Can someone give me advice on which alto saxophone to get? I'm a middle aged guy

Question:

Can someone give me advice on which alto saxophone to get? I'm a middle aged guy who wants to learn to play

I plan to take lessons. I went to the music store today and to rent one is 50 bucks a month. Would it be better to go that route, or to buy a less expensive one?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am a middle-aged guy, a band director, and I used to work in sales at a music store. Percussion is my primary instrument, but I play sax a lot for the students at school. I use a 20-year-old Yamaha student model (YAS-21). It is built like a tank and produces a very acceptable tone. If it does break, parts are very easy to get and most music stores will service it. You can probably get one of these fairly inexpensively ($150-200 eBay) with little risk of being disappointed.

What is also important is starting with a good mouthpiece (Yamaha 4c or Selmer C-star) and appropriate reeds (I like Vandoren medium).

Good luck and have fun.