Mouthpieces Graftonite revisited

[DaveW]

Back in December a number folks ordered Graftonite MPs from Trevor James.

Five months on I am interested in how you feel about thsoe MPs now, especially the tenor players and which MP you chose.

I am still contemplating trying one.

 

[Pjonah]

Trevor Jones?

I have two, one on soprano which I use all the time. The other is on baritone, but I've reverted back to my trusty Yamaha 5C, it has a better, more open bottom end, the Graftonite is much better for the upper register, but I don't play a bari sax for the upper notes so much. So a much better bark from the yamaha.

The soprano Graftonite was better than the Yamaha 5C originally fitted, better top end again, but this time the lower end was stable and open.

Either way for the £18 each they are incredible value for money.

Haven't tried the tenor or alto yet, but they'd need to go along way to beat my pair of Brilharts I use for those instruments.

Interestingly though I think I'd like to get hold of a Rico Metalite for the Baritone, that sounds more in line with where I'd like to be.

 

[Pee Dee]

Was blowing through one on me tenor for a few months 'til I lost it:crying:
For the price, fantastic! Had a 5B, and the projection was great, found I could reach the lows much easier than my previous Yamaha 5C. A wider gap, which was needed to progress. Suck it and see says I;}

 

[Richard Perks]

After reading this thread decided to buy a couple for my soprano, was only using original Yamaha that came with it and really not sure if it is the sound I wanted. Interesting to see that others have noticed we do not get more reasonably priced products over here in North America. It is mostly Selmer or Yamaha. I did ask the people at the Cannonball web site, who is our local distributor, after they told me went to their site (local outlet) and they never even mentione Cannonvall or any of their products.....
Well we will see with these mouthpieces.

 

[jonf]

Trevor Jones?


Interestingly though I think I'd like to get hold of a Rico Metalite for the Baritone, that sounds more in line with where I'd like to be.

Metalites are fantastic. I've got a baritone one, two for tenor and one with a cut down shank for C Mel. They absolutely rock, and are much brighter and louder than Graftonites.

 

[Pjonah]

Metalites are fantastic. I've got a baritone one, two for tenor and one with a cut down shank for C Mel. They absolutely rock, and are much brighter and louder than Graftonites.

I'd be interested to know just where you can get hold of these illusive pieces, outside the US I've only seen a few on Ebay and not for baritone.

 

[jonf]

I'd be interested to know just where you can get hold of these illusive pieces, outside the US I've only seen a few on Ebay and not for baritone.

There were a few for sale from a stock clearance through eBay, including baritone. £15 each. Problem is, that was a small supply, and they were all bought up. Mostly by me😀

 

[thehunt]

i just received a graftonite 5b sop mp. Very nice. Only played little while last night but seems to be ok. Had an old selmer mp on there which had been chewed to bits.

 

[chadders]

I had a Graphtonite A5 alto MP for Christmas. It was initially harder to play then the Otto Link which came with my Trevor James horn. I had got used to playing jazz select 3S reeds on the O'link, but could not get near them on the Graphtonite. After much experimenting with various makes and sizes of reeds, I have found jazz selects 2M reeds to be the best fit for me.

The mouthpiece has a very mellow, dark timbre, and I love playing slow moody pieces with this set up. There are sometimes when my weak emboucher can make the MP sound a bit dead, but when I get it right the whole reed/mp/sax can really resonant and just sings out. This just makes me want to play and play and play.

I did try going back to the o'link after a few weeks on the graphtonite, but just could not get on with it again. I am now completely won over by the graphontonite, and feel no need at the moment to look for other mps.

Chad

 

[richardfm]

I ordered a graphtonite mouthpiece for my walstein baritone from http://www.thomann.de/gb/index.html and it arrived yesterday.

I've only had time to try it for a bit more than half an hour, but so far it's sounding pretty horrible ... lots of squeeks on the high notes and raucous rasping noises on the low notes. With the vandoren 3 reed I normally use, it's hard to blow, but with a 2.5 reed I'm getting really wild vibration unless I only take a tiny bit of the mouthpiece into my mouth and concentrate on controlling it, or play very, very softly.

On the plus side, I can readily hit the high f# (I'm still finding that very difficult with the mpc that came with the walstein), but I can see it's going to take some time to learn to tame this mouthpiece, and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort.

 

[Silver Smurfer]

Eurika - I have it!

Hey, I just received a rico royal graftonite B5 alto mpc and my initial impression is good - free blowing, warm and responsive. It is shorted than the yani mpc that came with my yani 992 and I have to place it about an inch further out on the cork. I also need to open up my embouchure to get the lower notes but I'm finding the vibrato, bending and softer tones are easy to achieve. At £17 inc postage, I think its a bargain. :welldone

 

[Flipper2008]

I bought a B5 from Trevor Jones and I love it for its edge, especially with a Jazz select 2M, it really cuts through when gigging. I do agree though it can make the lows harder to blow. Ive also now got an A3 which blows really smoothly for less edgy tunes, but this can still struggle at times with the lows if the reed is not good. Having said that the high notes on both the B5 and the A3 are crystal clear and full. I used to use a Yam 4C before these, with a homemade removable stepped baffle, but now I only use the Graftonites.

Flipp

 

[Lloyd]

On the flip side, I've got a B5 Alto Graftonite and hate it. Very loud but harsh with no finesse at all. By comparison my Meyer 5M with Rico Jazz Select 2M hits every note, literally.

 

[AlanU]

The soprano B3 mouthpiece arrived today.
I'd decided against a Yamaha based on all the reviews I could find as I thought it would be too bright for my taste.

I was surprised how far it had to be pushed onto the crook, but once I'd realised that it sounded really good.
Just what I'd hoped for really, a sweet but clean sound, not too bright but lively.
It helps me, a soprano beginner, up to top F (F# is still being a bit coy). The intonation seems unaffected, which had been a concern.

I think it is excellent for me, who wanted a reputable mouthpiece without spending too much, bearing in mind that the horn cost less than £200.

 

[AlanU]

F# is now ok.
I just took a little while to adjust, I guess.

 

[Silver Smurfer]

A quick update on my previous post, I gave up on the rico royal mouthpiece when it refused to play low notes during an ensemble workshop. It took me some time to realise I wasn't making any noise.

I have recently purchased a Jody Jazz ebonite mpc and I'm really happy with it although it does cost nearly £90 more.

 

[kevgermany]

Got a tenor B5 and played that from the start. Am getting a really nice sound from it. But needed to go to Rico Royal 2.5 reeds to get decent high notes. Am trying to adjust to a PPT 8* at the moment. Have had to drop to 1.5s to get the mouthpiece under control... Still get a few squeaks. Took me a while to get as good a sound from the PPT. And it's still edgier, probably a good thing. The tenor was sounding more like a french horn in the mid-range on the graftonite.

Am really tempted to try a metallite, but they're not easy to find. Seems like a lot of suppliers don't have them, despite the re-launch.

 

[jonf]

Am really tempted to try a metallite, but they're not easy to find. Seems like a lot of suppliers don't have them, despite the re-launch.

I've got a couple (I think) in stock for an eBay sale. I think one of them's an M5, easy blow but very edgy and loud.

 

[kevgermany]

nothing wider? Am just easing myself into a PPT 8* at the moment.

 

[jonf]

nothing wider? Am just easing myself into a PPT 8* at the moment.

Got an M7 as well.