Mouthpieces Meyer Mouthpieces

exrcsst · Apr 14, 2008

I was wondering what people thought of the Meyer mouthpieces (the $75 one "standard" one). It was recomended to me and wanted more feedback. Thanks.

greg_strange · Apr 14, 2008

Hi Patrick,

The Meyer mouthpieces are very good. They are very popular on alto saxes, and in some respect the industry standard for alto players for many years. I have been playing one on my trusty old Yamaha 62 series alto for over a decade, although over the last 12 months or so I have been playing Vandoren Jumbo Java, Brilhart Level Air mouthpieces, and the last couple of weeks a Beechler S6S mouthpiece. They don't appear to be popular for tenor, although I have ordered in the last few days a Meyer 6M for my tenor.
When you say standard, are you referring to the Meyer 5M?
My advice would be pop along to your nearest good horn shop and try out as many mouthpieces as possible, by all means start with the Meyer, but don't limit yourself to that brand, then maybe try some others, for example Vandoren Java, Beechler and Claude Lakey, etc, you might find another brand that works best for you.
Happy blowin'
Regards,
Greg Strange.
Sax from Downunder.

frankb · Apr 14, 2008

A timely thread, as I'm in a similar situation with my alto.

I aim to wander along to the local shop in the next few days and try a few, with particular attention (after my tenor experiments!) to the Meyer 5M and Yanagisawa ebonite pieces.

Unfortunately they don't stock the JJ HR* or Classic... ...and Crowborough is just too far away! :cry:

frankb · Apr 15, 2008

Well, I popped into Johnny Roadhouse at lunchtime and tried a few alto pieces. Here's what I found (all opinions purely my own based on my (in)experience! Do not take as gospel!) -

Bari ebonite
Described as a "love it or hate it" mouthpiece. I didn't love it! Very bright and (to my ears) very harsh. We didn't get on...!

Otto Link ebonite
I liked the bottom-end of this piece but was less convinced about the rest of the range. Not what I was looking for, but a darn sight closer than the tenor version.

Yanagisawa ebonite
A really nice blow, good tone up and down, but a slight "edge?" / "overtone?" that I couldn't seem to shake. Very tight on the cork, which made positioning it fiddly and may have been the cause of some intonation issues which I didn't have with the others. Then again, it might have been my natural cack-handedness...!

Meyer 5M
IMO the nicest of the four, great intonation, nice tone... but not the rich warmth that I was expecting after having tried the tenor version of this piece. The proprietor had a blow on it too alongside my 4C and I could hear a pleasant difference, but not enough to have me reaching for my wallet (not yet anyway!).

The verdict?

Well, I'm going to stay with my Yamaha 4C and practice. In three months or six I might try again and see if I find anything that really grabs me. Maybe I'll even be near Crowborough and check out some Jody Jazz pieces while I'm about it.

(The store didn't lose out either - I walked away with a flute stand!)

Bobby G · Apr 15, 2008

I really like a Meyer on my alto. I had a 5M for quite a while, which fell out of favour due to my need for a wider opening, but since getting an 8M I've found I'm back to using it almost exclusively.

Chris98 · Apr 15, 2008

Hi Frank,

PM sent.

All the best,

Chris.

greg_strange · Apr 16, 2008

Hi Frank,

Nothing wrong with the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece. After posting my response on Monday I went and had a bit of a practice session (daily, at work in the basement). I have about a dozen reeds that I use on alto, that I rotate around on a daily basis. I was running in a new Hemke 3 reed and decided to use my recently acquired Beechler S6S. I put the reed on the mouthpiece, and I sounded like a cross between a screaming banshee and a circular saw - bl**dy terrible, put the reed on my Yamaha 4C and sounded and played great. Played for over a hour and never missed a beat. Sometimes the humble and simpler things work best.

One question though - what is Johnny Roadhouse? Sounds like a drinking establishment in the middle of rural Texas?

Cheers,
Greg Strange.

frankb · Apr 16, 2008

It's a music shop on Oxford Road in Manchester (http://www.johnnyroadhouse.co.uk/) and also serves as home to the Manchester outlet of Hobgoblin Music (http://www.hobgoblin.com/) and John Clarke's woodwind workshop (http://www.thewoodwindworkshop.com/).

josh_johnson · Apr 18, 2008

I played a Meyer mouthpiece when I played alto - I think they are a great all-round mouthpiece.

frankb · Apr 18, 2008

Update -

After my alto mpc tryout described above, I received a PM from Chris98. Even though he's never met me and knows me only from this forum he nevertheless offered me his JodyJazz HR* 5M on long term loan. 😱 Needless to say, I took his hand off at the shoulder! :w00t:

He refused my offer to pay for the postage and when the parcel arrived yesterday it contained not only the mpc but also a Rovner dark lig and two mpc patches (one thick, one thin!). I think we now have a new definition of "outstanding generosity"!

Chris - Many, many thanks! I'm very much obliged to you and hope I can return the favour at some point.

So, what does it play like? Well, it's very free-blowing (like both of the Jody Jazz tenor pieces I've tried), the tone is quite breathy and warm but still capable of being a bit rowdy when you want it to. It is capable of being louder than my 4C, but doesn't insist on it. It's a very comfortable blow too, and encouraged me to experiment and play around.

While I was about it I also tried the Rovner lig vs my generic Yamaha 2-screw on the 4C (don't worry Chris, the metal lig is going nowhere near your JJ!). Verdict? Swapping back and forth I couldn't hear any difference. (However, as I'm a cloth-eared effort this proves nothing!). I did find that the Rovner was easier in use and didn't chop up the reed, so it would be my preferred option.

Yup, I had a very fun evening (and I'm looking forward to the weekend too)! :w00t:

What a very nice place this is!

andyblackard · Apr 18, 2008

I am somewhat confused over the Meyer models. I ordered a Meyer 6M online and what I received is not a hard rubber (HR) mouthpiece. It is plastic. It is far better than the Yamaha 4c or 5c that I already had. But I wonder if the HR is even better than the plastic Meyer.

Any ideas?

Or would the Vandoren or Jody Jazz HR mouthpiece be a better step up?

Saxlicker · Apr 18, 2008

I don't think it is plastic.

Hard rubber pieces are not 'rubbery' to feel as such.
I understand that the latest Meyers are made from a resin and hard rubber dust.

They used to be machined from a rod of hard rubber.
All new rubber pieces could all be mistaken for plastic at first glance. Ageing rubber pieces will take a brown or green tinge to areas exposed to the light where as underneath the ligature will generally stay black.

andyblackard · Apr 18, 2008

Saxlicker wrote: I understand that the latest Meyers are made from a resin and hard rubber dust. They used to be machined from a rod of hard rubber.

Thanks. That explains why my teacher now said it didn't look like any Meyer he had ever seen. My first teacher must have had an older Meyer because it definitely looked different from the one I have.

exrcsst · Apr 19, 2008

I recently bought a 6M and had the chance to try a jody jazz HR*. The JJ is definetly the better mouthpiece, but for the price the Meyers are a good deal.

Jules · Apr 20, 2008

AndyBlackard wrote:
I am somewhat confused over the Meyer models. I ordered a Meyer 6M online and what I received is not a hard rubber (HR) mouthpiece. It is plastic. It is far better than the Yamaha 4c or 5c that I already had. But I wonder if the HR is even better than the plastic Meyer.

Meyer don't make plastic mouthpieces, it's got ot be ebonite AKA Hard rubber

Jules · Apr 20, 2008

exrcsst wrote:
I recently bought a 6M and had the chance to try a jody jazz HR*. The JJ is definetly the better mouthpiece, but for the price the Meyers are a good deal.

'fraid I'm going to disagree with that. really wouldn't say either's overall best (mouthpieces are such a personal thing that 'best' isn't really a viable concept), though JJs have better quality control so you might have got a substandard Meyer

andyblackard · Apr 20, 2008

Thanks for the info folks. I've just been playing again for 5 months and I'm playing 2-1/2 Vandoren Javas. I'm going to wait until I go up to 3 to decide if I'm going to switch.

But my Meyer 6M has a tendency to squawk very briefly sometimes at the moment you start the note. Its really bad with a Rovner lig but not bad with the lig that came with it. Brand unknown. Someone said this could be caused by the rails not being perfectly level or unequal on one side. It's very brief and really doesn't break into a full squeak, but it makes me uncomfortable and lose my concentration.

Other than that, the high D-F# play really well and much more in tune on my Meyer 6M than my Yamaha 4c/5c mpc. Also the low B-Bb are much more stable and respond faster. Richer tone in the midrange too.

Here is what I have:
http://tinyurl.com/65cqfx

I've heard that the JodyJazz HR mpc don't fit the necks on some horns. Does anybody know if they fit a Yamaha 62-II ?

Thanks.
Andy

Saxlicker · Apr 20, 2008

Andy,

Any alto mouthpiece should fit any alto neck.
Likewise right through the other sax's.
Only the thickness of the cork and the internal diameter of the mouthpiece bore will give reason for a slack or tight fit.
This can be adjusted easily and its inexpensive if you need a tech to do it.
Now just on a slightly different take, I heard some really old horns can't get the good adjustment for tuning with some mouthpieces.

Bobby G · Apr 20, 2008

I've also heard that some old horns aren't happy with some modern mouthpieces, can anyone shed any light on this? Is it mainly an intonation problem?

I've found that some mouthpieces are a looser fit than others on the neck, particularly Otto Link HR pieces - the problem can be easily cured by rotating the neck cork in the flow of steam from a boling kettle, which causes the cork to expand slightly, making the mouthpiece fit more snugly.

Chris98 · Apr 21, 2008

FrankB wrote:
Update -

After my alto mpc tryout described above, I received a PM from Chris98. Even though he's never met me and knows me only from this forum he nevertheless offered me his JodyJazz HR* 5M on long term loan. 😱 Needless to say, I took his hand off at the shoulder!

He refused my offer to pay for the postage and when the parcel arrived yesterday it contained not only the mpc but also a Rovner dark lig and two mpc patches (one thick, one thin!). I think we now have a new definition of "outstanding generosity"!

Chris - Many, many thanks! I'm very much obliged to you and hope I can return the favour at some point.

So, what does it play like? Well, it's very free-blowing (like both of the Jody Jazz tenor pieces I've tried), the tone is quite breathy and warm but still capable of being a bit rowdy when you want it to. It is capable of being louder than my 4C, but doesn't insist on it. It's a very comfortable blow too, and encouraged me to experiment and play around.

While I was about it I also tried the Rovner lig vs my generic Yamaha 2-screw on the 4C (don't worry Chris, the metal lig is going nowhere near your JJ!). Verdict? Swapping back and forth I couldn't hear any difference. (However, as I'm a cloth-eared effort this proves nothing!). I did find that the Rovner was easier in use and didn't chop up the reed, so it would be my preferred option.

Yup, I had a very fun evening (and I'm looking forward to the weekend too)!

What a very nice place this is!

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the kind words, although you forgot to say that you also chose to make a contribution to Pete?s charity, so everyone wins. As I said the Jody Jazz had been sat in its box since I got my Vandoren Java and I?d much rather it got used. Once you?ve had a chance to really get to know it I?d be interested to hear what you think.

All the best,

Chris