Back to navigation


Selmer’s Premium Student Soprano Sax





This article was


Written By





Our Product Research Team





Get to know them!





Nestled at the top of Selmer’s student saxophone range is the 300 Series. These are premium student instruments with upgraded components and features that nurture the advancing student’s development. An ideal step-up saxophone from a beginner model, the Selmer SSS311 soprano boosts students’ confidence with its 1-piece brass design and post-to-body construction, which facilitates confident fingering and ready response while reducing weight for a supremely comfortable playing experience. The SSS311’s key cups are fitted with premium Italian Pisoni leather pads for enhanced resonance, and the pads are fitted with vintage-style metal resonators that help produce a vibrant tone. The SSS311 student soprano saxophone incorporates design elements from the company’s renowned professional Selmer Paris horns to provide students with a reliable, well-made, and easy-to-play instrument that fosters proper playing technique and supports their continuing progress as musicians. Selmer has been an industry leader for well over a century, and they know how to make a superb student saxophone. The SSS311 comes complete with a premium Selmer mouthpiece and a hardshell case to protect your investment in your student’s future.





Related Videos: SSS311 Soprano Saxophone - Clear Lacquer


Outstanding value





The SSS311 leverages Selmer’s industry-leading expertise to provide students with superior ergonomics and responsiveness that delivers classic, rich and warm Selmer tone with robust projection; while the horn’s light, quick action ? a Selmer hallmark ? enables students to execute fast, demanding technical passages. Student saxophonists love the SSS311 for its smooth playability, great intonation, and expressive, sweetly lyrical sound; band directors love it for its rock-solid construction, which keeps it in the classroom and not in the shop. And parents will certainly appreciate its impressive value! With its beautiful lacquer finish, the SSS311 looks like an instrument that costs considerably more. And it plays like one, too. Selmer’s unique double setup process ensures that your saxophone plays optimally, straight out of the box. In this process, your SSS31 is professionally set up, play tested, adjusted; and then allowed to rest before being painstakingly reinspected and adjusted again by Selmer’s expert quality assurance team at the Conn-Selmer Woodwind Center in Elkhart, Indiana.





An advanced design worthy of the Selmer name





Selmer’s expert design of the SSS311’s bore taper and tone hole system facilitates perfect intonation and tonal flexibility, while the instrument’s robust post-to-body construction, with nickel-silver hinge tube rods on longer keys, keeps the keywork stable and optimally adjusted. In comparison to heavier post-to-rib construction, soldering the keys directly to the body not only reduces weight for increased playing comfort, but also generates a quicker response, putting the inimitable signature “Selmer sound” within reach of younger players. To guarantee accurate and long-lasting pad-seating accuracy, the tone holes have been precision leveled using a proprietary 3-phase process. Lavish attention has been paid to the key layout’s advanced ergonomics to ensure ease of reach, even for smaller hands. Enhanced by an adjustable thumb rest, the SSS311’s light and responsive action is powered by blued steel needle springs ? the professional standard for durable, perfectly tensioned keywork. Featuring a full range to high F#, the SSS311 uses high-quality power-forged keys to provide reliable, consistent seating of the acoustics-enhancing Pisoni leather pads ? another pro industry standard. The SSS311 also features metal resonators that work in tandem with the Pisoni pads to provide a leak-free, airtight fit while delivering a big, assertive tone that brings your notes to life.





The Selmer legacy of quality and innovation





As all modern saxophone designs are based on the Selmer platform, it’s instructive to take a look at the company’s history to understand its considerable influence on the instrument as we know it today. Conservatory-trained clarinetist Henri Selmer founded Henri Selmer Paris in 1885. Fashioning reeds and mouthpieces in his small workshop, he soon took on instrument repair and modifications, which eventually let to the design and manufacture of clarinets. In 1900, Selmer opened a retail shop in New York (the beginnings of Selmer USA). In 1922, Selmer introduced its first saxophone: the Model 22. In the ensuing decades, Selmer released industry-leading designs such as the Balanced Action, Super Action, Mark VI, and Reference 54, which have set the standard for what a modern saxophone should be. Listen to any iconic jazz recording by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, (late period) Cannonball Adderley, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis, or Joshua Redman, and you will hear one of these legendary horns in action. Delivering exceptional value at every level, from student to professional, Selmer USA and Henri Selmer Paris offer a full line of woodwind and brass instruments. Sweetwater is proud to bring you Selmer’s rich legacy of quality and innovation.





Selmer SSS311 Soprano Saxophone Features:


Straight, 1-piece design with post-to-body construction


Premium yellow brass


Rich, warm, tone with excellent projection


Beautiful, durable clear lacquer finish


Robust build quality


Light, fast key action


Advanced ergonomics for ease of reach and enhanced playability


Auxiliary keys: front F, high F#


Blue steel springs


Multiple adjustment screws


Rocking table mechanism


Adjustable thumb rest


Cold-forged keywork


Italian Pisoni pads with metal resonators


Professionally play-tested and adjusted in Elkhart, IN


Selmer premium mouthpiece, accessories, and wood shell stackable case included