Is it just me....?

Bobby G · Oct 30, 2007

Am I alone in being a mercurial flibbertygibbet? Just when I think I've settled on the right (for me) combination of mouthpiece and reed, I go and try something else. For the last few months I've been using a Selmer Super Session E with either RJS 2M or Alexander Superial reeds, and now suddenly I've dragged my old Soloist F out and fallen back in love with it in the last few days.

Maybe it's as I 'develop' (arf) as a player, but now I seem to prefer the more rounded tone of the Soloist even though I could make the Super Session nice and mellow; I think the Soloist keeps its fatness better throughout the range, especially with the Superials.

It's not really dissatisfaction with my sound that makes me change pieces this way, and I know I'll stick with the Soloist now for a few months. Probably next I'll move back to my metal Brilhart (ouch >.< ), or the Meyer, or who knows what.

mfox · Oct 30, 2007

bob it must be somthing that keeps you hopping from one to 'tother..
i can tell you that once you get that set up you wont want to change..
i have a few MP i use for different types of music..but for my main tenor work i use only the yani metal 7..it just suits me.. i know it inside out.how much to alter head position (up and down side to side) to get most out of it..exactly where to put the lig for tuning..
i also use the yani 7 on my alto..if you get a chance try one..

Rogerb · Oct 31, 2007

I have 2 pieces on which I sound, to my teacher, virtually the same, but one, the DV is just a bit easier to blow, and t'other (RPC 80B) just seems a little 'softer/sweeter'.

He has advised me, as still a relative newbie, to stick to one or the other, for long-tone practice, over a fair period, to develop my chops for its very different shape and size.

Changing continually would mean, he says, that I'd never really 'get to know' either.
Makes sense to me... but which to choose....?

I have already played a DV for some months...not this one, which is a new replacement (the original had faulty plating)..... so it might make sense to stick with it.
Interestingly, Jody said he "picked it out" for me :erm: and it is definitely slightly easier-blowing and it does have a visibly different chamber shape.... maybe a slightly 'later development'?

Watch the Yard Sale..... I can't really afford to leave one expensive mpc in the drawer!

Mikec · Oct 31, 2007

No, it's not just you. How can anyone know which is the best mouthpiece until they've tried them all? I'm on my fourth in two years. I suspect that the stainless steel Berg Larsen I have been using is a likely contender for long-term use, but it's a difficult piece (time and practise, of course), but I've just bought a Claude Lakey off Ebay, and it makes an interesting comparison. Much easier to blow, and more stable on the low notes, but less "bendable". The search goes on...

spike · Oct 31, 2007

I played my first mouthpiece for about 20 years - the second one for about 4 years and my present one for about 16 years. Recently I've been playing my second one again. I reckon it takes a while to get to know one properly and chopping and changing doesn't help much at all.
gruss - spike

jonf · Oct 31, 2007

I'm really bad when it comes to tenor mouthpieces. I have about fifteen, and regularly play five - a Lawton, two very different Otto Link STMs (one with a massive added baffle, the other a NY), a Berg Duckbill and a Guardala King. Just depends on my mood. However, they all feel pretty similar in the gob - all wide tip openings, all played on a pretty soft RJS.

Oddly, on alto, although I have a few mouthpieces, I always play the same one, a metal Yanagisawa.

Linky Lee · Oct 31, 2007

I'm settled on alto and soprano with my Otto Link and Yamaha 4C respectively, though I am looking into something like and RPC for the tenor, or maybe if I can find a nice ebonite link for it...

Bobby G · Nov 1, 2007

Weeeelll, it's not really chopping and changing as such, because I tend to stick with one piece for several months at a time, just occasionally, as I've found in the last few days, I'll want to sound generally a little sweeter or less edgy, so I've gone back to the Soloist F. Even though I can push that to a quite hard sound, and similarly I can get the more lush tones from my Super Session E, the core sound seems to be closer to how I want to play at the moment. Maybe it's a part of what I think is something that applies to many horn players, the search for the holy grail of the one perfect mouthpiece - if there is such a thing.

I can understand you wouldn't want to keep changing every day, unless I s'pose if you were very experienced (even then you'd probably have your one, do-it-all piece); as has been said, you really need some time to get to know a mouthpiece.

Wasn't there mention in a thread quite some time ago about a player who used to use several different mouthpieces for different tunes on the same gig.

Greywolf · Nov 1, 2007

Nah. I'm the same. I tend to revolve around:

A Link Tone Edge
A Lawton
A Runyon
A link Tonemaster and
A Bari

although having said that The Tone Edge 7 is the one I keep coming back to.

I think I'm just a butterfly brain.

suethesax · Nov 1, 2007

I've stuck with my Selmer soloist on Alto and Yani on sop for a few years now. I know if I go somewhere like sax.co.uk I will want to try some out so I stay away 🙂

Pete Thomas · Nov 1, 2007

No Bob, you're definitely not alone. I might go for long periods without messing, then suddenly get the urge to experiment.

Linky Lee · Nov 1, 2007

I can't relate it to having a consistent mouthpiece on my horn, because of so many other variables and a piece I get on well with. But I have noticed a 'speed up' in my 'progression' over the last few months.