Mouthpieces Rousseau mouthpieces

[peter_fitton]

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade the mouthpiece on my tenor and am on a bit of a tight budget.

I notice on sax.co.uk that Rousseau mouthpieces seem to be quite affordable compared to most of the alternatives.

I don't think I've seen Rousseaus mentioned on this forum. I know that there's no substitute for actually trying before you buy but I wondered if anyone here has used a Rousseau and what your opinion on them was?

I currently have a T James Classic tenor with the original mouthpiece and am mostly looking for quite a rich, warm sound.

Cheers

Peter

 

[Pete Thomas]

My first recommendation is what I use, an RPC . They are custom mouthpiececs and do take a while to get, plus I notice you want something not as pricey.

The best value I know of are vandoren, but having seen Greg's post I would be wary of an online order. (I used to endorse Vandoren, and used the Javas, occasionally the Jumbo Java, but unlike the java, a Jumbo is not good for a warm sound).

It's all so subjective as you know, listen to all the other advice too.

EDIT: another thought, if the budget is tight, then a Yamaha is not to be sniffed at.

 

[Bobby G]

[No message]

 

[peter_fitton]

Bob Green wrote:

Cheers, Bob

But then there's always Ebay....

Peter

 

[Bobby G]

Play your cards right on ebay and you can get some ok pieces pretty cheap. I got my Brilhart Levelaire, Otto Link Tone Edge and Beechler mpc's on ebay, all for around the 25 quid mark. If you don't like them, I suppose at that price you can always chuck 'em back on the bay.

The main thing to watch out for is that you get a tip opening within your range - when I first got the Beechler it had a much bigger opening and was very hard work, although I've got used to it now.

Cheers, Bob

 

[greg_strange]

Eugene Rousseau used to be Prof. of saxophone at Indiana University and also Chief Consultant for Yamaha since the early 1970's. I think he helped design the 61 and then the 62 series pro horns. You appear to be a UK resident Peter so sax.co.uk might send you several mouthpieces to try and then returned what you don't want, and as Pete suggested try Yamaha as well. I still keep my old Yamaha 4C in my sax case it was the standard model with my 62 Mark I alto, its got a few teeth marks on it like a Great White has had a chomp on it, but still plays well and makes a handy back up for my Meyer 5M.

From Greg,
Somewhere in the South Pacific ( not getting chased by sharks or sting rays!)

 

[tris]

I am looking for a new HR mouthpiece for my Alto.




Truth be told I can't really afford the Jody, let alone the SR. It has been a hard year as I have been off work for 8 months with a shoulder injury and my mouthpiece fund paid this months rent. However, I believe where there is a will there is a way! (PS. if you are reading this Santa tip opening .085 please.) 😛

 

[Rogerb]

How about this sound, anyone?
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=634006

It's my Lamberson 6M, on a MkVI alto...... see my ad in Yard Sale 🙂
(still open to offers for mpc, lig and cap, or any combo!)

 

[peter_fitton]

tris wrote:

Roger, that MP3 sounds very impressive (I thought it was you playing at first! Until I looked at the pop up window more closely). But it's really a tenor mpc that I'm looking for. I mostly play my tenor these days so I'll think I'll just stick with my plastic Yamaha 4C mpc for the alto.

Cheers everyone

Peter

 

[Linky Lee]

I could recommend the Jody Jazz HR myself. As that is exactly what I'm going after for tenor as well!

IT'S A RACE!

 

[monsieursax]

I've played the Rousseau mouthpieces on Alto and Tenor.

If you're looking for a good classical mouthpiece (rather warm and round sound - not quite suitable for jazz/rock) then that's a pretty good deal. The NC4 and 4R are two different lines, but both serve the same classical idiom. Rousseau dabbled in jazz mouthpieces (still does methinks) but they are complete rubbish IMO. I've played all of his mouthpieces and used the NC4 for a while on alto (until it got hot in my car one day and warped) and the 4R almost exclusively until it suffered the same fate as the NC4, ironically. Bu then they'd become so godawful expensive that I went back to my c* selmer S-80 for legit work. Funny story about my 4R: I went with a friend to Bloomington Indiana to ProWinds, a small but super stocked shop across the street from the Indiana University School of Music. As my friend and I were trying out mouthpieces (I bought two that day, plus a double stand, four boxes of reeds and a ligature), we come out of the practice room to get some other mouthpieces to try, Eugene Rousseau walks into the store. He knew my friend from a clinic he'd given at a conference, so the mouthpiece tryout turned into a half hour impormptu lesson.

As far as tenor goes, I've only played the 4R. It's a good legit mouthpiece, but I found it no better that the stock mouthpiece with my Yamaha 875 Custom. Waste of money really.

The Rousseaus used to be the standard classical rig here in the States amongst the turtleneck crowd (the conservatories). Then Vandoren released the Optimums, and everyone (ironically including Rousseau himself so I've heard) went to the Vandoren Optimums. I haven't played one, have little desire to do so, as I never play legit stuff anymore, excepting the occasional musical, and usually then I play so little saxophone (usually more flute and clarinet), I use my jazz rig with a plastic reed.