Mouthpiece/Lig FS Joe Walton adjustable mouthpiece with 5 x different baffles

[EDIT: old thread but just moved to Yardsale as I am selling all my stuff ready to downsize houses.]

Reluctantly selling the Joe Walton adjustable mouthpiece. It has a lovely tone (almost as nice as a PPT. I don't get the different baffles to sound very different, I've kind of got used to getting a certain sound.

I have made a short video to demonstrate how the same mouthpiece sounds with five different baffles. Yes, it's the famous (not really) Walton adjustable Mouthpiece system.

Five baffles screw in (and out ). They range from low baffle to very high.

This video is a bit of a rough draft as I cannot play to the best of my ability at the moment, just doing with the first phrase of that tune we all know and love Take Five Baffles. All comments welcome (here not on Youtube as it will be taken down once I improve the vid)

View: https://youtu.be/FoQig3CtzfA

 

[Jimmymack]

Listening on the iPad they all sounded too close to call. I’m baffled.

Sounded quite nice though.

 

[rhysonsax]

Very interesting. All sounding pretty good and there was no "clear" winner to my ears.

I would like to see pictures of one (or all) or the baffles fixed into position so that we can see how that works and how raised they are near the tip rail and down towards the chamber.

Rhys

 

[Pete Thomas]

I would like to see pictures of one (or all) or the baffles fixed into position so that we can see how that works and how raised they are near the tip rail and down towards the chamber.

Here is the no.3 baffle.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Come and try it next time you're passing through Sunny Southampton sur Mer.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Come and try it next time you're passing through Sunny Southampton sur Mer.

 

[Jimmymack]

Given the differences between them I would have expected much more difference in the sound, although the higher baffles are brighter they are still so similar it makes little difference. I suppose this isn’t really putting them through their paces which would probably alter things.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Given the differences between them I would have expected much more difference in the sound, although the higher baffles are brighter they are still so similar it makes little difference. I suppose this isn’t really putting them through their paces which would probably alter things.

I was also surprised. But maybe its to do with dynamics and if I did a louder bit of playing maybe there would be more of a difference. Who knows?

 

[mizmar]

I thought I could hear a difference between 1/2 and 3/4/5.

But isn't the other side of the argument, did you, the player, feel you had to do more / less work to get it to sound right to you, with each configuration?
Sometimes folks argue that "a good player will sound like themselves on most setups; bit find different setups easier/harder to work with.

 

[Pete Thomas]

But isn't the other side of the argument, did you, the player, feel you had to do more / less work to get it to sound right to you, with each configuration?
Sometimes folks argue that "a good player will sound like themselves on most setups; bit find different setups easier/harder to work with.

I didn't feel like I had to do any work, I wasn't in a situation where I had to sound like me, or anyone else. I was more concentrating on it being the same articulation , same distance from mic so I do not think there was any subconscious effort to sound a certain way.

I'm very surprised there seems to be no huge difference.

A good thing to do however may be a blind test like when @Stephen Howard and I did the lead weight test and when I did the leFreque test.

For this one I knew which one I was playing.

 

[sax panther]

I heard a bit of a jump in tone between 2 and 3, but otherwise not as much of a difference as I'd expect.

I've ways wanted to try out on of those old Strathon adjustatone mouthpieces with the slider to raise and lower the baffle.

 

[saxyjt]

Surprisingly inconclusive experiment.

I can't help but wonder if the same results or perception would come out of comparing Berg Larsen 0-3 types mouthpieces.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I think I need to do it again with a louder bit of playing. I think maybe baffles come more into play when you are giving it a bit of welly as we say in the business.

 

[thomsax]

I'm skeptical. Some plastic pieces and a screw ..... .

 

[Jimmymack]

How does it play with no baffle?

 

[lydian]

I have a similar Runyon with a snap in baffle. It does change the tone, but not for the better. Plays great without it. Actually my favorite soprano piece. Both designs look like a nightmare to keep clean.

 

[Pete Thomas]

How does it play with no baffle?

Well the No 1 is supposed to be more or less no baffle I think. If you mean without any of the screw in baffles at all, I didn't try that . It just has a bit of an hole in an odd shaped chamber so wasn't designed to be played like that. I'll maybe give it who and see what happens, but I suspect it will make the sky fall down so I'll wear a hard hat.

 

[mizmar]

I think I need to do it again with a louder bit of playing. I think maybe baffles come more into play when you are giving it a bit of welly as we say in the business.

Just out of curiosity, when folks demo a MP or such; why not - at least - just play a few arpeggios, with different dynamics, articulation? Just to have a consistent baseline.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Just out of curiosity, when folks demo a MP or such; why not - at least - just play a few arpeggios, with different dynamics, articulation? Just to have a consistent baseline.

I agree that may be ideal. In this case I used Take Five because it starts with an arpeggio. I intend to do more with different dynamics which is why this was a draft and to be honest In wasn't demoing the mouthpiece itself just the different baffle concept.

I could not do a proper mouthpiece demo because to be honest the facing (although objectively fine) is not ideal for me. This is why I don't set much store by most mouthpiece reviews/comparisons (which I tried doing once but) if a mouthpiece was wrong for me, I couldn't do it justice.

I had (maybe naïvely) thought one dynamic would be enough to show the baffle differences, but I was wrong.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I have just moved this to Classifieds and offered for sale