A New Bari Sax?

Question:I have played the bari now for 3 years.. although i am still on the begginer sax they gave me to rent im a great player made all district and region two years in a row. I live in the Carrollton Texas area i was wondering were a good music store would be for a new sax. (i was thinking for christmas people..) i was thinking maybe an intermediate level for i will be playing in highschool next year. I was also thinking a new mouth piece although i am play on a Selmer C* right now. Well thank you!!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have played the bari now for 3 years.. although i am still on the begginer sax they gave me to rent im a great player made all district and region two years in a row. I live in the Carrollton Texas area i was wondering were a good music store would be for a new sax. (i was thinking for christmas people..) i was thinking maybe an intermediate level for i will be playing in highschool next year. I was also thinking a new mouth piece although i am play on a Selmer C* right now. Well thank you!!

First off, good job on getting into district and region bands, but don't put too much weight into them. How many other bari sax players auditioned for them? Obviously, if there were only two or three, it is kind of hard to not make it in.
As for music stores, look in the yellow pages under Musical Instruments. You are going to have a hard time getting someone from your area to know where the music stores are, and then to find your question. The odds are just too small.
You might want to consider going straight to an advanced model instrument. The intermediate ones are great, but in 2-4 years, and if you decide to continue into college, you are probably going to need an advanced or professional model saxophone. So now you have to try to sell the intermediate model (and you will take a loss on it) and then pay even more money for the next level up.
As for mouthpieces, stick with what you have. If you are getting a tone quality that you don't like, or your teacher doesn't like, then change mouthpieces. If you just want to change because you think you should, don't. Many professionals play on a C* and are quite happy with them. Personally, I don't like the tone I get on them, but mouthpieces are very much a personal opinion matter.