Mouthpieces A Little Mouthpiece Ramble

[Nick Wyver]

About 5 years ago I bought a Lawton tenor mouthpiece (9* LW) as a backup for my usual mpc at the time - a Runyon Quantum 16. I never do a gig without at least one other mpc in the case ever since I dropped my sop one 5 minutes before a gig about 30 years ago and didn't then have a spare. Anyway, in the shop it sounded pretty good but when I got home, for some reason, I was less than impressed. Sounded too dull. Consequently it languished in the case, not getting played, until I got a Guardala MBII as my main mpc and the Quantum became the backup. The Lawton went in the basket where all my other odds and ends reside.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago. I'd bought some Marca Jazz reeds (3s) a few weeks ago but they didn't work well on the Guardala. They were a little soft and I didn't quite like the sound. Whilst rummaging around during a lesson, I spotted the Lawton and thought I'd give it a go with the Marcas since I remembered it liked a slightly softer reed than the Guardala (normally used with Jazz Select 3M). And it was good. Nice big fat sound with a bit less edge than I'm used to. So I gigged it last night. Not as noisy as the Guardala or the Quantum and the altissimo needs a bit of work on my part but pretty good and a nice change.

There we are then. Don't get rid of those old reeds and mouthpieces you thought you didn't like. Try a bit of mix and match - you might come up with a little gem.

 

[cherrybyte]

About 5 years ago I bought a Lawton tenor mouthpiece (9* LW) as a backup for my usual mpc at the time - a Runyon Quantum 16. I never do a gig without at least one other mpc in the case ever since I dropped my sop one 5 minutes before a gig about 30 years ago and didn't then have a spare. Anyway, in the shop it sounded pretty good but when I got home, for some reason, I was less than impressed. Sounded too dull. Consequently it languished in the case, not getting played, until I got a Guardala MBII as my main mpc and the Quantum became the backup. The Lawton went in the basket where all my other odds and ends reside.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago. I'd bought some Marca Jazz reeds (3s) a few weeks ago but they didn't work well on the Guardala. They were a little soft and I didn't quite like the sound. Whilst rummaging around during a lesson, I spotted the Lawton and thought I'd give it a go with the Marcas since I remembered it liked a slightly softer reed than the Guardala (normally used with Jazz Select 3M). And it was good. Nice big fat sound with a bit less edge than I'm used to. So I gigged it last night. Not as noisy as the Guardala or the Quantum and the altissimo needs a bit of work on my part but pretty good and a nice change.

There we are then. Don't get rid of those old reeds and mouthpieces you thought you didn't like. Try a bit of mix and match - you might come up with a little gem.

This has happened with with my stock Yamaha 5C, i've spent a lot of money with ed pillinger in the last 2 years + getting him to tweak a couple of old Otto Links..all good 'n' beautifully done..But suddenly, on a whim I picked up the 5C, put on a Plasticover 3.5(which I always use)...bingo..it works, sold two of the pillingers, will keep the links, and have a Runyon 9 for sale..

 

[Andante cantabile]

There we are then. Don't get rid of those old reeds and mouthpieces you thought you didn't like. Try a bit of mix and match - you might come up with a little gem.

Completely agree. I had some La Voz Ms that I found impossible to play. I then got a Rousseau R4 (I know that it has narrow tip opening) and I found that they were a pleasure to play.