Plays WELL above its "Student saxophone" designation.
I've played jazz sax (primarily tenor & occasional alto and soprano) for some 40 years and taught saxophone privately for more than 20. My Tenor is Selmer, my Soprano, Kessler, and the Alto is a Jean Paul AS400 "student" sax. When it comes to Altos I've played everything from Selmer, Yamaha, Yanigasawa, and Cannonball over the years and this AS400 plays WELL above its "student" title! The intonation easily rivals some of the best pro level saxes, it's keywork is fluid and near effortless, the quality of construction is amongst the best I've ever encountered and it's reliability is without rival. I will say that as with most saxes the stock mouthpiece is "disposable", but once this horn is paired with a quality mouthpiece, in my case, a SYOS Spark and quality reed, (although for a student my own recommendation would be a Vandoren mouthpiece), this sax really comes into its own! I can play the entire "standard" range to top F#, (YES, it is equipped with a high F# key), altissimo was almost effortless, all with comfort and ease, and once I figured out the individual tuning quirks of the sax on certain notes - and ALL saxes have them - and made the appropriate embrochure adjustments where needed, I was able to play EVERY note from a whisper quiet pianissimo to a screaming fortissimo and attain tonal changes from a subtle "darker" tone of a Parker or Desmond jazz style through to the cutting, bright tones of a Dave Koz or Gerald Albright without any loss of intonation or projection (where needed).
For its price point the sheer quality of this alto makes it an absolute no-brainer, as the primary instrument of choice for a semi professional performer, or, as in my case, secondary to my Selmer Tenor, and for the student, the target market of this particular sax, it's quality, playability and the superb intonation across all registers will alleviate many of the problems that students encounter when they first start to play the saxophone, allowing them to concentrate on learning the instrument.
If the performance of the Alto is a benchmark, then, although I personally haven't played the TS400 TENOR sax, I have no reason to believe the Tenor sax is of any lesser quality.
In short, while the name "Jean Paul" may not be be as well known as certain established names in the industry, that doesn't mean that the quality is any less, and in many cases I would argue it is actually superior.
If you are a parent, your child will be on a secure footing if they play this particular instrument; if you are an intermediate level player, again, this instrument will not let you down, and even as a performer it is a perfect "doubler" sax, if not even worth considering as a primary performance instrument.
I firmly believe, the "student" sax is of such high quality and plays to such a high standard, then the Jean Paul intermediate and Professional saxes, although I haven't personally had the opportunity to play these, should really raise the bar in terms of Price/Performance in that ever increasingly saturated market with saxes that, unlike the Jean Paul products, are barely deserving of the "Intermediate" and "Professional" title.
Now, what happens AFTER you purchase one of their saxes, how responsive is their customer service? I've only had to contact them once about a minor issue that my repair technician encountered during its annual service and inspection, and the response was supportive and immediate.
In conclusion, if you are seriously considering the purchase of a Jean Paul saxophone, take it from someone who has been playing and teaching the instrument for a LONG time, you will be hard pressed to find a better financial investment in a musical instrument, such is the initial quality and performance of an outstanding musical instrument.
