Tenor Mouthpiece

[BigDoug]

Hi,
When I started to learn tenor sax a few years ago, I used a Yamaha 5C mouthpiece. After about 12 months, I acquired a Jody Jazz HR* 7*. Wow, what a difference. Initially, I had great difficulty just getting reliable notes out of this, but I persevered and now, two years later, I play it comfortably.
However, yesterday I decided to try the Yamaha 5C again ........ and found that I had great difficulty controlling it. Notes kept briefly coming out an octave higher and so on. I was worse than when I first started on this journey.
My question is this ........ if the 5C is meant to be suitable for novices, why is it that I couldn’t play it after getting used to the Jody Jazz ?

 

[Veggie Dave]

Because you now have the facial muscles required for a much larger mouthpiece plus you're probably playing with far stronger breath support. You're over-powering the 5C. You'll find you can play it fine it you really relax and put little to no effort into voicing the notes.

It may even be educational because you may discover that you can transfer that ultra-relaxed playing style back to the Jody Jazz.

 

[Ivan]

Wot Veggie said

Not much point going back to the 5C, except to satisfy your curiosity

Looking forward there's a cornucopia of mouthpiece possibilities

 

[Guenne]

My question is this ........ if the 5C is meant to be suitable for novices, why is it that I couldn’t play it after getting used to the Jody Jazz ?

Wrong reed if you want me to guess.

 

[Phil]

I will bet money you used the reed from your JJ piece on the 5 c

Reeds have a memory...they are not so good at sleeping around. keep them on one mpc or at least like facings and facing lengths.
Those two pieces are different openings so the reed maintains the desire to bend like it usually does.

Also you might be biting.

In any case the reed is closing up.

 

[Guenne]

Reeds have a memory...they are not so good at sleeping around. keep them on one mpc or at least like facings and facing lengths.
Those two pieces are different openings so the reed maintains the desire to bend like it usually does.

Whenever I do a full reed-break-in on a mouthpiece and then try to play it on a different mouthpiece the reed feels broken, no resistance.
Simply can't play it.

Cheers