hi ,,, my name is alex ^_^ im playing the alto sax for a year now, and my sax is only a fernando, but i love the sound of it bec it has a very rich big sound, i dont know if its the effect of the gold plating, but im quite happy with what happened to the sound, i dont know if thats what you think if you tried it, but im quite happy with the sound. When i started playing the sax it turned out that its not hard as it looks like, its very fun and the sound is very relaxing, when i was on my 2nd month of playing it i was heard of my neighbor during my practice session at home, and was asked to play to audition to play ffor a wedding with the band, luckily i was accepted to play, ^_^ so it was cool, im still not that good at that time, bec im just trying to learn some style for adlibs, but it turned out fine and the bride loved it, and i was intorduced to the brides niece's band, and on my 3rd month i started playing in bars in mandaluyong, ^_^ so i was very proud of my skill and the fast result of my practice, even my band members cant believe that i was only a 3month amateur back then, after that i was hired by the mayor of marikina as a member of her personal band (Marithes Carlos Fernando) and unhtil now still enjoying of playing it ^_^ im having troubles now in doing is hitting the altissimo notes accurately especially the G and G#, i squeekwhen i try to hit those notes,, does any have a technique so i can hit altissimo notes at ease and accurately?? ^_^ thnx!!!!!