Mouthpieces Got my new mouthpiece!

[Rogerb]

It came today, from sax.co.uk, a Selmer S80 D.

First, brief, impressions, with my usual Rico Std #2 reed are that the tone is better, but it's much harder to blow (having a significantly wider tip-opening) so I wonder if I should just persist with long tones or try a softer/different reed?

 

[griff136]

I would persist with long tones anyway . what about trying a 2.5 as the tip is more open.

good luck and let us know how you get on Roger

🙂

 

[spike]

hello roger,
I'm sorry - I don't know what the openings are on these selmers mpcs and I can't find a chart, what is the opening of S80 D and what sax are you playing (alto or tenor)?

I think you should probably best stick with the #2 reed and just take your time.

 

[Rogerb]

0.074" (between #5 & 6 on most other makes)

Hanson Alto, previous mpc a very narrow, anonymous piece, being used with #2 Rico Std.
(This now seems comparatively very easy to blow with this reed, but the sound doesn't seem so 'tuneful')

Bear in mind that I've blown the new one for less than an hour so it's twerly to draw a meaningful conclusion 🙂

 

[griff136]

Hi rodger, Spike and all

this link may be of help to you. Its has great mouthpiece comparison charts for alto teno and soprano:

http://www.bill-lewington.com/mpchlk.htm

 

[Rogerb]

This is the one I used:
http://www.mouthpieceheaven.com/content/tips_Alto-Chart.htm
Being smaller it's easier to read the Selmer stats(near the bottom!).

 

[Rogerb]

I certainly wouldn't want to try a *stronger* reed, quite the contrary(This is how I'd look! 8| )
The suggestions I've seen on SOTW are that one should maybe use a slightly *softer* reed, at least to start with, when going up in tip size.

 

[tengu01]

Hey there Roger,

I am fully with you on this one. For a mouthpiece with a larger tip opening than you're used to, a softer reed will be needed because the end of the reed has further to travel.

I once moved from a stock mouthpiece to an Otto Link and spent a year wondering why an otto link metal mouthpiece I bought was so rubbish (many years ago) only to discover completely by accident that its tip opening was significantly bigger and it was impossible to get a decent sound out of it with a #3 reed. Moving down to a 2.5 or 2 suddenly brought out its sound.

Go a little softer on the reed and work on the long tones. It may not sound initially as sweet but your embouchure will strenghten up and you should find that it gets better

Tengu

😉

 

[spike]

okay, thanks for those chart links, the 074 opening is not really very wide for alto, you're probably having difficulty because of the difference between that and your old mpc. The thing is to make sax playing as easy as possible and enjoy it and not have to fight the horn to get a sound out. so from that point of view if you're more comfortable with a slightly softer reed, that's the way to go. You could also try sanding a whisper or two off the heart of a #2 reed, that might just be sufficient to start with, methinks, coupled with regular practice of course, keep us informed.

 

[Rogerb]

Ah, got you now, Ken... I mis-read this bit of your post:

"...perhaps it's me, but a stronger reed on wide opening was just too exhausting...",
( coupled with someone's suggestion of my going UP to 2.5 8| )
---------
I don't have quick access to #1.5 reeds, spike, so where exactly could I sand a #2 to make it slightly softer?

Thanks

 

[spike]

The heart is up where the "bark" stops and the working part of the reed begins, I generally take a little off there when a reed is too stuffy or in my opinion not responsive enough in the lower register, On Pete's home page however he says don't take it off the heart, so please be aware that there are different opinions. Having said that if you gently run down towards the front of the reed being very careful NOT to take anything off the tip you should be able to "soften" the reed sufficiently. Please be very careful and very methodic and bear in mind the reed must remain symetrical. In all probability you won't need to take very much off to suit your needs.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I think the sandpaper underneath can be good for evening up a rough or distorted surface, but would probably make the reed harder overall.

If removing materail from the heart works, then fine, also with drilling the hole. Anything can work, but you need to find out what it is and its actually better to experiment sometimes than blindly do what is written down.

Provided you can afford to.

 

[Rogerb]

I've tried scraping a bit off the sides of a #2, Pete, more or less as you suggested, but have yet to put it to a proper test.
I'm taking off a very little at a time, 'cos it's a bit difficult to put it back 🙂

I'm using Rico Std reeds at present.
Can you recommend a couple of others to experiment with, if/when I order my next lot?
(I don't want to introduce *too* many 'variables', of course, or I won't be able to figger what 'works' !)

 

[Pete Thomas]

Rico jazz Select, Rico plasticover (but don't sand them), Alexander Superial (expensive). Don't just take my advice though, I just tend to play what I pick up out of the reed drawer and there is a whole history of reeds going back millenia.

I also have one or two "vintage" Selmer Soloist reeds that came with a secondhand alto, beautiful reeds if you can find them.

But if you are prepared to do the sanding and experimenting, you might as well stick to the bog standard Rico, once you get good at fiddling with them you'll probably end up with the best reeds and a much better knowledge than I have about them as I am too lazy to sand, drill and fiddle with them.

I suppose you could also try freezing them...

 

[Pete Thomas]

Oh and check this thread, Tengu has some good stuff about Superials

http://www.breakfastroom.co.uk/index.cgi?fid=06&topic_id=1145566120

 

[Pete Thomas]

I wouldn't even start to pretend I know how the internal workings of a mouthpiece affect the sound, apart from a baffle making it brighter.

 

[Bobby G]

Hi Roger, hope you get to grips with the new piece. My experience was not dissimilar to yours - I bought a Selmer D (a Soloist) after trying a few in the shop, and found it relatively easy compared to some of the others I tried, like one of the Links which was really quite hard work. The Selmer was the first mpc I bought other than the one that came with the alto, which I think was the ubiquitous Yamaha 4c, I can't remember now as I don't have that horn any more.

I had already changed from standard Rico reeds to the Rico Jazz Selects, which come in quite fine strength gradations i.e. you can get 2's in soft, medium and hard. When I first got the Selmer I had to drop down from 2M to 2S, but now I use 2M or 2H - your embouchure strength shouldn't take too long to come up. I like these reeds, they seem easier and more flexible tonally than the standard Rico reeds. I like the Rico Royals as well, they have a smoother tone, although the Jazz Selects with a Selmer mouthpiece aren't exactly harsh.

Good luck, Bob

 

[Rogerb]

Thanks, Bob; I may try some RJSs, if the softer Std Ricos I've ordered don't work.

My 'shaved' Rico #2 seems a bit better, but I'm concentratng on long tones mainly, anyway, to build-up the chops, which can be no bad thing, whichever combination I finally settle-on 🙂

Like Pete, I think, I'm not much of a 'tinkerer'; I'd prefer to be able to just buy 'em and use 'em.
(I realise that some people say that they only get "one usable reed from a box.." and have to 'modify' others to get 'em to 'work'. I'm not experienced enough to know whether I've got a duff reed, or it's just me 8| )

 

[Rogerb]

Latest bulletin:
practising with the new mpc hasn't been very satisfying, so far, but it is clearly building my chops, as the 'old' one now sounds *much* better 8| :?

 

[Rogerb]

I also got a Vandoren V5 A25 off eBay, to try, and first impressions, with a 1.5 Rico Std, are that it sounds and blows better than the Selmer S80D.

(My mpc collection is growing, but I'll soon start putting some of 'em back on eBay! 🙂 In fact, I've put the Selmer in the Yard Sale section, already)