Thanks for the reply Bob, I'm toying with getting one from
www.studentmusicsupplies.com where they have a curly one for £199.
These horns are among those recommended by
www.shwoodwind.com as cheap Chinese examples. I have enormous respect for that site.
I did think I'd probably go for the Yamaha 4c mouthpiece, always a safe and inexpensive bet for a beginner.
I first went to Herts Jazz Club about 25 years ago, when it was upstairs at The Fountain in the town centre, where we had some great Sunday nights with Peter King, Dick Morrissey, Art Farmer, Herb Geller, Stan Tracey et al. and some of the first Jazz gigs by Alan Barnes and Gerrard Presencer who was not much more than an embryo at the time!
It seems to have lost it's way of late and looks like petering out unless someone gets a grip on it.
I haven't been there for years since splitting up with a girlfriend, who was the driver, but still keep in touch with some of the punters there.
ps. I used to really love VDG, times change.