I purchased this alto saxophone in 2010. In 2009 Yamaha created a special Custom Z to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of producing instruments to the US. They made 50 trumpets, 50 trombones, and 150 alto saxophones called The black Phoenix. What is special about these instruments is that the lacquering was done on the inside as well as the outside. Most lacquered saxophones that I have seen over the years only have it on the outside while the inside of the bell has the nickel, brass, or whatever alloy was used exposed. My saxophone in particular is in near perfect condition. I only played it for most of 2010 and a couple times after that. Haven't played it since 2016. Everything is still original on the saxophone and I had to repairs done to it whatsoever. There is some small oxidation on the closed tone holes particularly on the bottom of the sax. A few of the pads on the top have some saturation from my saliva when I played it in college. Apart from that everything is pristine. There is no nicks, scratches, or bumps whatsoever. All the gold engraving especially the phoenix with a tuning fork in its mouth looks just as great as it did when I first bought it. Apart from this article from Yamaha from 2009: https://usa.yamaha.com/news_events/2009/20090107_yamaha-ushers-in-a-new-era-with-the-limited-edition-black-phoenix-instruments_us.html I have seen little to no information about this line currently. As far as I can tell all the instruments are out of circulation and there hasn't been one on an online auction for quite sometime or even a music website.

I purchased this instrument from Groth Music in Minneapolis in 2010. I was researching black lacquered saxophones and this instrument was the one I was set on. When I walked into the store that day I wasn't expecting this instrument to be on display since there is only 150 of them. The salesmen said they purchased 3 of them and arrived a month or so before I bought mine. I am the only person who has used this instrument to my knowledge.