Saxophones Best Tenor sax for Rock and roll??

Is their a tenor that is more geared for rock and roll type music playing..? Or tenors that lend themselves better to this particular kind of music?

Same question for mouthpieces too...

I am looking at a Top Hat and Cane at an excellent price, but I am not sure if that is geared for rocking out or is it?

The Martin Tenor is another I'm looking at.1948?

Cannonball's weigh quite a bit. Yamaha's?
Conn 10mm?
any other thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.. Many thanks, Frank
 
The sensible answer is no. Any old tenor will do. There's no such thing as a rock and roll sax - or classical, jazz, etc. either.
Same with mouthpieces. I might suggest a high baffle mouthpiece would be best for the job but someone (Colin probably) will say that's rubbish and you can do it perfectly well with a Selmer S80. You pays your money...
 
I think NIck is right. Ok, some saxes are not the best rockers. A Klingsor (Hammerschmidt) is not the best R&R horn. It not loud enough.
For some years ago I met a Rocksax guy that was sounded the same on most mouthpices he played. But it needs a real dedicated player to play Rocksax on a "classical" mouthpice (no baffle, big chamber, wide opening) with # 5 orange reeds. One of the loudest player I have ever heard.

Clarence Clemons said something like : Rocksax is more about to unleash the animal inside you! Less about excersises and equipment.
 
What one player can play on one set up may not be possible for another. If you want something that will let you play loud and raucous then The Rico metalite is a great piece for very little money. It's a high baffle piece with a medium chamber. There's a clip on you tube of a guy playing classical baritone with one which surprised me.

Anything will do. Just growl a lot and bend them blue notes.

If you're playing through a PA a lot can be done with mics and electronic gizmo's
 
The sensible answer is no. Any old tenor will do. There's no such thing as a rock and roll sax - or classical, jazz, etc. either.
Same with mouthpieces. I might suggest a high baffle mouthpiece would be best for the job but someone (Colin probably) will say that's rubbish and you can do it perfectly well with a Selmer S80. You pays your money...

I wouldn't ever say that any of your posts were rubbish. Your experience and opinion is always valid, insightful and honestly expressed. If I've posted contrary opinions it wasn't to rubbish yours. Just a different opinion is all.
 
I wouldn't ever say that any of your posts were rubbish. Your experience and opinion is always valid, insightful and honestly expressed. If I've posted contrary opinions it wasn't to rubbish yours. Just a different opinion is all.
Cheers. Just joshing - I know you wouldn't. 🙂

Anyway - wot Thomsax sed - it's more about attitude than gear.

Having said that, a modern horn with a high baffle mpc is probably the easiest way to achieve more cutting power. Just not necessarily the best (whatever you might regard "best" as being).
 
The "classic" R&B/Soul setup when I was coming up, way back in the dark ages (60s-70s), was a Mk VI or a 10M with a large tip opening, high baffle Berg Larsen metal m'piece. Nowadays, I don't have a clue. Pick a horn, add a high baffle piece and go from there, IMO.
 
All good stuff above. I'll second the Metalite as being a good starter mouthpiece for this sort of thing. It will put you in the ballpark at minimal expense, and should allow you to tell whether or not this style of mouthpiece is for you. (I'm talking about internal dimensions, tip opening/baffle height. What it's made of is not so relevant).
 
What one player can play on one set up may not be possible for another. If you want something that will let you play loud and raucous then The Rico metalite is a great piece for very little money. It's a high baffle piece with a medium chamber. There's a clip on you tube of a guy playing classical baritone with one which surprised me.

Anything will do. Just growl a lot and bend them blue notes.

If you're playing through a PA a lot can be done with mics and electronic gizmo's
Yep, I played Blues and R&B with a M9 and either a Plasticover or a Bari plastic reed. The venues were noisy and high ceilinged and you woudln't be heard with some no-baffle straight through chamber piece. You need a high baffle and frankly for under 100 euros you can have all 3 Metalites. The M7 is the brightest, the M9 the loudest, and the M11 the mellowest becaue it's a big tip so the reed is farther away from the facing.

My other goto piece was my SS Berg 100 offset. Not a huge tip I know but with that Bari reed it curled the hair of women in the back although it was great with a Plasticover too. Loud for sure, especially when I played into the mic. My horn is of course the best for rock IMHO, a 1945 Martin Comm III. Loudest low Bb that I know of. They think a tugboat is docking when you blow it suddenly.

😀 😛😀:w00t::banana::clapping::happydance:
 
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Yep, I played Blues and R&B with a M9 and either a Plasticover or a Bari plastic reed. The venues were noisy and high ceilinged and you woudln't be heard with some no-baffle straight through chamber piece. You need a high baffle and frankly for under 100 euros you can have all 3 Metalites. The M7 is the brightest, the M9 the loudest, and the M11 the mellowest becaue it's a big tip so the reed is farther away from the facing.

My other goto piece was my SS Berg 100 offset. Not a huge tip I know but with that Bari reed it curled the hair of women in the back although it was great with a Plasticover too. Loud for sure, especially when I played into the mic. My horn is of course the best for rock IMHO, a 1945 Martin Comm III. Loudest low Bb that I know of. They think a tugboat is docking when you blow it suddenly.

😀 😛😀:w00t::banana::clapping::happydance:
You do realize you revived a post from when your son was five:optimistic:
 
Rock has not died in that time so still a valid question. I think it is pretty well agreed that rock can only be played on a 1960's Mk VI while sporting long hair (with or without mullet), and a tank top.
 
Yep, I played Blues and R&B with a M9 and either a Plasticover or a Bari plastic reed. The venues were noisy and high ceilinged and you woudln't be heard with some no-baffle straight through chamber piece. You need a high baffle and frankly for under 100 euros you can have all 3 Metalites. The M7 is the brightest, the M9 the loudest, and the M11 the mellowest becaue it's a big tip so the reed is farther away from the facing.

My other goto piece was my SS Berg 100 offset. Not a huge tip I know but with that Bari reed it curled the hair of women in the back although it was great with a Plasticover too. Loud for sure, especially when I played into the mic. My horn is of course the best for rock IMHO, a 1945 Martin Comm III. Loudest low Bb that I know of. They think a tugboat is docking when you blow it suddenly.

😀 😛😀:w00t::banana::clapping::happydance:
I can take a little file to a Metalite and make it sound like Anna Moffo
 
Kind of depends on what sort of rock you want to play as there are lots of styles within that genre. Already lots of good suggestions for some sorts of playing. When I think back on playing rock in live outdoor situations I used my Saxgourmet 6. Loudest horn I've ever played. Could not be played indoors without ear plugs. Bottom end boomed and top end screamed. Mouthpieces that brought that out the most were Lamberson DD or Theo Wanne Shiva...both high baffle but able to easily subtone as well. Not a refined tone, but cuts through everything like a chainsaw. I'm not playing outdoor gigs any longer, so have put the Saxgourmet on the market...talk to me if interested, it's listed here (somewhere?)
 
My rockpig rig is my Keilwerth Ponzol (like an Sxr90) with a Wanne Durga. Can scream but also do low and breathy. We were soundchecking at an outdoor gig last weekend with a rock band I am in, and a guy came up to tell the sound guy that while the sax sounded great it was too loud. The sound guy said he had not put it through the PA yet. haha (I do use my own foldback wedge like an amp behind me though.
Every rock sax player knows how we lose out in the arms race when the guitarist starts turning up halfway through the first song.
 
My rockpig rig is my Keilwerth Ponzol (like an Sxr90) with a Wanne Durga. Can scream but also do low and breathy. We were soundchecking at an outdoor gig last weekend with a rock band I am in, and a guy came up to tell the sound guy that while the sax sounded great it was too loud. The sound guy said he had not put it through the PA yet. haha (I do use my own foldback wedge like an amp behind me though.
Every rock sax player knows how we lose out in the arms race when the guitarist starts turning up halfway through the first song.
In that case, just play softer tell them to bring it down while you are playing. Sometimes it works, maybe not the first time but eventually it will.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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