And the results are in! Please bear in mind that these are just the impressions of a very inexperienced player. Your Mileage May (and almost certainly will!) Vary!
9th - Selmer S80
I just didn't get on with this mpc at all. I know some people swear by them but as soon as I put it on the crook I was squawking notes and having problems where previously I'd had none. When I did play it cleanly I didn't really care for the tone. YMMV, but this one just wasn't for me!
8th - Berg Larson Grained Ebonite
A monster! A great piece for rock, and I'm sure more experienced chops could play it smooth and mellow. Mine couldn't! 😀
7th - Vandoren V16
Great at the top and huge at the bottom but (to me, in this company) it sounded a little harsh in the middle. Also the tip opening (T7?) was way more than I could handle.
6th - Otto Link
Incredibly resistant, and the tone wasn't quite what I was looking for. I wasn't really comfortable with it. Sorry!
5th - Vandoren Java
Nice piece, and a lot easier on my chops that that whacking great V16! Like the V16 though, the tone seemed to have a harsh edge to it. Probably just my inexperience showing through.
4th - Jody Jazz Classic
I really liked this one! With the spoiler out it played really nicely all the way up and down, pacey or smooth whichever you liked. Free-blowing too. Put the spoiler in and it turns into a complete animal! I thought I was going to shatter the glass booth! (I didn't! 🙂 ) However the tone wasn't quite as rich or full as some of the others and with the spoiler in I had a touch of squawking around D2 (nothing major but enough to make me concentrate to get rid of it). Very nice piece though. I could have happily lived with it and if I played more rock...! Hmmm...!
That left three and all of 'em were belters!
2nd equal - Yanagisawa Ebonite
Yani players get this with their horn?! The lucky beggars! It's a cracker! Smooth, rich, warm and versatile. I would have snapped this up in a heartbeat. The only reason I didn't was that it didn't subtone quite as easily as the winner. Superb piece though!
2nd equal - Meyer 6M
Wow! I hadn't expected to but I really loved it! Absolutely gorgeous tone, rich and warm and suited my ballads and blues down to the ground. Again only a hair split it from the winner, and that was versatility. When the pace increased it didn't respond *quite* as well as the winner. Not much in it, but given that it was also significantly more expensive it didn't quite make the cut. Sooooooo close, though!
And the winner?
Jody Jazz HR*
One of the cheapest mpcs I tried and yet (to me) the nicest. The tone is almost as full and rich as the Meyer but upshifts to quicker, more raucous music seemlessly. As free-blowing as the Classic, subtones easier than the Yani, lovely warm tone throughout.
And easier to play than my Yamaha 4C! As soon as I started blowing it several cracked-note / squawking problems that I had just vanished! I tried it in a 6*, but it was more than my (by that stage knackered!) chops could handle, so I went home with a comfy 5*, a Rovner Light lig and a great big grin!
Many thanks to all here for the suggestions. Many thanks to Jules for the help, advice, hospitality, patience and not tempting me with any saxes!
Thank God they're at the other end of the country...! 😀
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