Mouthpieces Alto Sax Mouthpieces

[TonyK]

Hi All
I have been reading up on Mouthpieces for the ALto Sax recently. There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice on mouthpieces. Basically I am a newbie and am just learning to play the Alto Sax. Some advice says that any mouthpiece will suffice and other advice states that perhaps a mouthpiece with a smaller opening will give you greater control of the tone of sound whilst you are learning. Any advice or comments would be appreciated.
TK_Hussar

 

[Flipper2008]

I would recommend a Yamaha 4C mpc to start with, great for the new player and great for progression too, a good all round mpc.

Peace

Flipp

 

[jonf]

Agree with the wise words from Flipp. Another advantage of the Yamaha. Doesn't cost much - top value.

Welcome to the forum.

Jon

 

[daveysaxboy]

Hi and enjoy your stay here and welcome to the long and dark road of finding the perfect mouthpiece,it's never ending.

 

[AlanU]

Welcome Tony

About six months ago I started a bloke at work on saxophone by lending him an alto.
He soon bought a Conn-Selmer, (a very good instrument) and a Yahama 4C mouthpiece.
He's tried my Meyer and Link STM briefly, and as he is progressing so well I asked him to think more about tone. A week ago I lent him the Meyer and Rovner ligature to swap about with.

Today I walked in on him playing and he's sounding good on the Yamaha with standard ligature.
After discussing the permutations I came to the conclusion that he feels the Meyer and the Rovner were colouring the sound, and he preferred what seems like the 'neutral' tone of the Yamaha.

So, there you go. Horses for courses.

The Yamaha seems to have become the standard to start on.
I played his set up today, and it's fine.

 

[ukwoody]

Hi Tony,

when I bought my sax it came with cheapie mouthpiece. Both shops I went to when looking at saxes, and my initial teacher, all suggested I swap it for the Yamahah 4c mpc. It doesn't cost a fortune and gives a reasonable sound for the money.

Furthermore, if you spend a ruddy fortune on a mpc then decide the sax isn't for you you've lost loads. Also once you've progressed a bit and got used to the sound of your sax, then you can go and try another couple out until you find the one you want, ie it's soemthing to look forward to progressing to.

One other thought, I bite my mpc way way too hard. Until I rectify that, I certainly don't want to go out and buy an expensive piece only to bite the heck out of it!:shocked: and I'm sure you wouldn't.

There are so many poeple that have started on the Yam (and still use it), that it really cant be that bad.

Just my tuppence worth!

regards
woody

 

[Taz]

Hi Tony, welcome to the Caff.
I have to agree with all the good advice so far. The Yam 4 C is definitely a good "middle of the road" piece. You will be able to learn about your own sound with that one. When you feel that you know where you want to take your sax, you'll know its time to change it. (unless your happy where you are that is!) Confused? You will be

 

[TomMapfumo]

Or you could always try a Rico Graftonite - cheap as chips, and hard as nails! - currently £18.16 at Trevor Jones in Bristol, designed br Mr. Brilhart, too.

Be worth getting one for Xmas at the very least!
Tom😎

 

[ManEast]

Hi All
I have been reading up on Mouthpieces for the ALto Sax recently. There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice on mouthpieces. Basically I am a newbie and am just learning to play the Alto Sax. Some advice says that any mouthpiece will suffice and other advice states that perhaps a mouthpiece with a smaller opening will give you greater control of the tone of sound whilst you are learning. Any advice or comments would be appreciated.
TK_Hussar

The Yamaha piece is just fine, but unless you are 12 years old or less. I would rec that you buy a 5c or pos 6c. start with a 1 1/2 or 2 reed.
Also make sure you use a patch. (pref not to thick.)

 

[jonf]

Or you could always try a Rico Graftonite - cheap as chips, and hard as nails! - currently £18.16 at Trevor Jones in Bristol, designed br Mr. Brilhart, too.

Be worth getting one for Xmas at the very least!
Tom😎

Good call from Tom, these are very cheap and a bit more characterful than the Yamaha ones. Just be a bit careful with which one you get, if you decide to try one. They come in three brighnesses, A, B and C where C is the brightest, and three tip openings, 3, 5 and 7. The 7 tip opeining is a lot wider than the Yamaha and is quite a hard blow. I have a C5 which I like, but you might find a B3 or C3 is better.

Jon

 

[TonyK]

Mouthpiece Question

Hi All
Many thanks for the "sound" advice received regarding the best mouthpiece to use on an Alto Sax. I have gone for the Yamaha 4C and it sounds great. My wife, who is tone deaf (god bless her cotton socks) actually said it sounded so much smoother than the one that came with the sax.
So again many thanks for the input.
Kind regards
TonyK ;}

 

[AlanU]

Glad it worked out for you.
What is more, your Yamaha will sound better the longer you play it!

This is such an honest and homely forum. There are ones where peeps like to sound superior rather than give helpful advice.