just hope the 'bug' doesn't bite to the extent I have to pay 10 times more for a Yanigasawa or Selmer...

Not the best quality

Case: good carrying case, can be set up as a backpack too

Mouthpiece: a noname mouthpiece which sounds a bit harsh (kazooish), I got a better mouthpiece which was easier to play in better intonation and with a more clear sound

Sax itself: There are some minor finishing problems in lacquering, some parts have scratches and are poorly painted, the cork was not cut properly and was falling off at the bottom. Lower notes were hard to play and open note was clearly out of tune (flat), otherwise intonation was ok. The lower valves didn't close well which can be maybe fixed but the poor intonation of the open note maybe can't be fixed.

Summary: good for fooling around, but not professional quality.

Almost bought as a bit of a joke, this economy sopranino is shockingly high quality. Despite slight manufacturing quality issues, such as visible, rough solder on some of the key work, the actual instrument functions perfectly and is surprisingly well in tune. On a level beyond cosmetics, to me it is hard to tell much difference between this instrument and a high instrument like a selmer or yanagisawa. If you just want an instrument to play with, this more than does the job.

Great for the price!

Don't be mislead by the 4-star ratings, if there was a category for "Value" this would definitely be a 5! In doing a side by side comparison with another relatively-cheap sopranino, this was not quite as refined, but then you keep in mind it was 1/3 of the price!

I purchased this in hopes to lend out to my students, and I think it will be perfect for that. It may not compare to the Yanagisawa or selmer sopraninos, but it is more than playable and will get the job done.

I was also weary of shipping an instrument from Europe to the USA, but the packaging was excellent. The instrument arrived unharmed and completely playable out of the box.

Amazingly good!

I unwrapped this tonight 5 minutes before I played for an dance practice for 2 hours, mostly solo and on the new instrument, so these are immediate thoughts and I was astonished at how well it plays.

I have played a Yanagisawa Soprano for 30 yrs [and tenor] so am comfortable playing the top end and I was really pleased with the ease of forming the notes, the intonation [I played a couple of sets with a clarinet and whilst I will get better, it was very close] and generally the build quality. The case is also very good quality.

With the supplied mouthpiece I am sure I can make it quite mellow [I used a Vandoren Classic Blue 2 reed but I will get some harder as I feel I will blow these out quickly].

The plating doesn't look like it will last that long and there are some blemishes on the finish but unless you look really closely, for the price, who cares!

Important [like the other review I read before buying] - this isn't a beginners instrument.

Customer service niggle - my credit for my last review ran out before I bought this - I didn't know there was a date on them. But never mind - if you fancy playing at the top end of the saxophone there is no reason not to buy this instrument.......