Xaphoon Standard C

Im a complete beginner to any reed instrument but I saw the Xaphoon on Thomann and thought 'For just over E70 I could get sax sounds!?!? Wow!'

As a total novice I was very surprised to get nice low sax type tones from the Xaphoon after 20-30mins or so of practice. Im somewhat used to the tin whistle and while they are very, very different, conceptually in my mind there are some similarities that make the Xaphoon not completely alien to me.

It came with the 2.5 reed which I immediately (and unintentionally) broke so Im glad of the advice from the other reviewers to get some 1.5 strength reeds. This made it easier for me to get a sound although I still have to work on my fingering and mouth shape... but its not going as bad as I expected! Its quite fun to have access to these type of sounds for this kind of price. It allows you to dip your toe into this world without investing in a full on saxophone. I appreciate it!

To echo others - get some spare 1.5 reeds. It is a little bit of a shame the finish is as rough as it is with the seams from the mold easily viewable. And a carry bag/cloth pocket would have been wonderful - its something Im going to have to source elsewhere.

All in all Im delighted to be trying out an new instrument, a new way of making sounds and something to practice and test myself with for such a great price. Im sure I need to spend many, many more hours with it bt the few I have so far have been a lot of fun.

If your considering it - its an easy one to recommend!

I was always curious how playing the sax feels, and I like its sound very much. So, without breaking the bank to get a sax which I may or may not use, I got a Xaphoon.
It's a very interesting instrument. I like the fact that it's very small and unpretentious, virtually maintenance free. Despite its size, it produces a nice full sound.
I also bought a 1.5 rico royal reed, as some have recommended for beginners. I will experiment after I become reasonably adept to see if I like that better than the original 2.5 reed.
I only rated it 4 stars for quality, because on the sides you can see the lines where the plastic was molded. However, that does not influence the playing or comfort, since you never touch that area during playing. So the finish isn't anything to write home about, but then again, you get the instrument for playing, and that it does very well.

Pros: small, nice full sound, relatively easy to learn, lots of fun, moderately priced compared to sax/clarinet;
Cons: the finish feels a little cheap (unlike 10e Yamaha recorder), it could've included a cloth bag (like aforementioned recorder).

Strong sounding instrument especially in the low range. The notes above F in the second octave are quite hard to play consistently so if you intend to play in the high register this may not be the right instrument for you.
If you haven't played a sax or clarinet before I suggest that you buy a Rico Royal 1 reed for Tenor Sax to help you get some decent notes out of this instrument. The Xaphoon comes with a 2,5 reed and to me it was very difficult to make a good sound from this reed. But with the softer reed you may have fun from the beginning and avoid many frustrations.