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Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: A fantastic reference that answers most of a newbie's questions in 116 short, easily read pages! I just bought an old Martin Indiana and was lucky I had an honest dealer--she's a beaut of a horn--but had I known about and read this book before buying, I would have been a much savvier buyer. This book certainly pays for itself in helping you avoid the pitfalls that lack of experience harbors. For those of you who have a horn already, this is a wonderful reference with advice on reeds/mouthpieces/care of the instrument/history of the sax and there's even a chapter on sax resources such as magazine/internet sources. This is a remarkably quick and easy read yet has a good amount of detail. A great value.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: A fantastic reference that answers most of a newbie's questions in 116 short, easily read pages! I just bought an old Martin Indiana and was lucky I had an honest dealer--she's a beaut of a horn--but had I known about and read this book before buying, I would have been a much savvier buyer. This book certainly pays for itself in helping you avoid the pitfalls that lack of experience harbors. For those of you who have a horn already, this is a wonderful reference with advice on reeds/mouthpieces/care of the instrument/history of the sax and there's even a chapter on sax resources such as magazine/internet sources. This is a remarkably quick and easy read yet has a good amount of detail. A great value.
Rating:
Summary: Beginners... this is your startpoint
Review: Even in the unlike case that you've never even hold a sax in your hands and wants to learn to play, this book will guide you from scratch. It deals with every aspect of the instrument, from its history to a synopsis of each of todays renowned brands. You will learn the nuts and bolts in choosing a new or used instrument, how to care and mantain it and which accessories to pick. Advice: it does not cover musical issues, just the very basic fingering, so you'll need some other book also if you want to learn tunes.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: I've been play (or struggling) with the sax for 10+ years. Wish I had bought this book 10 years ago. "Secrets from the Temple" might have been a better name. Everything you wanted to know but didn't know who to ask.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: I've been play (or struggling) with the sax for 10+ years. Wish I had bought this book 10 years ago. "Secrets from the Temple" might have been a better name. Everything you wanted to know but didn't know who to ask.
Rating: 
Summary: Slightly disappointing
Review: If you're looking for a short, concise saxophone primer that's suitable for the novice, this is it. The book is very concise and looks like a brochure (long and narrow). It covers the absolute basics -- buying, assembling, playing, disassembling and cleaning your horn. It's nothing an advanced player needs to buy. I'm an intermediate player, and there were only a few tidbits (on buying saxophones and sax parts) that I hadn't heard before. Bottom line: If you're a novice, buy it. If you're not, look elsewhere for additional material.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly disappointing
Review: If you're looking for a short, concise saxophone primer that's suitable for the novice, this is it. The book is very concise and looks like a brochure (long and narrow). It covers the absolute basics -- buying, assembling, playing, disassembling and cleaning your horn. It's nothing an advanced player needs to buy. I'm an intermediate player, and there were only a few tidbits (on buying saxophones and sax parts) that I hadn't heard before. Bottom line: If you're a novice, buy it. If you're not, look elsewhere for additional material.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect book for beginners
Review: If you're starting out on saxophone, this book is an absolute gem. A pocket guide crammed full of very interesting and highly relevant stuff - you'd take weeks on the internet to find all this information out. And you'll find that as you develop as a musician, and want to get more out of your instrument, you'll refer to it again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: For Beginners+
Review: The size of this book may puzzle you first; it resembles an airline timetable or a travel guide. However the 132 pages promise a lot of content. This book is a really delightful surprise. Besides the fact that the print quality and typography is superb, the subject is thoroughly covered and illustrations are well rendered and informative.
The author Hugo Pinksterboer has utilized well-known European and American experts. I find myself going back to various sections again and again. They briefly cover the history and development of the saxophone, playing tips for beginners and practical tips for maintenance and even for traveling with the sax. What is really useful is the saxophone selecting and buying advice with price indications in U.S. dollars.
The web site, www.tipbook.com ties closely to this book. The book contains a total of 29 numbered "tipcodes" referring to the respective codes on the web site. This is an excellent way to refer to sound samples of various pitch saxophones, video clips on attaching and adjusting reeds, etc.
Who should buy this book? This should definitely be the first book to land in the hands of a newcomer to the saxophone world. All the necessary information is there. A more experienced player planning to replace his/her rental instrument or inherited sax will also find the instrument core sections valuable. There are also some interesting "exotic" tid bits, e.g. an alternative for the neck strap for supporting a saxophone (page 94). To top it off there is as an excellent combined Glossary and Index and reference section including magazines, books, organizations and saxophone web sites.
I own several saxophone instruction books and have reviewed a fair amount of them. The Tipbook: Saxophone stands out in its practical approach, covering various aspects of buying, owning and using the saxophone. As mentioned above, even it's size is practical. The book will travel in a tenor saxophone accessory box or inside the bell of an alto sax, if you want to bend it. Even advanced players may find some interesting tidbits; the beginner and intermediate player will certainly profit from this book and its associate web site as well as band directors and teachers.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs proof-reading
Review: What should be an excellent beginners book has a few too many substantive errors to really get top recommendation: Page 40 - "Low A Baritones are still Bb Instruments!" They are Eb horns!! Page 55 - "HP Instruments are about an inch shorter than saxes with standard tuning; low pitched instruments are about an inch taller." - The length is proportional to saxophone's size, and there is only "HP & LP", not "HP, Standard and LP". Page 112 (Mouthpiece Manufacture) - "The final steps include corking and stamping." Saxophone Mouthpieces are not corked. There are others, and errors in the website's corresponding Tips. An experienced player would gloss right over these woopsies, but they deserve the editor's review and correction a second edition. This series is done in several languages, and at revision perhaps the translation could be polished. This book would still be a nice gift book for a young student, but not really a substitute for the "must own" saxophone works a student will really need.
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