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Mouthpieces Covid-19 Lockdown Causes GAS Big time -- $%&*Ç@#

Jazz Is All

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Barcelona, Spain
:eek: :eek: :eek: :confused::confused::w00t::w00t::confused2::rolleyes::rolleyes::happydance::old:

Damned if being locked down in the house since March hasn't taken its toll on me. I am at risk for covid so I have had to stay in. Unfortunately that is where GAS has attacked me from online Mpc sellers, the nefarious sneaky buggers and it is hard to resist them because there are deals to be had.
Here I had managed to sell off 2 expensive pieces back in the spring and boost my bank balance when that extra cash sitting there plus the habit of shopping for everything online now...even toilet paper...did it's dirty work and reinfected me with the GAS virus.

First off I got a great deal on a Selmer Super Session E Alto piece to replace my long-owned D one so to have a bit more open tip. These were discontinued in 2012 so are not cheap whether new or used, so I went for it. I'm going to put the D up for sale soon. Then I started looking for a Selmer SS soprano because I don't like my Rousseau SJ6 much. I can sell that too I figure. Everyone raves about the i and J tips on forums, but sadly the prices are close to 200 bills here in Europe (VAT is a killer). Fast-forward to seeing an ad for a sale at Morgan where on their website they have a big discount on their Vintage large chamber pieces and seeing that everyone agrees that the Vintage Sop mpcs are great on a TT sop I bought one. Yes it's a Great mpc and I love it already.

Next up I found a Selmer SS tenor mpc in a J tip. These are hard to come by since they were discontinued in '97 but if you peruse all the European sales sites you can find people who have them in NOS shape or barely used. Some are quite pricey....one guy in Italy tacks on 55euros for shipping and handling regardless of where you live. I checked the price checker and it is 55€ to just about anywhere in the world. I live 3 hours by plane from him and the postage rate for a small package is 12 euros, so forget that. However I did find one in France for a fair price and I bought it. I want to see how the SS tenor compares to my two Brilharts and my other HR pieces.

Now I'm watching an auction for a Berg HR to see if I can snag it as a bargain. It's a closed one, but I love Brilharts and my Streamline Ebolin is an incredible mpc even though it is only .081. I have old HR pieces that are as closed as .070 and they play great paired with a hard reed. For playing jazz at home by myself one does really not need a .130 screamer, does one....or two.....or three......or a crowd?

Oh! I forgot to mention that I also bought a Super Session Alto F from a seller here in Spain really just to compare it to my new E and mostly because it was so cheap I couldn't buy it. I mean what's a person to do when some of this gear hits you over the head saying I'm half what I normally cost, buy me NOW. Who in their right mind can resist that? It's not GAS, it's common sense. It's like the way it used to be when the Euro first came out, and we'd go to the USA to someplace like Old Navy (or anywhere for that matter) and with the euro worth $1.55 we were forced to buy stuff. We actually had to pay for an extra bag because it was like being in a Turkish Bazaar there where you couldn't not buy stuff.
 
Ice Cream Dancing GIF by The Drew Barrymore Show
The only gas that lockdown has caused for me has been due to overeating. :confused:
 
Oh! I forgot to mention that I also bought a Super Session Alto F from a seller here in Spain really just to compare it to my new E and mostly because it was so cheap I couldn't buy it. I mean what's a person to do when some of this gear hits you over the head saying I'm half what I normally cost, buy me NOW. Who in their right mind can resist that? It's not GAS, it's common sense. It's like the way it used to be when the Euro first came out, and we'd go to the USA to someplace like Old Navy (or anywhere for that matter) and with the euro worth $1.55 we were forced to buy stuff. We actually had to pay for an extra bag because it was like being in a Turkish Bazaar there where you couldn't not buy stuff.
I know what you mean re $ vs €. I used to travel to the US often back then, visiting my brother or parents who lived there for a while. Among others, the price of electronics, computer gear or musical equipment was much lower. I don't think it had to do with the €. That was so before we switched. Also, re the €, I can't really say because the year we switched to the €, I got married, bought my first house and became a dad! Too many things to enable you to seriously compare before and after! o_O

But a few years before that, on my first trip to the US, it was the other way around and the $ was very high against the French franc then and on top of thet we had restrictions on how much cash we were allowed to take with us abroad! :eek:

Now, you seem so passionate about the Selmer SS that I had a look and I now have to resist GAS! I only have a soprano SS that came with my horn and that I couldn't play then as I was way to junior a player to manage that kind of a tip. It's an H. Now it's one of my favorite Soprano mouthpieces.​
 
I've been hit by a mini mouthpiece GAS attack too. I agree lock down and habitual internet shopping are dangerous

I bought the tenor 7* Vintage Morgan Fry offered by @eb424, which I had initially overlooked due to usually playing a wider tip opening. It has been a revelation for ease of play and a darker sound to counter my bright playing tendencies. A joy

That led me onto an eBay tenor MF Hollywood, also 7*. It failed to sell at auction twice so I asked for 'best price'. This isn't as forgiving as the vintage and requires me to up my embouchure skills to get the best out of it

I would say neither piece is capable of the volume I need playing in a band, but they suit me very well at home

I've also had a bit of fun sorting out the Hollywood lig, which may have been a Morgan Fry prototype...it isn't his usual design. The lig cage has four legs rather than solid side walls, but the problem is the lig plate which is a pathetic strip of thin, arched brass that bends under pressure so it is the pressure screw that makes most contact with the reed, to create a thin reedy noise

A more substantial Louis Francois lig plate, filed to open up the screw hole, is seemingly a working substitute
 
Not too bad here so far...
One bari : one PPT tenor mpc plus various ligs ; reeds ; mpc patches...
 
Well I bought the tenor I didn’t need, see other thread, and am very happy. Being locked in certainly played a part as I was desperate to go somewhere and when we were allowed to roam again and went and tried it, and reader, I bought it.

I’m interested in a new mouthpiece, I know, who isn’t, but get bewildered and a bit bored by glowing descriptions that tell me nothing useful, and tedious demos that all sound the same and tell me nothing.

Can’t say I’ve come across these amazing on line deals but I must not be looking in the right place.
 
Here’s a question, if they had a vaccine that prevented you getting GAS would you have it?
No way!

It could be a tool in a secret global conspiracy organised by Kenny G to control saxophone players using gamma rays and make us all play smooth jazz.

And who knows what the side effects might be? - I might find myself getting rid of gear I don’t need, or giving away my Klangbogen to a total stranger that I met on the street.
 
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No way!

It could be a tool in a secret global conspiracy organised by Kenny G to control saxophone players using gamma rays and make us all play smooth jazz.

And who knows what the side effects might be? - I might find myself getting rid of gear I don’t need, or giving away my Klangbogen to a total stranger that I met on the street.
I suppose the microchip might make you play Songbird continuously until you went mad.
 
Here’s a question, if they had a vaccine that prevented you getting GAS would you have it?
No Way!!! As long as you can control it GAS provides hours of interesting, fun, predominantly useless entertainment. While glued to the screen perusing ads online I have noticed that I go to the bathroom less, thus exercising my bladder muscles , and I go for hours without consuming anything more than a cup of coffee, which is good for my weight loss and heart condition. Then if I do buy something, I have the fun of waiting for the delivery guy and that's like being a kid at Christmas when Santa Came.
 
As long as it's only mouthpieces, it's not that bad.
But wait for the winter, you might be shopping for horns by then ;)
OMG, I hope not although I know that past performance doesn't auger very strongly against that possibility either. Full pearls for under $1,000 ???? I wish I Wish.....:w00t::w00t:
 
I’ve been inoculated against mouthpiece GAS with a double dose of Phil-Tone Intrepid.

That hasn’t proven sufficient across the board, however, as I feel recently ill and bought a couple of Fender “Eric Johnson” Stratocasters - one with maple fingerboard, the other rosewood.
 
What model of Tenor is a fender. Is that the new Chinese one made from car parts?
 
My new collection since lockdown has been insane as well... I am happy with it though, finally got some dream pieces for me!
 
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