Two Voices
Senior Member
- 1,094
I’m looking at getting another mouthpiece for my Tenor Sax. At present I’m playing an Otto-Link Metal STM 8* (0.115”) which I’m very comfortable with but it isn’t quite the sound I’m after. So it might get demoted to my back-up piece.
I need a little help in deciding which mouthpiece to chose! I’ve narrowed it down to either a Berg Larsen Metal Duckbill or Vintage. Unfortunately I can’t just nip to a big sax store and try out a load of mouthpieces so I need to pick carefully or I’ll end up with more mouthpieces than sax.co.uk 🙂))
I believe that both pieces have a SMS facing which is the same as an Otto-Link rather than a M which is longer. If not please let me know as this might help make the decision.
Now for the mouthpiece material I have opted for a bronze piece for its resonant qualities. I doubt Stainless Steel would give me the sound I want.
Fortunately for me I have been lucky enough to been able to test play a couple of Berg Larsen Mouthpieces. One was a Bronze Bullet with a baffle height of 3 which I found too dark for my tastes. The second was a standard Bronze with a baffle height of 1 which I found too bright for me.
So I'm guessing I should opt for a baffle height of 2 which would be in between the two (neither too bright nor too dark).
I read some where that the mouthpieces run about 5 thousandths of an inch small, meaning a 115 would actually measure 0.110". Is this true of the new mouthpieces? I am thinking of going a bit bigger anyhow. Can you get these pieces with a tip opening of 0.130”?
So with that in mind and keeping the same tip opening as my link to keep it simple, I’ll be choosing between:
Any help in clarifying would be greatly appreciated. Also experiences and / or opinions between the Vintage and the Duckbill!
Many thanks,
Paul
I need a little help in deciding which mouthpiece to chose! I’ve narrowed it down to either a Berg Larsen Metal Duckbill or Vintage. Unfortunately I can’t just nip to a big sax store and try out a load of mouthpieces so I need to pick carefully or I’ll end up with more mouthpieces than sax.co.uk 🙂))
I believe that both pieces have a SMS facing which is the same as an Otto-Link rather than a M which is longer. If not please let me know as this might help make the decision.
Now for the mouthpiece material I have opted for a bronze piece for its resonant qualities. I doubt Stainless Steel would give me the sound I want.
Fortunately for me I have been lucky enough to been able to test play a couple of Berg Larsen Mouthpieces. One was a Bronze Bullet with a baffle height of 3 which I found too dark for my tastes. The second was a standard Bronze with a baffle height of 1 which I found too bright for me.
So I'm guessing I should opt for a baffle height of 2 which would be in between the two (neither too bright nor too dark).
I read some where that the mouthpieces run about 5 thousandths of an inch small, meaning a 115 would actually measure 0.110". Is this true of the new mouthpieces? I am thinking of going a bit bigger anyhow. Can you get these pieces with a tip opening of 0.130”?
So with that in mind and keeping the same tip opening as my link to keep it simple, I’ll be choosing between:
- Berg Larsen Bronze Duckbill 120/2
- Berg Larsen Bronze Vintage 120/2
Any help in clarifying would be greatly appreciated. Also experiences and / or opinions between the Vintage and the Duckbill!
Many thanks,
Paul
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