I'm definately not an expert when it comes to Yanagisawa, but I have played several over the years, and they are great horns. The original Yanagisawas were basically Japanese copies of the Selmer Mark VI. I think the first Yanagisawas appeared here in the US around 1973. LeBlanc was importing them from Japan, and recently Selmer bought LeBlanc, and now they own the distributorship. I don't think the older Yanagisawas are particularly valuable. I haven't seen too many for sale, but the ones that I have seen on Ebay, etc. sold for relatively low prices. They're known for having excellent intonation, and they play very well. You just might find one at a bargain price if you shop around! The older 12M's often bring good money. It's so hard to find one in good condition that doesn't sell for an arm and a leg! I bought one on Ebay a while ago that had belonged to a school. I bought it cheap, but it needs a lot of repair; more than I had anticipated. I've started working on it, but I'm not sure if I am going to repair it, or just use it for parts. I just finished restoring a 1930 Conn New Wonder Series II (Mulligan) baritone sax. I've played it a little. I don't play baritone very often, but I have a King Zepher that I really like.

I've restored a Yani A4 alto from 1975 and used to own a Yani bari from the early 1980's. Both were fantastic players. I miss the bari a lot, but it's in good hands and I used the dough to buy something I play a lot more often. If I look to get another bari down the road, it will either be an early Yani or a Keilwerth SX. Early Yanis are great bang for the buck - especially the stencils. I play a '77 Vito soprano made by Yani (a Mark VI copy) and it's a heavenly player as well as an affordable pro quality horn.