Mouthpieces Selmer Paris Concept Tenor mouthpiece

[Moz]

At present I use both Yanagisawa 6 and 7 opening mouthpieces. The 7 I used when I was in a band and don't really use it much now as I prefer to play classical or subdued popular music, I don't do loud, fancy sax solos. The 6 is my weapon of choice as the moment but I'm looking for something that is quite dark and mellow-sounding and the Selmer Paris Concept has come to my attention so I'm looking for users that have an opinion on this MP. I would probably go for a 0.085 (2.15mm) (Yani 6) opening as this has served me well for some time now and if I want to go loud I can go back to my Yani 7. Would the Selmer Concept give me the quality of tone that I want or is it just not that different from the Yani. There is nowhere I can try any out without a 2 hour journey so I'm having to do this by feel.

 

[Jeanette]

I think Howarths and / or Dawkes used to offer home mouthpiece trials, have you tried them?

Jx

 

[Selmer10G]

Hi! I happen to have both a Yanagisawa HR 6 and a selmer concept tenor MP which is my current tip of choice for my Yany 500 tenor. Yes, it's darker & more classical sounding than the Yany mouthpiece and has more resistance/ back pressure. It's not the most reed friendly piece but if you get the right one it has a very nice dark classical sound with easy response. Vandoren traditional and V12 3's work pretty well, or anything else of similar strength with a thin tip (I tried Steuer vienna cut which are excellent). Legere american cut 2.75 works well also- better than signatures of the same strength for me. Not a whole lot out there about the tenors, although the altos seem popular. I think these tenors have a proportionately larger tip, i.e. they're not just a scaled up copy of the alto. good luck!

 

[nigeld]

I would probably go for a 0.085 (2.15mm) (Yani 6) opening

As for as I know, the Selmer Concept is only available in one tip opening (2.10mm for tenor).

 

[Moz]

I think Howarths and / or Dawkes used to offer home mouthpiece trials, have you tried them?

Jx

I'll have a look later tonight, thanks.

Hi! I happen to have both a Yanagisawa HR 6 and a selmer concept tenor MP which is my current tip of choice for my Yany 500 tenor. Yes, it's darker & more classical sounding than the Yany mouthpiece and has more resistance/ back pressure. It's not the most reed friendly piece but if you get the right one it has a very nice dark classical sound with easy response. Vandoren traditional and V12 3's work pretty well, or anything else of similar strength with a thin tip (I tried Steuer vienna cut which are excellent). Legere american cut 2.75 works well also- better than signatures of the same strength for me. Not a whole lot out there about the tenors, although the altos seem popular. I think these tenors have a proportionately larger tip, i.e. they're not just a scaled up copy of the alto. good luck!

Most informative. Reed choice is another minefield after the choice of MP.

As for as I know, the Selmer Concept is only available in one tip opening (2.10mm for tenor).

That's fine, one less thing to worry about and certainly as near as dammit to my existing MP.

 

[Moz]

I have gone to Dawkes and ordered the Concept. Yes, they do allow a try after you buy but it would mean outlaying say, £600 for three MPs and I don't want to do that. I can always return this one if it's not for me, then try another but let's hope this goes ok. Then it's reed trying time but fortunately I have a shed load of different reeds that I have tried over the years, one of them is bound to do the job (I hope).

Thanks for all your help, I'll let you know how it goes in a week or so.

 

[Moz]

Well, received the new Concept MP on Saturday but due to a cold I haven't played until this morning.

What a fantastic change! All of a sudden my bell tones are clear and controllable, it is easy to get on with and the high notes (for me) are so much more stable and attainable. I didn't even have to change reeds strength from my Yani MP although I will experiment when I've got over the shock.

I really didn't think a mouthpiece change could make such a difference in playability and timbre.

I did wonder if forking out a hundred and ninety quid on what is effectively a bit of black plasticky stuff but IMHO, so far it has been money well spent.