TJ Evo alto saxophone (2024 model)

Origin: China
Guide price: £1200
Weight: 2.43kg
Date of manufacture: 2024
Date reviewed: November 2024

Well that's new!

TJ (Trevor James) have been around a fair few years now and back in the day they quickly gained a reputation as being a producer of solid and dependable student-quality saxes that competed well with the likes of Jupiter. This was obviously good news for them, but in recent years they've pushed the boat out a bit further with regard to innovation. This led to the development and production of a very successful range of professional horns (Signature Custom) as well as a bespoke range (Andy Sheppard) - and from there they've trickled that innovation down into their more wallet-friendly models. It's a good business model; it costs a lot of money to do research and development on a high-end horn, so it makes sense take the things you've learned during the process and adapt them to suit your budget models. Everybody wins.
There's also been some innovation behind the scenes in terms of production - and sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that this model is made in China rather than TJ's own Taiwanese factories. I'll admit that when I first heard about this I had some reservations. I've seen first-hand just how variable the output can be from Chinese factories - which is why the number of brands available back in the heyday of Ultra-Cheap horns has dropped from dozens in the UK to barely a handful. Retailers just got fed up of having to deal with inconsistent (or even non-existent) quality control. It soon became clear that strategies had to be put in place to ensure consistency and integrity, whether that be through having your own personnel on the shop floor...or owning the factories outright.
It's not a new idea, to be sure, but TJ's considerable experience of working within the region perhaps gives them an edge over the competition. It all sounds very grand but, for me, it all boils down to what turns up on the workbench. I've seen similar claims from other companies down the years and yet somehow it seldom translates into anything that withstands the attention of a screwdriver, a leaklight and a critical eye.

And so we have the new Evo.
It's a horn that has a lot to live up to. It has to be at least as well-built as their previous Taiwanese-built student/intermediate horns, and at the asking price it has to deliver something that raises it above the entry-level models. And on top of all that it has to compete effectively in quite a challenging marketplace. It's a tough call - but given that TJ seem to have a knack for delivering 'bang for bucks' at all levels it'll be interesting to see just how well this horn stands up to scrutiny.
So let's pop it up on the bench and see what's what.

The construction is semi-ribbed. Sort of. In fact it sits somewhere inbetween fully ribbed (whereby most of the pillars are fitted to long straps, which are then fitted to the body) and semi-ribbed (shorter straps are used, with space between them).
The Evo mixes it up a little, and combines both modes of construction with the usual collection of plates (for individual or smaller groups of keys) and a few standalone pillars - which have very generously-sized bases. The toneholes are all plain drawn, nicely finished and perhaps just a touch more level than usual. There's an adjustable metal thumb hook and a large very slightly domed thumb rest along with a usefully-sized 17.5/11 sling ring. You also get adjustable bumper felts and a triple-point bell brace along with a detachable bell.

My overall impression of the body is that it's quite sturdily-built. The pillar bases, the guard stays - they're all just that little bit beefier than the norm. And it's neatly put together too - no sloppy soldering or wobbly fittings.
TJ say that the bell is fully handmade, hammered and voiced for maximum sound quality. Handmade is nice, but I doubt it brings any tonal benefits. Ditto a hammered bell - and as for 'voiced for maximum sound quality' I have absolutely no idea what this entails...or even means. To be fair all the manufacturers push out this sort of stuff; it looks good on paper but the real proof of the pudding is in how the horn sounds. We'll find out how it fares later...

This model is finished in a deep gold lacquer but it also comes in a variety of finishes, including a frosted black, silver or gold and a black body with gold keys. There's a nice bit of engraving on the bell and bottom bow for those of you who like that sort of thing.

While it's true to say that body tweaks are largely subjective, the keywork is an entirely different kettle of fish. It's something you can (quite literally) put your finger on. It was immediately clear (to me, at least) that quite some thought had gone into the design. For example, you get a full set of concave proper mother of pearl finger touches on the main stack action along with a slightly domed Bis Bb pearl (very nice) - and while the side/chromatic F# and G# touchpieces are plain brass ovals, they've been very slightly dished. Now that's a nice feature - it gives you just a little more of a positive feel under the fingers.

Another nice feature is the captive fork and pin connectors on the side Bb and C keys. If you've read a number of my reviews you'll know that I'm a big fan of 'F&P' connectors because they're simple, they're reliable and they're rugged. Making them captive changes absolutely nothing about they way they work, it just means they look a bit nicer - and from a practical point of view you're less likely to catch your clothing on them.
Another nice touch is that they've wrapped synthetic felt around the inside of the fork to keep the mechanism quiet (side key connectors are often a cause of rattles). This isn't an afterthought - someone's designed that fork to be large enough to accommodate the thickness of the felt. I like that, it shows that someone's been thinking about the design.

There's a full set of regulation adjusters on both the upper and the lower stacks keys, which makes adjusting the horn so much easier for repairers and brave/skilled home tweakers. You also get the usual trio of adjusters for the G#, Bis Bb and the low C#. There's a comfy teardrop touchpiece for the front top F, the usual tilting bell key table and swivelling octave key mechanism with a wraparound touchpiece and double cup arms on the low C and C# keys.
I quite like this arrangement. It's more common to see double arms on the low C, B and Bb - and while having them on the low C is a no-brainer I tend to feel that they're less useful on the low B/Bb than they are on the low C# because I often have to bend a low C# key cup back into place after it's copped a knock. Of course, it's nice to see double cup arms on all the bell keys - but for a horn pitched at this price-point in the market it makes sense to concentrate on beefing up the vulnerable keys.

And speaking of points we're onto my favourite bugbear - the point screws.
These presented me with the biggest surprise because they're proper point screws - with a taper and everything! Absolutely brilliant! It means that the point screw action can be adjusted to take up any wear and tear down the years - which also means these keys stay smooth and responsive down the years, and you don't have to spend out quite so much on having the action tightened. It's a killer feature.
But what about the rod screw action? Well, I had a good poke and a prod around the keywork and found just two very slightly wobbly keys. And when I say very slightly I mean very - certainly not enough to bother with tweaking. This is impressive. Coupled with the proper point screws the action on this horn is nice and tight. I've seen sloppier actions on many a much more expensive instrument - and not many at this price point that can match what's on this horn. Top marks there, and them some.

I'm gonna grab some back for the pads though. Not perhaps the pads themselves. These are TJ branded pads - possibly made in-house(?) - and as they don't really have as much 'history' as, say, a Pisoni pad it's kind of hard to say how good they are. They look the part though and seem to be of medium-firm density.
However, they've skimped a bit on the ol' glue (hot melt glue in this instance). There's a bit more in the key cups than I've seen on some other horns but still not quite enough.
Here's the low Eb pad, and you can see that the glue is concentrated in the centre of the pad. This means the pad is unlikely to fall out, but there's little or no support around the edge of the pad. It won't be a huge problem...for a while - but once the pads have gone for a year or so of wetting and drying out there's a good chance that one or two of them will need resetting. Without any glue around the edges of the pads, any adjustments made are less likely to hold up over time.
It could be better.
I had a feeling that this would be remedied once TJ got wind of the review, but I thought I'd drop them a line because I wanted to ask about the pads. And yep, sure enough, they'd already sussed out and sorted the glue issue - and added that the pads are made in-house to a slightly better spec than their original pads along with neater reflectors/resonators than on this example. They also have plans to make pad sets available, which'll be handy.

The corkwork is neat and tidy. Actually, there are very few corks on this horn - most of the buffers are synthetic felt, which is a definite step-up at the asking price. It means the action runs a little quieter without sacrificing precision over time. I've no complaints about that.

The blurb says the horn sports "Redesigned blued steel springs'. I had a good look at the springs but failed to spot anything that had been redesigned. Let's face it, they're called needle springs because they look like needles. What's to redesign? I suspect what this means is that the length (and perhaps the diameter) of the spring has been changed - and this would have a marked affect on how the action felt and performed.

The whole outfit comes in the usual semi-soft shaped case, complete with the usual zippers. There's space in the case for the crook and the mouthpiece (separate slots), a double accessory pocket on one side and a backpack strap pocket on the other. It's not a bad case in terms of the inner protection it affords, but I just don't like zips (call me old-fashioned).

Under the fingers the action feels smooth and responsive. It has to be said, the setup was really rather good - about the only thing I tweaked on this horn was the tension of the low C key spring. It ran a little stiff for my liking. But that's it. Not bad for a factory setup...not bad at all.

I blew this horn when it came in, fully expecting it to perform in much the same fashion as any other horn in this price bracket - and indeed much the same as all the other Evos I've worked on in the past.
I got three notes in and then stopped dead out of complete surprise. And then I said "What a little beauty!" I blew it a bit more, stopped, looked at it and raised my eyebrows. I never expected this.
At the £1300 price-point pretty much any new horn you pick up is going to sound broadly the same as any other. You can expect a moderately bright presentation (which makes the horn feel lively, but not too bright) and a reasonably-balanced midrange (which gives it a bit of oomph). You won't quite get the subtleties that a more expensive horn brings but the tone will be 'juicer' than bottom-end budget horns. What you tend not to get at this price-point is anything very distinctive - it's all 'Just OK'. Unless you have one of these horns.

Tonewise it presents itself as an alto that takes a noticeable step towards the warmth and breadth of a tenor - and what's surprising about this is that it's a feature that only tends to crop up on very expensive horns (Borgani, Keilwerth) and vintage ones (Holton 666 etc.). Finding it on a modern intermediate horn is quite a surprise. Quite a nice surprise at that. I'm told that TJ did a fair bit of work on the design of the crook, so I would think that this is where most of the depth of tone comes from along with a few tweaks to the body tube.

It's actually quite hard to describe the presentation. It's definitely not naturally bright (like the Yamaha) but neither is it stuffy. It's not brittle, but neither is it woolly. It's...solid, meaty, sturdy. It's got a well-defined core to it which just seems to hang on there no matter which way you push it.
It really is a lot of fun to play.

It's been decades since I retailed horns but I can still recall the times that players would come into the shop to try a few horns, assisted by friends or parents who'd act as a second pair of ears. When it came down to the line someone would always say "I think you sounded better on that horn".
I reckon this is where the Evo will clean up.

I also feel it'll clean up on versatility because it's often easier to brighten up a dark-toned horn (should you so wish to) than it is to mellow out a bright one. So if you want to knock out some sultry jazz licks - it'll do that...and if you want to go head-to-head with a rock guitar solo, it'll do that too. And here's another interesting angle. If you're a player who hankers after more of a vintage tonal approach, but don't want to deal with the associated complications and costs then this might be a horn that's worth trying.
The tuning's fine too. It's a modern horn. I don't think anyone gets it wrong these days.

The price-point on this model is competitive. You have the stalwart Yamaha 280 and the Buffet 400 at around a grand - but beyond that there's really not much else (other than yet more TJ horns) until you reach £1500. Going up against the Yamaha takes some doing; you have to at least match the build quality...and then offer something else on top. On the first point the Evo does so comfortably - and on the second it has a whole assortment of features that the Yamaha lacks. And then there's the tone. Now, I love the presentation of the Yamaha. It's bright and punchy - just what I like from an alto. But that's me, and plenty of other players prefer their altos to be rather more richly-toned. If that's your preference then the Yamaha is pretty much dead in the water, and I think you'll be hard put to find a horn that squares up tonally with the Evo for less than a couple of grand.
So we have a delightfully distinctive alto with a solid build quality and some very nice design features, all backed by a very reputable company. It sets a new standard at the price...and it's a winner - no two ways about it.