Mouthpieces Reverting to previous setups - just me?

[Bradley]

Hey there cafe-goers,

When I was younger, I tried out all the different reed types when I was buying my first professional level sax (a Yani A991 for the record). I was immediately taken by the Vandoren ZZ 2.5/3s. Then, a couple of years later, my friend introduced me to the Alexander NY 3s, which I have played every since. However, in the last couple of weeks, I found an unopened pack of Vandoren ZZ 3s which I bought just before my previous conversion, and have found myself enjoying the ZZs again. Has anyone else found themselves switching back to a previous setup (be it reeds, mouthpieces, ligatures, necks, saxes), and found themselves enjoying the new sound a lot more than their current set up, and indeed more than when they used it before?

 

[Guenne]

Hey,

this is a good argument for not selling equipment (a mouthpiece for instance) when switching to a new one, as you might want to return to it 🙂
My teacher told me that a friend of his - Bennie Wallace - who has been playing on the same mouthpiece for quite a while buys new ones on a regular basis to play (practice) on them for a while just to return to his regular one. He does this to find new things in his "old" equipment he thought he could not find.

To answer your question, yes, I find myself doing this.

Cheers,
Guenne

 

[Colin the Bear]

I'm always trying different stuff lately. I find it very frustrating how a new mouthpiece that sounds / feels great, reverts to being me after about an hour. I played the same mouthpiece on alto since the 80's and recently changed. It's better but I keep having a blow of the old one to make sure. Still not found "the one" for alto.

 

[altissimo]

I've tried some of my older mouthpieces lately and I don't get on with the ones I used a lot 10 years ago - they all play well, but small chambers, shorter facings and smaller tip openings don't do it for me any more.
It's nice having a shelf full of mouthpieces, but the Runyons and a few Bergs and other bits and pieces will have to go and I just can't summon much enthusiasm for tenor anymore, so the 30's Martin may end up on ebay too... 🙁

 

[Jonesy]

Odd that this subject should come up last Saturday as I was finding my favourite mouthpieces (PPT Onyxite, Otto Link, Selmer, and Rico Metalite) all sounded dull and lifeless.
So I had a go with my Chinese mettle (sic) which I hadn't used for months, and happily played the weekend away with a bright sound.

(I have since re-tried my favourites and they blow OK now, so it could have been due to atmospheric pressure, or temperature, or humidity, or most probably me.)

 

[Nick Wyver]

I reverted to cane reeds after about 5 years of playing synthetics. I've never (IIRC) gone back to an old mouthpiece but I don't just stick to one anyway. I tend to keep them for a few years then flog them if they've not been played.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Odd that this subject should come up last Saturday as I was finding my favourite mouthpieces (PPT Onyxite, Otto Link, Selmer, and Rico Metalite) all sounded dull and lifeless.
So I had a go with my Chinese mettle (sic) which I hadn't used for months, and happily played the weekend away with a bright sound.

(I have since re-tried my favourites and they blow OK now, so it could have been due to atmospheric pressure, or temperature, or humidity, or most probably me.)

That's very odd. I was out Sunday and couldn't get a decent tone. Went out Tuesday and it was lush. The weather was very different.