The 4 series shared many design elements with the 5 series. Around the time of the introduction of the 800/880 series of horns Yanagisawa began putting their name on the horns that came to the U.S. in the 1970’s and stenciled horns with the names of Martin (after purchasing Martin) and Vito (the VSP models and the Vito sopranos stamped Japan on them). Leblanc took over the distribution of Yanagisawa in the U.S. Additionally, the Buescher “Super 400″ sopranos are stencils of the S-6. Some of the most common would be Whitehall, Dorado, Astro, Carot, and Artist.

Their top of the line horns have robust features such as double arms for the bell keys.ĭuring the 1960’s and 1970’s Yanagisawa provided horns to a variety of distributors in the United States who stenciled a variety of names on them.

Today, they build around 8,000 saxophones a year available in a variety of finishes and body compositions ranging from standard Brass to Bronze to Silver which allow for a variety of tonal shadings.

As their designs progressed they began to innovate with unique features such as the introduction in 1985 of the world’s first detachable neck soprano. Their first few models showed that they were very influenced by the vintage American horns of the 1940’s and 1950’s as well as the Selmer Super Balanced Action and Mark VI. They have strived to make each model better than the last. Yanagisawa has been making quality saxophones since the introduction of their first model the T-3 in 1954.

Yanagisawa saxophone serial numbers