Mouthpieces More Mouthpiece Queries

silas2 · Sep 4, 2006

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Saxlicker · Sep 4, 2006

HI Silas2,

There are protector patches you can buy but in my experience some are much more robust than others. I've had some fall off at the smallest amount of moisture and bitten straight through others. If you persue this route I can dig out the catalogue number for some really tough sticky ones available from John Myatt brass and woodwind.
However because you all ready have deep indents in your current mouthpiece, you will probably suffer a bit more than normal regardless of what patch you put on it.

A replacement yamaha mouthpiece (just the cheap one, not the custom) is a very good mouthpiece for the money. (I used to think I was alone in that thinking until I joined this forum)

Good luck!

Bobby G · Sep 4, 2006

Mouthpiece patches which stick on the mpc will do the job. I use them not because I bite too hard, but because they cut down on the vibration through my teeth.

Depending where you are in N. London, Mackrill's in Edgware should have some.

Anyway, hi Silas and welcome to the forum, also welcome back to the happy world of horn-honking!

Cheers, Bob

Bobby G · Sep 4, 2006

A collision of replies there! Silas, I live in Herts and I use the patches from Myatts in Hitchin that Saxlicker mentioned. They stick well, and stay stuck, and I haven't bitten through one yet!

Cheers, Bob

ken_aust · Sep 4, 2006

Silas,
The Yamaha "soft" 0.8 mm patches are the best. They are anything but soft, they will last you a long time. They are in/ on an orange coloured packet. The only dowmside is if you are using them on a metal mouthpiece they tend to discolour it.
Also, if your front upper teeth are uneven, perhaps you should have them ground down by your dentist. Just bring along your mouthpiece with you and he / she can judge then how much to remove . Happy gnawing !!!
Ken

Pete Thomas · Sep 4, 2006

I had one of my top teeth ground down, not because of biting away the mouthpiece but because they were uneven. It could be that your top teeth are sharper than they need to be.

Bobby G · Sep 4, 2006

Getting your teeth ground down, eow! I've said it before, some of us suffer for our art.

The 0.8mm patches are what I use, they look like a bike inner tube patch. You can also get 0.3mm (I think) which are clear, I use them on my soprano 4c mpc, and haven't bitten through those either. Then again, I'm not a big biter.

Cheers, Bob

silas2 · Sep 18, 2006

Thanks for that advice, I got the patches and got the Yamaha 4c (it was a 4c not 5c that came in the Elkhart box), but...I know you've been asked this before - I like the mouthpiece, it hasn't got enough gap for me (I'm using medium reeds 2.5), but at this stage I don't feel my embouche's "settled" enough to test a load out and make my own decision - what's "the next one up" in the Yamaha student range, i.e. same characteristics but with a bit more gap? 5c? 4d? 5d?