Mouthpieces Metal tenor mouthpiece

[Linky Lee]

[quoted=Bob Green]You know, playing the saxophone is rather like making love to a beautiful woman....[/quote]

Yeah... but only better!

I still like my S80 C* that I started playing on.
I've had the rather good fortune of having decent equipment from the beginning really. (Except the Martin I have that is almost unplayable. It would be fantastic if I could afford to get it a decent service.)

 

[monsieursax]

I have a few different ones, depending on what style I'm playing.

Berg Larsen 110/? can't remember the bottom number- currently packed away as I moved this summer and haven't played it since. USe for competing with amplified instruments, especially rock, funk, and sometimes electrified blues. Bright, edgy sound, okay subtone, Good altissimo, projects well with a "progressive" sound. Used with a La Voz Medium or Medium Hard reed (MH was usually filed down a bit) and stock BL ligature.

Sugal Super Gonz II - great all around mpc. You gents in the UK may or may not be able to get a hold on one of these, though. Huge fat subtone, sensitive even at very extreme volumes. More "traditional" sound with a slight tinge of a modern influence. Good for big band lead tenor, session playing, jazz combo, and even for electrified blues. I use a LaVoz Medium Hard reed with the stock slide-in-track integrated ligature. Experimented briefly with a Rovner, but didn't like it. The blue/silverflecked epoxy on the teethpatch on top of the beak flaked off completely. I bought some LocTite clear food-grade epoxy and replaced it. First roughed the patch area up a bit. Even better than before, as the new epoxy has a slight bit of cushion to it. No problems in the three years since then.

I also have a Lawton 7*BB in Stainless Steel/silverplate for my alto. It is very good, and since a lot of pros use them (one I know in Nashville, TN particularly) I imagine they must be quite good for the tenor as well. I also heard the Geoff Lawton passed away sometime ago and the future of the company is in limbo to an extent. For quite a while, the Lawtons have been somewhat hard to get in the US. Lots of distributors liquidated their stock and don't carry Lawtons anymore.

I have owned an Otto Link 5* for tenor and loved it. I only got rid of it because the Sugal did everything the Link did and so much more. Still a fine mouthpiece in my book, and definitely easier on your wallet than the $400 (US) for the Sugal.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[jonf]

Monsieursax

Since Geoff Lawton died, his son has been making mouthpieces to exactly the same specification, although not in the same quantity. They're available from www.sax.co.uk by mail order.

I've got about ten mouthpieces in metal, hard rubber and plastic, but the one I keep going back to is my 25 year old Lawton 7.

 

[lee_]

I'm using a Runyon Smooth Bore with a Consoli ligature on my tenor for stagework now.. They sell on the bay pretty cheap from time to time, too. I see them on Ebay every now and then, and they seem to sell used for about $70 US. The lig, from Consoli, is another $38.

 

[robaldo]

Otto Link NY.

It defaults to loud and raucous but, with practise, is capable of beautiful gentle, deep subtone.

I have no intentions of ever buying another mouthpiece for my tenor - this one does everything!

 

[charliem]

Am surprised no-one has mentioned the Dave Guardala laser trimmed mouthpieces yet... Used to play a Berg Larsen 8* and moved to DG Super King and haven't looked back!

 

[AlistairD]

My favourite is a Lebayle 8 Jazz..... A great match with my Ref 36 (and IMHO it sounds better on my teachers Ref 54 than his Guardala but each to his own...)

It took a while to get used to it when I changed from an HR Lebayle but the struggle has been worth it!!!

Merry Xmas...

 

[Greywolf]

I play a hard rubber link almost exclusively.

I also have a metal link, and a lawton plus an H R Bari. I play them all but keep coming back to the HR Link.

If you say that you want a metal piece for the extra volume I suspect that this is something of a fallacy. You may well be a bit louder but not as much as you think. I play in a street band, outside mostly, 5 piece horn section and LOTS of percussion, snares and surdu drums.

I was really worried that I wasn't cutting through because I couldn't hear myself that well (that was when I bought the Bari and the Lawton) but people out front said they could hear me OK. I think that it may be that the brighter sound you get with a metal mouthpiece gives the impression of more volume but that the actual difference isn't as big as you imagine.

Discuss...
write on one side of the paper only.

 

[Bobby G]

You could be right to an extent Greywolf, but my metal mpc certainly seems to be louder. Maybe just because it's very bright, though, but at least it means I can hear myself when things get a bit raucous.

A street-band with five horns and loads of percussions, that sounds marvellous. Do you do Tito Puente stuff?

Cheers, Bob

 

[Greywolf]

We do anything:

My favourites at the moment are:
Chameleon, Watermelon Man, Night Train, Manteca, Lantern Calypso, Delilah.

We're kind of part of a community music centre here in Morecambe called More Music in Morecambe which does some fantastic projects. There's a big project going on next spring called 'The Long Walk' to commemorate the cocklers who died here. It will be three years ago in February, so we have been doing some chinese pieces.

Strange thing about chinese music. A culture with thousands of years of history and someone, maybe centuries ago MUST have hit on the idea of harmony and said to themselves,

"Naaah, it'll never catch on!"


If you go to my website you can see an 'unfinished...work in progress' It has some info and some photos of the bands. I will add more as I get the time.


it's pretty naff but I suppose I see it's purpose as a sort of celebration of Morecambe.

The trouble is I don't get much time to work on it. I had most of what is up now sitting on my hard drive for months waiting to be finished and thought, "This is ridiculous, just put the thing up and add to it because otherwise it will never be finished and never go up.

So for what it's worth, warts and all, here's the link:

www.cutlass.freeserve.co.uk

 

[lee_]

I would think "loudness", per se, would be as much a function of the style/height of baffle and type of chamber.

 

[Pjonah]

I had a Berg Larsen bullet chamber metal mouthpiece, because for many years I aspired to a metal mouthpiece. But likre so many of you before me, I stll gravitate back to my fave piece of kit.....my trusty old (1970's) Brilhart Ebolin 5*. This is extremely bright and awesome range of tones available with its duck bill shape, this old stager takes some beating.

I only play that mouthpiece on tenor now, I sold said BL on ebay!

In fact I doubt the claimed benefits of metal over hard rubber being as great as it is.

Also more importantly, metal mouthpieces spoil the taste of the after gig beers!

Cheers!

 

[Bobby G]

Hey, Greywolf, some of those tunes sound like fun! I like the idea of doing Chinese music too. I think commemorating the cockle pickers who died (I didn't realise it was three years already) is an excellent t ing to do.

Do you have space for a long-distance, non-reading, quick-learning alto player?

Cheers, Bob

 

[mfox]

hey greywolf you only live 20 miles from me.. iv'e played a lot in morcambe. in fact i played at the jazz festival many times including this year ..platform is another place i play a few times a year..dome another..

 

[mikeherrera]

so what you guys are suggesting is a Jumbo Java T75 mouthpiece for the tenor mark vi? this is what i have as of the moment.

given the options: w/c metal mpc works good for mark vi tenor? slemre paris france mpc or the Jumbo Java T75???

mike h.

 

[Pete Thomas]

mikeherrera wrote:
so what you guys are suggesting is a Jumbo Java T75 mouthpiece for the tenor mark vi? this is what i have as of the moment.

given the options: w/c metal mpc works good for mark vi tenor? slemre paris france mpc or the Jumbo Java T75???

mike h.

I find the jumbo java too edgy. Not sure what you mean by "w/c metal"?

Really you need to try many mouthpiececs and decide what suits you best.

 

[mikeherrera]

oh yeah....i've just researched on the Jumbo Java T75 mouthpiece ...i think it's kinda rubber or plastic type as shown in the pics...i haven't really tried that though and couldn't find it here in the philippines.....so pete, what you're suggesting is i'd go w/ selmer paris france metal mpc? do you have any other suggestions of what kind of metal mpc should be best for the mark vi???

mike h.

 

[Pete Thomas]

My favourite mouthpiece is an RPC, but it is hard rubber not metal. There is no "best" mouthpiece for everyone IMO.

 

[mikeherrera]

pete, i like the short soundfiles that's in this forum....are they really played on the RPC mpc?? they're clear and really boosts the potential of the sax....can you tell me how much does this kinds of mpc costs?

mike h.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Most of my audiofiles on the site (probably all of them) are played on an RPC.

You can get info on them here:

They are custom made, so its best you know what sort of sound you want before getting one. The waiting list is quite long I believe also.