Mouthpieces metal on tenor, ebonite on alto

[Jules]

A quick pole. Down here at sax.co.uk we all seem to favour metal mouthpiece on our tenors and ebonite on alto (Berg Larsen on tenor, Vandoren V16 on alto for me, the other guys- Guardala Crescent and Meyer & Jody Jazz DV and SR Tech Legend respectively). How wide spread is this as way of setting up, not the specific pieces but just metal or ebonite?

 

[Tenor Sax]

I have to Say Tenor = Ebonite.

But I like a rich Mellow sound.

 

[philthd]

im the opposite jules - but mostly since im not much of a tenor player and motly only play it when teaching (and i never teach with anything other than a yamaha 5c on any horn)

and metal on alto brings me closer to the sound in my head

 

[Pete Thomas]

nachoman wrote:
How wide spread is this as way of setting up, not the specific pieces but just metal or ebonite?

Maybe it's a Sussex thing

 

[daveysaxboy]

I agree with nachoman,i have alway's liked ebonite on my alto and soprano and metal on tenor,i have had metal for alto,sop at time's in the past but alway's end up back with ebonite'that's the sound i hear in my head.I have just been brave and stripped the lacuer of my alt and tenor horn's and proud of the job i,ve done,was very careful and slow and left the lacuer on the key's so just the neck & body's bare.I had a mk6 alto i got from stu in bradford and a 6 tenor which were stripped many year's ago and i loved the look of them,the alto was from Cape Town stu said and was so deep tarnish brown with the heat.I have played silverplate horn's for year's now and want that scruffy old look again.and i will,in time! 8)

 

[jonf]

Metal on tenor - lots of different ones, but favourite I always go back to is modified Otto STM. Also metal on alto - Yanagisawa metal. On sop, it's ebonite, a Yani, on bari it's the Runyon metal still, despite a fondness for a Rico Royal Metalite. It's fabulous for the money, just not got the bark of the Runyon.

On C mel it'ss also metal, a sawn down cheapo Chinese Sharkbite. This is only really because I wanted to use a tenor piece, but the microtuner meant all my tenor ones were too long, and the Sharkbite was the only one I could face taking a saw to.

 

[daveysaxboy]

[No message]

 

[dooce]

On the tenor, I've always used a metal Lawton, but picked up an old ROC Briltone on a whim on eBay which gives it an extra bark, although I haven't got used to it enough to decide whether it becomes a permanent fixture (it's cream - does that count as ebonite 😛 )

For my new cheapo alto, the Devils Junkyard has yielded a metal Berg Larsen, which really opens the thing up and will probably become the mouthpiece of choice.

 

[daveysaxboy]

Like i said i love my bari 72 HR but i would still like to try the Gaurdala studio soprano mp,Andy Sheppard plays's 1,my last sop piece was a metal Lebayle jazz 8 nice but hard work on palm key's,has any 1 tryed the DG Studio sop mp.Any veiw's.

 

[rhysonsax]

Metal Lawtons on alto and tenor, HR Berg on soprano and either metal Lawton or bronzite Pillinger on bari. Oh, and Pillinger on bass and sopranino too !

When I want to soften things down on alto I play a Brilhart Tonalin (white plastic).

I am just trying out three different metal mouthpieces on tenor - different models by Lawrie Waldron that seem initially to be fabulous ! A MBII -like piece, a Link -like piece and a medium baffle and bore piece. Finished like jewellery and very reed-friendly.

Rhys

 

[Saxlicker]

Metal on tenor and HR on alto was always the way for me in general but not exclusively.

 

[thomsax]

Soprano: Dukoff metal
Alto: Dukoff metal
Tenor: Dukoff metal, Berg Larsen metal.....
Bari😀ukoff metal

I like the sound of a HR mpc but I prefer metal. The way I play and blow metal is the thing!!

 

[Bobby G]

Bit of a mixed bag here, nachoman, and nothing really conclusive; on my tenor I sometimes use a Vandoren Jumbo Java HR piece, which was said to be a cheap way of emulating a metal piece, or more usually another Vandoren standard HR piece. On the alto I like my Brilhart Levelaire metal piece but prefer the Meyer 8M HR which I find easier to control.

I like the sound of the Levelaire and am about to embark on a quest to get the Meyer a little more in that direction by trying some different reeds - I reckon Plasticovers might do the job.

Finally, on my soprano I like a nice gentle floaty sort of sound so I use a Selmer HR piece.