Mouthpieces My New Alto Mouthpiece...

[GJ77]

In my 25 years of playing I've managed to largely ignore the obsessive mouthpiece search that some others find themselves on (I spent the first 20 years on a Meyer 5M and followed that with a Pillinger LA6*) but today I spent an enjoyable few hours trying out almost everything on the market which I thought might get me what I want.

My preference with regard to tone is somewhere in the region of Cannonball/Oliver Nelson. I like a buzzy edge as long as it's backed up by a thick core, and so I went in search of a fairly classic Meyer(ish) ebonite piece and tried the following:

Theo Wanne Gaia - I really wasn't impressed - particularly at that price; it sounded brittle to my ears and lacked versatility. One for the smooth jazz fans in my opinion.

Drake NY - Very nice and a lot of fun but over bright for my tastes and seemed to be a bit of a one trick pony.

SR Legend - A very nice, well made mouthpiece which could wail away at the top end nicely but lacked a little finesse at the bottom end of the horn. I did like it a lot though, and nearly bought one until...

Aizen Jazz Master (7) - Oh my word!!!! This thing sounds amazing and does everything so well. Rich and creamy at the bottom end and can wail away at the top but maintains a real depth to the tone. Despite it's name I'm finding that it can get a nice pure classical tone very nicely indeed. Has anybody else played one of these yet?

Glen

 

[Jeanette]

Sorted for the next 20 years now or have you got the bug?

Jx

 

[GJ77]

Sorted. Unless I suddenly become a smooth jazz fan...heaven forbid!!!

 

[jazzdoh]

Aizen's are good mouthpieces didn't suit me but looked well made,enjoy you new mpc.

 

[Guenne]

Hi,

my Woodstones just left Tokio,hehe...

I am looking for a good Meyer too (started a thread some days ago, unfortunately nobody was interested in).
The "Meyer" from Aizen is the "NY" as far as I understand, have you tried that too?

Cheers,
Guenne

 

[Greg Strange]

Hi,

my Woodstones just left Tokio,hehe...

I am looking for a good Meyer too (started a thread some days ago, unfortunately nobody was interested in).
The "Meyer" from Aizen is the "NY" as far as I understand, have you tried that too?

Cheers,
Guenne

Several companies / people / entities make New York Meyer replicas - Phil Barone, Phil-Tone, etc...

I have a CE Winds Five Spot 6M Copper Fusion which is their take on the New York Meyer and have a 8M Aluminium Fusion (B-Stock) hopefully on it's way...

I played a Babbit made Meyer 5M for well over a decade - some people say the latest Meyers are not particularly good...

Regards,

Greg S.

 

[aldevis]

Hi,

my Woodstones just left Tokio,hehe...

I am looking for a good Meyer too (started a thread some days ago, unfortunately nobody was interested in).
The "Meyer" from Aizen is the "NY" as far as I understand, have you tried that too?

Cheers,
Guenne

Sorry I missed your thread. I recently managed to have the some great copies of ny NYUSA. I am leaving the original in a safe drawer.
Is the aizen the soloist-like or the meyer-like?

 

[Guenne]

Good morning,

and one more question.
Have you had the chance to try a 6 tip opening too?
I normally play 6 with the Meyer pieces, but would go for 7 with a Gottsu for instance.
Would that be true for the Aizen too?

Cheers,
Guenne

 

[GJ77]

I did try the NY but preferred the thicker, richer sound of the Jazz Master. Ultimately our own sound will obviously always shine through. There was a guy in the next room trying the same piece as me but our tones were very different, it's not a mouthpiece that imposes it's own sound upon you but one that I found I could manipulate with ease and get my sound from. Or, at least, the version of my sound that I hear in my head and aspire to producing (I hope that makes sense).

I did try the 6 but just felt that the 7 suited me more and gave me that depth that I wanted. I'm using Alexander Superial Classique 2.5 reeds and that combination seems perfect to me at the moment.

 

[Guenne]

Hi GJ77,

letting me sound like me is the ultimate thing, I agree.
7 could be nice for my preferred reeds, Vandoren blue 2,5...
I spoke to the saxguy in my store, he said the reason that don't sell Aizen anymore is decreasing quality..(which is hard to believe for me after reading about them on the web, and I also have a Soprano MPC which is fine)
Did you try more than one piece?

Cheers, Guenne

 

[GJ77]

I only tried the one 6 and one 7 and I have to say that both appeared to be the most meticulously finished mouthpieces I've ever seen. Maybe I got lucky but I've certainly not heard of anybody complaining about quality, regardless of whether or not they liked the characteristics.

When compared to the others I tried on the day, all of which were highly regarded, hand finished pieces, the Aizen's appeared to be better than any of the others in that regard.

 

[Reed Warbler]

I was mightily impressed by Yosuke Sato, alto player with Gregory Porter. He plays an Aizen, dont know which but his tonal range is huge, very exciting player.