Rico Royal Plastic Mouthpiece

[frank_perry]

I had one of these supplied when I bought my saxophone and despite a number of goes with it have never been able to blow a damn note with it.

Is this a very poor mouthpiece or is it just not suitable for me?

 

[jonf]

Hi Frank

Depends on what it is. If it's a Rico Royal Graftonite, they're really pretty good. It may be that it's an inappropriate size. Does it have a letter and a number on it? I assume you're more curious than anything else, given that you alreadyt have an Otto Link?

Cheers

Jon

 

[phil_edwards]

Nick Cook might have a timely answer to this - I had one and he's just taken it off my hands for a donation to Pete's charity. Nick, what do you make of it?

I found it played well, but prefer my Selmer which is why I passed the Rico on, as it didn't get any use.

Regards, Phil

 

[frank_perry]

Just has a C5 on it and the name Rico Royal. I can't believe its that bad so perhaps I'm doing something wrong?

Any ideas how to proceed to enable me to give it a fair hearing?

 

[phil_edwards]

Looks like yours is an 0.080" opening with a small chamber. Would a small chamber make this difficult to blow? Anyone know?

Mine was a B5 - that's 0.080"/ Medium and blew as easily as any other I've played.

Here's a chart from Rico http://tinyurl.com/36gtpw

Phil

 

[frank_perry]

Thanks Phil my otto link is 5* which I think is 0.065" I think. I find the Rico doesn't seem to present any resistance at all so its all abit confusing.

 

[phil_edwards]

The 5* is 0.070" (http://tinyurl.com/3dqc2n) which may be quite a jump for you, depending upon your experience. Have you gone down to a softer reed?

Do you just get a lot of breath and no notes?

regards, Phil

 

[frank_perry]

Hi Phil

It just seems to take so much breath for strange sounds. The reeds are 2 since I've just started playing again after years of lay off, not that I got that far before though.

The reason behind the question is that I want to eventually try a non metal mouthpiece and the trouble I'm having with the Rico worries me about what would be suitable for me.

Is it the mouthpiece, is it the reeds or don't I have enough puff. I have no troubles with my Otto Link.

I was thinking of treating myself to a second hand mouthpiece for a treat and so the trouble I'm having with the Rico is putting me off buying.

 

[Linky Lee]

the rico royal is a cheap mouthpiece, fine for a beginner but cheap.

it's not very likely to have the best tip or rails in particular. This can cause it to be a much harder blow, near impossible because the reed won't work properly on it whatever strength/make or model.

A more expensive mouthpiece isn't necessarily going to have any better tips or rails, though it should. It's best to try the mouthpiece before you buy, then you can see if they're ok before parting with your cash.

You can get bad mouthpieces refaced for about ?35 which will make them great blowers, you could also open it up a bit more if you wanted at the same time.

 

[frank_perry]

Hi Linky

Thanks for the help.

 

[Linky Lee]

I don't know what your playing is like, but if you're comfortable on your Link which has a .07 opening and you want to move on to an ebonite mouthpiece you could get the rico worked on. Open it up to something like a .08 or maybe 0.85 depending on how thick the tip is at the moment to help develop your embouchure some more and build a broader sound.

Alternatively I'm thinking of selling my ebonite link 6, so if you like the sound of your link and want to move to ebonite mouthpieces I'd be willing to sell it to you for a reasonable price and 5% to Pete's charities of choice.

 

[nick_cook]

Phil Edwards wrote:
Nick Cook might have a timely answer to this - I had one and he's just taken it off my hands for a donation to Pete's charity. Nick, what do you make of it?

I found it played well, but prefer my Selmer which is why I passed the Rico on, as it didn't get any use.

Regards, Phil

[color:green]Well, I've had a bit of spate of mouthpiece buying, and not much practising, so I haven't been able to give the Rico (or any of the others!) much of a chance yet. However, I have had a bit of a go with the Rico and had no problems with it. In fact from what I remember, it sounded very good, so will get back to giving it a good workout soon!![/color]

 

[justin_chune]

A Yamaha 4C would give you an inexpensive alternative to your metal Link. I think that they are plastic and are highly regarded here. The Selmer C* is a very popular alto mouthpiece as well.

Price isn't everything. The now discontinued Rico Metalite model has a lot of fans. I am having a lot of fun with my alto using a Bamber "Jazz Model" that I was given. These are cheap plastic mpc's.

You can test the Rico for warpage by simply wetting the mouthpiece table with water and holding it against plate glass. If it grips like a magnet it's warp free.

 

[jonf]

If it says C5 it's a Graftonite. Although these were/are cheap, they are not cheap and nasty. They're designed by Arnold Brilhardt, who did some brilliant mouthpieces. They're cast from a tough plastic, rather than machined from ebonite. This is actually a pretty precise manufacturing process, with very consistent results, so don't assume that because it's a cheap mouthpiece it will be out of line. I would guess that the manufacturing tolerances of these things is probably tighter than Otto Link's.

They came in three basic formats, A, B and C, where A is the softest, least bright and easiest to blow and C is the brightest and loudest. The C models are quite resistant - I know, I've got a C7 - so what you've got is a loud bright mouthpiece that takes a lot of puff. They are very popular with those horrible US marching bands, as they have enough volume and edge to cut through loads of cheering and god-awful instruments like sousaphones......

 

[freddysilk]

I made the mistake of purchasing a Rico Royal C7 when I was still in the beginning stage and my chops were still weak. After about playing for about 2 years, I deciced to pull it out of my drawer and give it a try and surprisingly the notes came out. The notes were a little harsh so I dropped down to a #2 reed and "BOOM" the notes were clean, even, crisp, and my articulations were on point. I would even consider the tone to those of edgy metal mouthpieces for a heck of lot less.

My advice is not to throw it away but put it away until your embouchure can handle it. I would even play a mouthpiece with a 6 opening for awhile (several months) and when you can play your dynamics with no problem, pull out the Rico Royal C7 or C5 and you'll see what I'm talking about

 

[saxismyaxe]

I have the entire line of Rico Royal Graftonites (and a few of the sadly ersatz Metalite line), and the best of them are the Baritone models (B chamber) in my opinion. As cheap as they are, I couldn't resist filling my Mouthpiece drawer with still more unused pieces.😉

I know many a classical clarinetist will balk at this suggestion, but I actually like the Graftonite clarinet piece too.

The C chamber is just too darn chirpy and bright for my tastes with the Alto and Tenor models.

Having said that, I don't currently utilize any of them as my primary pieces.

BTW, nice avatar.

 

[Pjonah]

For what its worth......I think any piece designed by Arnold Brillhart gets my vote. Shave a reed and try again, keep shaving it until you get what you want. (Don't shave any closer than 5mm to the tip of the reed though or you'll need a old penny and lighter to re-shape the reed)

I got a Claude Lackey 6*3 for alto and its a might tough on the jaw, but play-it all night and those jaw muscules soon build up. Now I find my baritone needs a different emboucher!