Thomann TAS-180 Alto Sax

Un prodotto di grande qualità per il prezzo pagato, migliore di altri competitor nella stessa fascia.
Ho acquistato questo sassofono contralto per iniziare ad approcciarmi allo studio dello strumento: il mio insegnante (un jazzista con decenni di esperienza) è rimasto piacevolmente impressionato dalla qualità del TAS-180 in relazione al suo costo, tanto da iniziare a consigliarlo a molti studenti come primissimo sax.
Abbinato a un mouthpiece di discreta qualità, si ha tra le mani uno strumento completo in tutto per tutto, non professionale ovviamente ma ideale sia per lo studio che per jam session.
Dopo qualche mese d'uso si notano le differenze con uno strumento di fascia alta, come il portavoce non perfettamente posizionato o la leggera "scattosità" di alcuni tasti alla prima pressione, ma nel complesso non ci si può proprio lamentare.
Altamente consigliato.

I might start with saying that this is my first sax, but some very experienced players helped me buy it and tested it themselves. In short, they remained quite impressed.
The instrument looks absolutely stunning, almost like a Selmer to my eyes, it's really impressive at first sight.
As I said, I don't have that much experience with saxophones, but it also feels quite alright, maybe a little heavy, but definitely without anything out of place. The build quality proved itself quite robust, in one year of intensive use I didn't manage to break anything!
It's also quite playable, I couldn't find any problems to this point. The keys may not have the best feeling action, but I guess no one expects that for this price. These impressions were confirmed by two experienced players.
The sound is quite good, even though not exceptional, but I'd say good enough to start and continue with for some time. It doesn't sound its best with the stock mouthpiece and reed, very metallic and somehow artificial, but that's easy to solve. Like many, I now use the Yamaha 4C and a Vandoren 2.0 reed, and it magically sounds way warmer, rounder and smoother. It's still a quite general sound, though, don't expect it to lean into any specific genre.
Apart from the stock mouthpiece and reed, I also find the neck strap quite cheap, it disturbs after long hours of playing. But that's also an easy fix.

PROS:
- The price
- The sound (for the price)
- The build quality
- The looks

CONS:
- The mouthpiece, reed and neck strap

Overall, I found it to be a goodish sax in general terms and a very good one when related to its price. I wouldn't buy it again with my skill level (I'd obviously spend a little bit more), but if I would start again from scratch this would be my first choice.