Mouthpieces Mouthpiece Choice For 1957 Toneking Alto

helen

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I have a 286XXX JK-stencilled Jubilee alto, that's really a just a Toneking (with a high F# key). The horn is in quite minty condition, and I just had it fully restored by my tech. I also had a replacement angel wing and clothes guard installed--original JK replacement pieces. I absolutely love this Series III horn, but am having problems with finding a good mouthpiece for it.

Unlike their tenor cousins, who are not fussy in the mouthpiece department, these JK altos need a fairly large chamber mouthpiece--something like a Berg 3. My regular alto piece is a Runyon Custom 9, and that's just not working really well.

I was wondering if there were any Toneking or The New King alto players on this board, and what kinds of mouthpieces you were using. I just picked up a vintage Meyer 6 from my tech's shop to try out, buy haven't had a chance to play around on it much yet. I'm not sure if it will be much better than than my Runyon.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
I've got a Toneking Alto too, and I get the best results with a normal soloist c** but the sax makes this one a lot brighter then when I have the same mpc on my selmer or cannonball..

and for the more piercing sounds I use a lebayle metal jazz 8. If you'd like i could record some samples for you tomorrow?
 
I've got a Toneking Alto too, and I get the best results with a normal soloist c** but the sax makes this one a lot brighter then when I have the same mpc on my selmer or cannonball..

and for the more piercing sounds I use a lebayle metal jazz 8. If you'd like i could record some samples for you tomorrow?

I would really appreciate a sound sample. Thank you for the offer Koen88.

I'm starting to wonder if my alto is a bit of a one-off, or what's up with it. Compared to my tenor Toneking of the same year--that's a screamer--and has lots of overtones present, the alto is very heavy on the core tone--many players would call it dark--and much more subdued.

The other thing that's very strange about the alto, are its key heights. Even though they're set as high as they can possibly be, and have the thinnest cork possible on them, the horn still feels like it should be opened up a bit more. I had a colleague who's a Yamaha artist & clinician play it, and he thought the same thing. He's primarily an alto/soprano player, while I'm a tenor/bari player.

How do you find your key heights? Like them?
 
I have some Keilwerth made altos from the sounds best with mouthpieces from the 40's andf 50's. I tried a Steve Broadus mpc on my Keilwerth made alto and it played fine. But not loud. The Keilwerth altos have a differnt voice compared to the tenors from the same era. The neck and tube is shorter/smaller if you compare a Keilwerth with a Conn 6M, King S20, Beuscher 400 and even a Martin. IMO a large chamber mpc is the best on a Keilwerth. Not too long shank. Bit you add a bit on the neck. A Dukoff D chamber with the baffle taken down is a good alternative as well.

The problem with open up the keys is that you loose some action. For me is not a big problem, but for fast players ........ .
 

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