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Superb Selmer Intermediate Alto Sax





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Optimized for smooth action and superior tone, the Selmer SAS511 is an outstanding intermediate alto saxophone that boasts many of the advanced features found on the company’s professional models and supplies the ergonomic keywork, precise intonation, responsiveness, and solid tonal core required to help advancing saxophonists progress. The acoustic response of the Selmer SAS511 is quick and fluid through all registers, serving up a beautiful, complex tone with strong projection. As with all Selmer saxophones, exceptional build quality and playability are baked in, giving you an instrument that faithfully conveys every nuance of expression in your playing. Many seasoned pros credit the critical time spent with their Selmer intermediate model as foundational to their successful careers. If you’re an alto player ready to take the next step in your musical evolution, the Selmer SAS511 is an excellent choice.





An advanced design worthy of the Selmer name





Selmer’s expert design of the SAS511’s neck, tone hole system, and bore taper facilitates perfect intonation and tonal flexibility. Additionally, the instrument’s post-to-rib construction generates a quick response with moderate resistance while maintaining the rich tonal complexity of the inimitable signature “Selmer sound.” The hand-adjusted neck sports a specially designed bore taper that promotes a ready response and greater control, focusing your notes and providing a more compact landing zone for intonation. Combined with Selmer’s 1-piece, hand-hammered bell, this facilitates the ongoing development of air stream and embouchure that will serve you well in the years ahead. To guarantee long-lasting pad-seating accuracy, the tone holes have been precision leveled using a proprietary 3-phase process.





Advanced ergonomics for comfort and performance





Lavish attention has been paid to the key layout’s advanced ergonomics to ensure ease of reach, while the light, fast, and responsive action is powered by blued steel needle springs ? the professional standard for durable, perfectly tensioned keywork. Featuring a full range to high F#, the SAS511 leverages high-quality power-forged keys and the iconic Selmer tri-point bell brace. Working seamlessly as a system, these state-of-the-art features guarantee consistent, stable seating of the acoustics-enhancing Pisoni Pro leather pads ? another industry standard. The SAS511 also features metal resonators that work in tandem with the Pisoni pads to provide a leak-free, airtight fit while delivering a big, assertive tone that brings your notes to life.





Quality and versatility to go the distance





Saxophones designed for the up-and-coming player should provide a smooth transition from student models. They should also introduce professional features that enhance the myriad of playing techniques, from embouchure and wind control to fingering, that collectively produce the unique sound you are developing. With its smoothly ergonomic keywork and responsive action, the SAS511 provides a sturdy platform for improving your fingering technique. As accessible as it is exceptional, the Selmer SAS511 is an ideal intermediate alto saxophone, providing a primed canvas for forging your signature sound. Advancing saxophonists who play both classical and jazz, for instance, can choose an appropriate mouthpiece and reed to customize their horn for the music at hand. However you set it up, the SAS511 delivers a fluency of tone with a crisp transition between notes. The solid tonal core delivered by the SAS511 owes much to the instrument’s ribbed body construction.





The benefits of ribbed body construction





Integrating the multiple key posts into a single plate, so-called “ribbed” body construction gives the tube higher mass (and hence more rigidity and durability) and requires somewhat more effort from the player. This makes the horn blow with moderate resistance while delivering a solid fundamental with rich tonal color. For experienced student, intermediate, and pro saxophonists with a more developed embouchure and sound concept, it’s a definite advantage. Although post-to-rib construction typically presents a slightly increased initial resistance, it effectively gives you another level of resonance ? an extra “gear,” if you will ? to blow through for additional dynamic range and expression. Simply put, you can push the Selmer SAS511 further, and it will go exactly where you want it to go.





Outstanding value





The Selmer SAS511 offers legendary Selmer quality at an amazingly affordable price. Crafted from premium materials, the SAS5111 is available in several beautiful finishes graced with fresh new hand engraving based on the iconic Selmer Paris Mark VI design. To protect your investment, your SAS5111 comes with a durable and attractive ballistic nylon case with padded backpack straps, a generous accessories compartment, heavy-duty handles, and an outer pocket for sheet music. Like every Selmer saxophone, your SAS5111 receives a professional setup before being play tested and adjusted for optimal performance at the Conn-Selmer Woodwind Center in Elkhart, Indiana.





The Selmer legacy of quality and innovation





As all modern saxophone designs are based on the Selmer platform, it’s instructive to take a look at the company’s history to understand its considerable influence on the instrument as we know it today. Conservatory-trained clarinetist Henri Selmer founded Henri Selmer Paris in 1885. Fashioning reeds and mouthpieces in his small workshop, he soon took on instrument repair and modifications, which eventually led to the design and manufacture of clarinets. In 1900, Selmer opened a retail shop in New York (the beginnings of Selmer USA). In 1922, Selmer introduced its first saxophone: the Model 22. In the ensuing decades, Selmer released industry-leading designs such as the Balanced Action, Super Action, Mark VI, and Reference 54, which have set the standard for what a modern saxophone should be. Listen to any iconic jazz recording by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, (late period) Cannonball Adderley, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis, or Joshua Redman, and you will hear one of these legendary horns in action. Delivering exceptional value at every level, from student to professional, Selmer USA and Henri Selmer Paris offer a full line of woodwind and brass instruments. Sweetwater is proud to bring you Selmer’s rich legacy of quality and innovation.





Selmer SAS511 Intermediate Alto Saxophone Features:


Premium yellow brass


Beautiful, complex tone with strong projection


Professionally adjusted for light and fast key action


Easy response


Fully ribbed body construction


Professional neck design


Auxiliary keys: front F, high F#


Modern ergonomics and responsive, power-forged keywork


Pisoni Pro treated leather pads with metal resonators


Blued steel springs


Rocking table mechanism


Adjustable metal thumbrests


Elegant hand engraving based on the iconic Selmer Paris Mark VI design


Lightweight backpack-style case included


Selmer premium hard rubber mouthpiece


Professionally play-tested and adjusted in Elkhart, IN


Selmer USA mouthpiece and ballistic nylon backpack-style case included