Tech/maintenance cork for mouthpieces - no alternatives yet?

[syevad]

@JayeNM
"Consider for an instant...pads. Exact SAME specifications for sax pads today as they were 110 years ago, really. Yeah some tweaks, but really basically same thing - cardboard backing, felt, leather."

I have a rare Toptone "vintage" tt25 - the basculant resopads are much more reliable than normal pads offering very good seal and practically non stick. Many years of use and practically no need to check for leaks or adjustments like in normal saxes. I'm wondering why these never managed to challenge the traditional pads - probably, as you say...sax players and musicians in general are very traditionalists.

 

[turf3]

To all:

It'd be nice if you'd at least make an EFFORT...

 

[Dr G]

Silly cone

 

[Woodpad]

OK I understand now. Not so much a replacement for cork but an improvement. Something that can adapt to different sizes.

It is difficult to find a material that is adaptable in thickness, water adsorbent and can be used for 50+ years if you don't leave the mouthpiece on, or use a glue with a lesser lifespan. The standard technical solution is to standardize the size of the mouthpiece and avoid the problem. Somehow saxophone players avoid standardization. Resulting in Bassoon players using more synthetic pads and in being one of the last bastions for blue steel springs. Don't start me on the use of leather.

In short, without standardization you are stuck to cork.

 

[syevad]

To all:

View attachment 31778

It'd be nice if you'd at least make an EFFORT...

Ok..that's me then...you are going to see plenty from a foreigner like myself (thanks anyway - always keen to learn).

 

[Pete Thomas]

It is difficult to find a material that is adaptable in thickness, water adsorbent

Why does it need to be water absorbent?

 

[mizmar]

Ok..that's me then...you are going to see plenty from a foreigner like myself (thanks anyway - always keen to learn).

Not just - piles of English first-language speakers make that mistake; and spell check doesn't always help. And why should it?

let's not forget (ref: wiki) "Kipping undertook much of the pioneering work into the development of silicon polymers (silicones)" Silicone contains silicon - the former name probably just seemed like a good idea, down the pub, after work... Well, ok, he's a chemist; so not "down the pub", probably at the back of the solvents store.

 

[Nick Wyver]

Why does it need to be water absorbent?

I don’t think it does. I’ve had a synthetic cork on my tenor for the last 10 years or so with no problems.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I don’t think it does. I’ve had a synthetic cork on my tenor for the last 10 years or so with no problems.

But even then I don’t think natural cork is very water absorbent, especially once it’s greased up.

 

[Targa]

Cork wouldn't work very well on the tree if it absorbed water other than a fractional amount.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Cork wouldn't work very well on the tree if it absorbed water other than a fractional amount.

Nor would it work as a bottle stopper. Granted it’s becoming less popular these days.

 

[Targa]

To all:

View attachment 31778

It'd be nice if you'd at least make an EFFORT...

So Silicon valley has nothing to do with plastic surgery despite the prevalence in the area?

 

[JayeNM]

I get your point and I do care about the environment too - I only wish there was a way to use different mouthpieces without the need to use tape or similar do fit them all snugly. Cork is great if you have a fixed setup - I'm constantly testing and swapping different MPs - at one point I thought of widening the narrower bores to minimize the issue.

I see the intent now, thx.

 

[JayeNM]

It seems that "better" to the OP would mean a wider range of mouthpiece IDs can be accommodated without having to modify the sealing element.

Yeah, I get it now. I am certain there IS a material, if not several that can do that. Again I'd still wonder is there gonna be any unforseen negative to using a material which is not as porous as cork ?

 

[JayeNM]

Cork is great if you have a fixed setup

addendum - Doesn't have to be exactly a 'fixed' setup. I know plenty of players who use, say , two different mouthpieces on the same cork/neck. But I can see where if you do more than that, it'd be an issue.

Quite honestly....not sure you were just saying this in passing or not but if I had my favorite three or four I kept swapping, I WOULD just do what you noted : have the shank ends bored so they are all close enough to each other to have all work.

I know this might sound brutal to some, and I wonder what @Phil might think of this idea, where it is ghastly or not (?) Seems to me as mouthpieces alread have that slight variance in interior diameter there, across brands and models...doing something like that (relatively miniscule (?) at least to my sensibilities) would have no adverse effect....(?)

 

[JayeNM]

I don’t think it does. I’ve had a synthetic cork on my tenor for the last 10 years or so with no problems.

Sytnhetic cork has absorbent properties, though. It gets wet, it needs to dry out a bit.

 

[turf3]

I just bought an adjustable blade reamer and reamed all my tenor pieces (that I ever use) to the ID of the largest. The biggest hassle was the low quality of the reamer I bought. Don't buy those off brand Chinese reamers. Just pony up and buy the Cleveland brand.

Since what you're reaming is almost completely filled with cork and neck, it will have zero effect on the acoustical performance of the MP. Just don't run the reamer in far enough to run into the baffle.

 

[ghostler]

Nor would it work as a bottle stopper. Granted it’s becoming less popular these days.

I see less and less cork seals on wine bottles, going to aluminium twist off caps. Perhaps this is a cost savings measure?

 

[Pete Thomas]

I see less and less cork seals on wine bottles, going to aluminium twist off caps. Perhaps this is a cost savings measure?

Possibly, also it may actually mean less wine catching DCD (dodgy cork disease)
I'd rather see the recyclable twist off caps than the fake cork which I'm not sure is bio-degradable.

 

[turf3]

I see less and less cork seals on wine bottles, going to aluminium twist off caps. Perhaps this is a cost savings measure?

Actually, the metal caps are superior for sealing. Of course screw off wine bottle caps have for generations been the hallmark of cheap and cheerful drink (OK, when it comes to Boone's Farm or Ripple or Thunderbird or MD20/20, not even all that cheerful). But there is a gradual move amongst quality wine producers toward metal or synthetic closures.