Mouthpieces Strathon Adjustatone.

[compound]

Hi folk's,
Has anyone ever played a Strathon Adjustatone? I'd love to try one but can't get much info on them. If anyone's got any info like tip openings etc i'd be very interested.
Rob.

 

[Saxlicker]

I had an old one in a 7 tip....

I believe, here we go again (just like everything saxophone) the older versions are said to be better.
The tip openings are numbered just the same way an otto link is but I can't say if the sizes are the same.
If you find an old one the box will be orange and white with made in West Germany written on it if its still around.
I think the baffle shape differed along with the composition of rubber from old to new versions and in fact the new ones could be plastic. That kind of rings a bell.

Some people have experienced leaks with the adjustable baffle.
I didn't find it too comfortable but you can get used to it.
After a while I just became turned off by the adjustability as a gimmick rather than useful feature and although it never sounded bad I couldn't find a setting on it that knocked me out either.

I think Richard Elliott was renowned for playing one.

On the plus side....
If you are desperate to have one, I don't think they have reached silly money status just yet........
But I'm sure its only a matter of time before some one sells the MONSTER, GUARDALA KILLING, LINK SLAYING HOLY GRAIL that was played by some one who's aunty knew John Coltrane

 

[compound]

Thank's for the reply Saxlicker, i've never seen them on sale anywhere yet, have to keep my eye's open. Derek Dyer who backed Joe Cocker used one for years, as did Tom Scott. Thank's again mate.
Regards Rob.

 

[baritonesax]

I played one for a while on baritone. Quite liked it, but found happiness elsewhere in the end. Have a look at Zinner's website for info.

 

[Saxlicker]

Thank's for the reply Saxlicker, i've never seen them on sale anywhere yet, have to keep my eye's open. Derek Dyer who backed Joe Cocker used one for years, as did Tom Scott. Thank's again mate.
Regards Rob.

Oh yeah,
Forgot about Tom Scott.

Also I know that Sax Plus had some (thats where I got mine) so may be the US version of eBay or SOTW?
Good Luck.

 

[kevgermany]

Thank's for the reply Saxlicker, i've never seen them on sale anywhere yet, have to keep my eye's open. Derek Dyer who backed Joe Cocker used one for years, as did Tom Scott. Thank's again mate.
Regards Rob.

They come up on ebay germany every now and again. I'll keep my eyes open for you. Can xlate/bid for you and post it on if you want, so long as you put a little something to Pete's charity.

They might still be available new. Not sure.

 

[baritonesax]

Sorry - that's what I meant amount Zinner. He's the chap that makes them - just Google " Hans Zinner" and away you go. Bill

 

[Jules]

I believe, here we go again (just like everything saxophone) the older versions are said to be better.
..

I've got a controversial theory on this- I've always reckoned there's a sort of natural selection going on with mouthpieces- down the ages all the real dogs have been binned or refaced, leading to a filtering effect- hence older pieces seem better.... not 100% certain of this but I've got a distinct feeling its part of the equation.

 

[Saxlicker]

That makes perfect sense.....

 

[compound]

They come up on ebay germany every now and again. I'll keep my eyes open for you. Can xlate/bid for you and post it on if you want, so long as you put a little something to Pete's charity.

They might still be available new. Not sure.

Hi Kev,
Thank's for that lovely offer, i'm afraid at the prices they are going for £220 EBay it's out of my range. I'd have to try first as i've just been stung with a Runyon Quantum Delrin that's a real dog. So for me buying unseen is a big no no. Once again Kev thank's for the offer your a real Gent.
Kind regards Rob.

 

[jazzdoh]

I owned one on alto about 10 years ago,don't know whether it was one of the old ones as i bought it new and it had sat it a music shop for a few years,got it cheap and sold it for the same price which i kind of regret now as they are fetching good money.

It was a 6 tip opening and seemed to me like a meyer 6 if thats any help.

The mpc from what i remember played really well but i thought that given time the moving parts of the baffle would cause problems,but it was a good idea.

Jules you could be onto something there about the older pieces.

Brian

 

[B Flat]

I can't say I agree with the theory of older ones being better than the newer ones.
Or with the newer ones being plastic.
I have an older one with the concave baffle and the US patent numbers and a newer one with a flat baffle and no patent numbers and I am certain they are both hard rubber and both are excellent players.
Infact the newer one is better for my liking, but perhaps that is due to the larger tip opening.
I also think that the older ones with the concave baffle tend to have shorter facings, kind of like some Brillharts, which may also contribute to the newer ones being more comfortable for me.
Regardless of new or old I think they are well worth trying especially on baritone.
Nick Brignola is one notable baritone player who used Strathons.
Klaus Doldinger also used a Strathon but on tenor.

 

[ProfJames]

Just looked at eBay in few counties and they have sold for anything between $46 and £200 plus!

 

[kevgermany]

They're still made, try saxophone service.

One problem to watch out for is that they can wear and leak as a result.

 

[altissimo]

they're still made from ebonite - Alto
they're £190 new - Zinner 105 Alto Sax 5
you can get them cheaper secondhand - http://www.saxophon-service.de/homep/angebote/mund-as.html#Altsaxophon-Mundstuecke
here's some discussion on Strathons - strathon mouthpieces

I borrowed one for a while about 10 years ago from a guy who bought it in the early 80's in Berlin, so I guess it was one of the older ones. I didn't like it, moving the baffle just varied the degree of unplayability and the tone wasn't very nice. At the time I wasn't really used to playing high baffled mouthpieces and these days I might get better results, but I wouldn't buy one unless it was cheap. We both thought that the seal might be leaking - the baffle is attached to a slider on the top of the mouthpiece via a piece of wire that goes through a rubber seal and this is what tends to leak.
there's some pictures here - http://mouthpiecemuseum.com/MouthpieceMuseum/Misc.html
.

 

[jbtsax]

My reservation about these mouthpieces is that you are changing the baffle without making any adjustments to the walls of the chamber to "rebalance" the piece. My solution years ago was to make a baffle out of balsa wood that fit tightly into my tenor berg when I had a gig that I needed more "edge" to the sound. If I was playing a softer country club background music gig, I would pull it out. And no, I didn't adjust the chamber, because a) it was metal and 2) I didn't know any better at the time. 🙂