or do they suck? Yeah, I know that they are an extremely popular mouthpiece, but I simply can not get a good tone out of them. I came across a few pieces on ebay that the seller was practically giving away. He had an alto and tenor piece, and I was able to pick both up for $25+ shipping. I'm not a big fan of switching my mouthpieces anyway, but I figured that the price was right to try them out.
Both pieces were C*, which I know is a more popular alto tip opening than tenor. The tips are more closed than my Link pieces, but I figure my reeds should be hard enough for the job. I usually use Alexander DC 3's, which always feel like they are around a 3.5 to Rico's scale. I also keep some Rico Royal 3 alto, tenor, and bass clarinet reeds on hand.
The biggest issue seems to be a lack of resonance. I am used to larger chamber metal pieces, so at first I think that my airstream needs to adjust to the smaller chambers. Well, after a week of using them during my practice sessions and seeing no improvement, I gave up. They still sounded dead to me. The alto faired a little better than the tenor, but altissimo was much more difficult than I was used to on both pieces. Since I work in a lot of R&B/Rock settings, this is a very bad thing. What really gets me is that these pieces are very overpriced when they are brand new. The last time I checked, they were going from $80-$100. The Yamaha 4C can be had for less than half the cost, and even though it looks/feels cheaper, it's actually a darned good mouthpiece.
I actually gave the Selmer pieces away to a buddy of mine who plays for recreation only. His pieces were just stock Jupiter's, so he was thrilled to get Selmer Paris mouthpieces stating, "Wow they must be good mouthpieces". Well, if it inspires him to practice harder, then I guess they're ok.
Both pieces were C*, which I know is a more popular alto tip opening than tenor. The tips are more closed than my Link pieces, but I figure my reeds should be hard enough for the job. I usually use Alexander DC 3's, which always feel like they are around a 3.5 to Rico's scale. I also keep some Rico Royal 3 alto, tenor, and bass clarinet reeds on hand.
The biggest issue seems to be a lack of resonance. I am used to larger chamber metal pieces, so at first I think that my airstream needs to adjust to the smaller chambers. Well, after a week of using them during my practice sessions and seeing no improvement, I gave up. They still sounded dead to me. The alto faired a little better than the tenor, but altissimo was much more difficult than I was used to on both pieces. Since I work in a lot of R&B/Rock settings, this is a very bad thing. What really gets me is that these pieces are very overpriced when they are brand new. The last time I checked, they were going from $80-$100. The Yamaha 4C can be had for less than half the cost, and even though it looks/feels cheaper, it's actually a darned good mouthpiece.
I actually gave the Selmer pieces away to a buddy of mine who plays for recreation only. His pieces were just stock Jupiter's, so he was thrilled to get Selmer Paris mouthpieces stating, "Wow they must be good mouthpieces". Well, if it inspires him to practice harder, then I guess they're ok.