Mouthpieces What is your go to Alto Mouthpiece? Post details

[kamak]

Bari Hybrid Gold 7

 

[Saxlicker]

Sounds very Charlie Parker tone wise in places. Nice altissimo without screaming but a bit lacking down low to my ear. It might be this phone.

I guess the phone wont help with low end very much.

 

[Saxlicker]

19 votes so far,
I tried to think of as many brands that are regularly in my face to list in the poll yet of this small sample 42% are in the 'Other" category.
A bit of a surprise, though of course any of these 'other' brands may well have found their way to the list had someone else compiled it.

 

[Saxlicker]

RPC 90 rollover. Gives me everything a vintage Meyer would, but in a more open tip catered to my preference. Picked one up well over twenty years ago and I had to get another one... just in case.

I had one of these for some while myself bought from @Pete Thomas right here.
Very alive but don't remember thinking shrill, kind of wish I still had it but also more open than I typically get comfortable with on alto.

 

[Ivan]

Pillinger HB 7*

Good tone

Good volume

Good intonation

Hand made

 

[PiccoloPirate]

Berg HR, bought new in the '70s, Berg Bronze, bought new recently.
95/0 and 100/0 for a VI.
Medium reeds, adjusted as necessary.

 

[Tonehole]

You limit us to one piece!
I play a Vandoren A45 Limited as well as an old MeYer NY #8 depending on the venue and genre.

 

[Saxlicker]

You limit us to one piece!
I play a Vandoren A45 Limited as well as an old MeYer NY #8 depending on the venue and genre.
View attachment 35612

Indeed I do.
Which one do you take to your Desert Island ?
Hmm?
Well?
Come on now.
Must push you for an answer.
Quick quick, grab one.

 

[Tonehole]

Whoa! tough call as the A45 is easier to play but I don't think I would be wailing (pun intended) on the island. So I would take the NY MeYer #8 as I would be playing more sombre and not wanting to scare off birds and other potential protein.

 

[Hoosierken]

You can laugh but this cracked Martin that was probably the one originally shipped with my early 1950s Indiana is the MP that I use when I do pick up an alto. I do have a OLTE 6 but it doesn't play as well.

 

[Saxlicker]

You can laugh but this cracked Martin that was probably the one originally shipped with my early 1950s Indiana is the MP that I use when I do pick up an alto. I do have a OLTE 6 but it doesn't play as well.

I like the Martin piece. Shame yours is cracked but as you know it and you get what you like from it it's not such an issue right?

 

[progger]

I'm sitting on the couch and done with music work for the day but if this thread reminds me tomorrow maybe I'll post some photos and audio clips of my go-to alto piece for the last many years.... and it's an oddball. 🙂

I've been lucky to know Matt Marantz since way before he was a mouthpiece craftsman, back when he was simply one of the finest saxophonists of his generation. I was in college in Denton while he was in high school in Dallas, and we were studying with the same teacher, the great Jim Riggs. Fast forward many years and he did the Monk Institute and the Manhattan School of Music and was living in Brooklyn as a fantastic freelance saxophonist, audio engineer, and burgeoning mouthpiece maker. I had him rework a few random pieces that I'd inherited from a friend, one of them being a Selmer USA "Magni-Tone," the only one of I've ever seen. Matt opened it up to .085 (about a Selmer F, I think), my preferred tip for alto, and it's far and away my favorite alto mouthpiece ever, with no close second.

I keep an eye on the used market for Magni-Tone mouthpieces but they basically never come up. I may have lucked into a unicorn. I will never ever sell it, sorry. <3

 

[Tonehole]

Interesting - never heard of it before or seen one so definitely rare. I like that .085 tip opening on Alto same as A45 and Meyer 8.
Does yours match this piece? It looks like funky super session but with a horse shoe chamber?
https://reverb.com/item/33475881-selmer-alto-saxophone-magni-tone-m30

 

[PigSquealer]

You can laugh but this cracked Martin that was probably the one originally shipped with my early 1950s Indiana is the MP that I use when I do pick up an alto. I do have a OLTE 6 but it doesn't play as well.

View attachment 35615

I have one of these. Never tried it. Came in lot pile. Looked like plastic Yamaha 4C so I just put it in with those. The Goldentone, Martin, Rico, Belmonte, Yamaha box.

 

[Tuppertn]

You can laugh but this cracked Martin that was probably the one originally shipped with my early 1950s Indiana is the MP that I use when I do pick up an alto. I do have a OLTE 6 but it doesn't play as well.

Nothing to laugh at there. I have a couple of those and they are great sounding pieces. There's no way to know for certain who made them, but my guess is that they're a Brilhart stencil or at least started with a Brilhart blank. Those "2-star" pieces are internally identical to a Carlsbad era Ebolin.

 

[Trigger]

For years I used a ARB bellite but recently I’ve moved over to a west coast MOAM these are a Theo wane blank which Matt does his magic on , would recommend if you like a high baffle mpc without the shrill

 

[thomsax]

Nothing to laugh at there. I have a couple of those and they are great sounding pieces. There's no way to know for certain who made them, but my guess is that they're a Brilhart stencil or at least started with a Brilhart blank. Those "2-star" pieces are internally identical to a Carlsbad era Ebolin.

I also play Martin** mouthpiece. The original mouthpiece which came along with "The Martin Alto" from1957. I don't play alto so often.

 

[turf3]

I believe those "Martin" mouthpieces are probably another variant of the Brilhart-Ebolin-type design, that were made by the thousands and sold under a wide variety of names. At a minimum, C. Bruno, Goldentone, Brilhart, and now we see Martin branding on them.

 

[Digger2054]

Started with an S80 C*, I think it's a bit bright/focussed.

Hearing about Meyer being inconsistent, opted for the Select Jazz 5M, no complaints.

I like knowing their consistent, means I can't blame the mouthpiece 🤣

 

[PigSquealer]

Not to derail the thread, but I just did some comparison of the Martin, Goldentone, Woodwind Co/ Vito ll and LeBlanc I have.
Hopefully this will help in some way.

The two on left have slightly different chambers than the right three. The Martin has a “0” stamp on side by table. No others have markings.