Yanagisawa AWO1 Alto Saxophone

Yanagisawa AWO1 Alto Saxophone

The New Standard in Professional Alto Saxophones

Yanagisawa is a specialty manufacturer of professional handmade saxophones — a small factory blending old-world craftsmanship with modern design and performance. The AWO1 is a remarkable instrument that builds upon the exceptional A9 series, offering immaculate intonation, superb build quality, and a full palm key plate mount.

The WO Series represented the first major redesign of the Yanagisawa alto saxophone in over 20 years. The AWO1 sits at the entry point of this celebrated lineup, and is the most affordable in the Yanagisawa line of professional alto saxophones — though make no mistake, it is a true professional, handmade instrument.

Sound & Response

The AWO1 delivers a rich, dark tone with enhanced ergonomics and mechanical purity. Say goodbye to compromising tone for response and intonation — the AWO1 delivers it all. All new WO Series saxophones feature a newly engineered bore and tone holes, helping achieve easier response and even more precise intonation. The brass material itself has been elevated — the WO Series saxophones benefit from a newly designed, newly engineered, and specially sourced brass alloy for improved sound and sonority.

Key Mechanism & Ergonomics

Every aspect of the AWO1's keywork has been refined for speed, comfort, and reliability.

Redesigned Front F & Side Keys: The front F key has been redesigned for a better feel, and additional feet have been added under the right side key levers (B, C, and high E) for a better touch.

Fluororesin Octave Mechanism: Lost motion is eliminated and smooth octave-key action is ensured by rounding the octave rocker ends and adding a fluororesin-coating. This non-stick coating provides longevity to the mechanism over years of heavy use.

C# – Bb Connected Table Keys: The seesaw link between the C# and Bb table keys facilitates faster, smoother fingering technique.

Sway-Free F-Auxiliary Key: This enhancement dampens vibrations in the right-hand F# key, stabilizing the notes in the lower register.

White Shell Key Touches: Indented mother-of-pearl key touches give the fingertips a more natural fit and feel, and are less slippery than plastic.

Construction Highlights

Single-Post-to-Body Construction: The AWO1 features single-post-to-body construction, reducing weight significantly for quicker response.

Palm Key Plate: Previously only available on the 99-series saxophones, the WO Series addition of the palm key plate delivers high-range resonance, acoustic depth, more projection, and improved intonation stability.

Metal Reflectors: Metal reflectors are an improvement from the standard plastic reflectors, adding clarity to the tone and improving playing response across the whole dynamic range.

Waterproof Air-Tight Pads: Yanagisawa's waterproof pads are airtight, providing complete confidence in the instrument's tonal integrity, and the waterproof material offers a greatly extended pad life.

Metal Adjustable Bell Key Buffers: The buffers used on the bell keys are metal, offering increased longevity and accuracy over plastic, and are fully adjustable.

Hand-Engraved Bell: WO1 series saxophones feature a uniquely styled, hand-engraved pattern on the bell, lending the instrument a distinctive, artisanal character.

Who Is It For?

Yanagisawa professional models are free-blowing, with a resonant tone, and deliver a superb performance across all musical genres. Simply put, the AWO1 is one of the finest values in the professional saxophone market — a handcrafted Japanese instrument built without compromise, at a price that makes professional-grade playing genuinely accessible.