Reeds Soprano Sax reeds

[Captain Kumquat]

Hey guys, nooby macnooberson here with a simple sax related question. I need to buy a mouthpiece for a recently acquired beginner's soprano. I believe that it is an Earlham ESS 358.

I've been playing alto in rock and ska bands for a few years now (about 8 to be precise), looking to get started on something a tad more genteel.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[Nick Wyver]

If you're asking about mouthpieces you could make a start by changing the thread title.

Not that I'm going to recommend any anyway. You really need to try a bunch and see what suits you. If you've been playing sax for a while you probably have some idea of the sort of variety you can get for alto - the same applies for soprano.

FWIW at the mo I play on a metal Brancher, which is quite bright but pretty smooth. But I've also got (in increasing order of nastiness) a Selmer S80, a Bari and a Dukoff. They all have their uses.

 

[Captain Kumquat]

Oh dear, classic error with the thread title.

I live in a town in Scotland with two music shops where I struggle to find decent reeds, let alone a varied selection of mouthpieces. I'm not a connoisseur of the instrument (as most saxophone players seem to be)- I know little about makes and models, despise Jazz in all of its many insidious forms and have spent most of my 'musical career' trying to squeeze horrible sounds from my poor alto. While I appreciate that such philistinism may make many of the cultured cats on here cringe with horror I would still value some advice on what cheap abominations to avoid in my quest to debase your lovely instrument.

 

[Justin Chune]

Hi Captain. Don't worry too much about the thread title. If I were looking for a mouthpiece I would get a Selmer C* or C** coz I like them. A Yamaha 4c would be a cheaper option. I also get on real fine with Rico Royal reeds and have taken to buying them on line from Reeds Direct. Mouthpieces to avoid are the ones supplied with some entry level instruments, I believe. Everything else seems to be a step up. Have a lot of fun with your new sax.

Jim.

 

[saxnik]

I use an Otto Link ebonite Tone Master; it makes my cheap nasty Arbiter sop sound almost decent, paired with La Voz reeds, in case anyone's interested...

 

[visionari1]

It depends on what sound you want, you simply have to try some, same goes for reeds, what works for me may not work for you and viseversa. I used Hahn reeds and on soprano a Yanagasawa metal mouthpiece.
Cheers

 

[TomMapfumo]

Impossible question without any sense of what you are hoping to produce sound wise. I use a Brancher Metal J15 mouthpiece or Vandoren V16 S6 ebonite after a wide search, and play Marca Jazz reeds - love North European Jazz (Jan Garbarek etc). What do you mean by "Genteel"?

Kind regards
Tom

 

[dooce]

I took my BW soprano to Wood Wind & Reed in Cambridge on Tuesday morning, having got fed-up with battling against the Selmer S80 and Yamaha 6 pieces I have been using, and came out with a Jody Jazz HR 6, having played it against a Link Tone Edge, Link STM, Meyer HR and Yani metal. For me, on that instrument, with Java 2 reeds, it works - free-blowing, a little bit more shrill than I would have liked ideally, but I need to work with it to improve that.

That's not a recommendation for you to go and blow 90-odd quid on a JJ - it's just an illustration really that you absolutely cannot beat going to a reputable shop where they know their stuff (WW&R most certainly do) and see what works for you.

Sorry if that isn't much help for someone living the wrong end of the country to Cambridge......