Yamaha YAS-62III

About the Yamaha YAS-62III

The YAS-62III's yellow brass body uses integrated key posts and a two-piece bell construction, finished in gold lacquer with hand engraving. Its new "62 Style" neck has a slightly narrower bore that's designed to let air flow comfortably so every player can reach a solid tonal core, while an improved mechanism linking the low B and C# keys keeps the low C# key closing consistently and keeps the bottom of the range responding clearly. Keywork includes the expected professional-grade hallmarks: a high F# key, an adjustable thumb hook, hard steel needle springs, and smooth, consistent action throughout. The body and neck go through an annealing process - controlled heating and cooling - that's meant to give the brass optimum density for a superior tone. It ships with a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece and a semi-hard ASC-600E case fitted with backpack straps for easier transport, replacing the older-style case used on the previous YAS-62II.

Where to buy

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Sound character of the Yamaha YAS-62III

A genuinely versatile tonal range that stretches from warm and full to bright and raspy depending on playing approach, reflecting the 62-series' long-standing reputation as a do-everything professional alto suited to classical and jazz contexts alike.

What owners of the Yamaha YAS-62III say

Dealer reviews are consistently positive, with reliability and tonal range the two most frequently cited strengths - players appreciate being able to pull both a warm, full sound and a brighter, raspier edge from the same horn depending on context. Specialist forum discussions comparing older and newer YAS-62 generations indicate an active, detail-oriented community of players tracking exactly what changed between revisions, though the full text of those discussions sits behind a paywall and couldn't be directly reviewed here.

Playability & handling of the Yamaha YAS-62III

In professional circles, the Yamaha "62" carries legendary status as the original "do-everything" professional alto saxophone - an instrument shaped by input from both classical and jazz players over its development history, equally at home in orchestral, classical solo and jazz settings. The YAS-62III specifically improves on its YAS-62II predecessor through its redesigned neck and refined key action, which together sharpen response and tone projection, while the improved low B-C# connection specifically addresses consistency in the lower register - a detail serious players notice immediately. Owners consistently praise the saxophone's reliable construction and its range, describing a palette that stretches from a warm, full tone to a brighter, raspier edge depending on how it's played, which is exactly the versatility the 62-series built its reputation on.

Recommended accessories & strings for the Yamaha YAS-62III

The included Yamaha 4C mouthpiece covers immediate playability out of the case, though many professional players eventually switch to a more personalized mouthpiece to match their desired sound. The semi-hard ASC-600E case with backpack straps makes daily transport noticeably easier than the older case style it replaced.

Technical data for the Yamaha YAS-62III

The history of the Yamaha YAS-62III

The YAS-62III represents the third generation of Yamaha's flagship professional alto line, refining rather than redesigning the acoustic identity established by the original 1979 YAS-62.

About Yamaha as a manufacturer

Yamaha entered the saxophone business in 1967, anchoring production from 1970 at a dedicated factory in Toyooka. The 62-series grew out of that early groundwork into what dealers and the company itself describe as a legendary, do-everything professional alto, shaped over decades by feedback from both classical and jazz players rather than being tuned narrowly for one genre. The YAS-62III, unveiled at the 2013 NAMM Show as the successor to the YAS-62II, represents the third major revision of that lineage - refining the neck, key mechanism and finish while keeping the fundamental tonal identity that built the 62's reputation in the first place.