S-80 Mouthpieces, is it just me...

SuperAction80

SuperAction80

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". :emoji_rolling_eyes: Well, if it inspires him to practice harder, then I guess they're ok.
 
Using a Bonade lig (or that style of lig) made my various S80 pieces open up considerably. Not wonderful, but very acceptable.
 
The S80's are terrible on alto and tenor. I like them on soprano and they're decent on Bari. I prefer the S90's (I play one on bari S90 190). The soloists are even better particularly if we're talking about the vintage ones.

The problem I have with the S80's on alto is that they're too bright and bland in tone. When you partner them with a bright modern horn you end up with a tone that borders on brittle. The sad thing is that every band director recommends them for their sax players. They have a reflexive knee reaction that makes them drone like an autobot "Selmer S80 C*". The tenor pieces are particularly hideous. Ignore for a moment that most of these band directors recommend a C* for tenor players as well when the D would at least be the place to start for a tip opening.

I think in some small way the re-introduction of the Soloist is a small admission by Selmer that the S80's aren't that great in spite of their sales numbers.

It's not just you.
 
Thanks Ed, that's exactly what I was talking about. I don't get the moth to the flame reaction with band directors and these mouthpieces. You're right, these pieces come highly recommended, and I can't figure out why. You can get a cheap Yamaha, Meyer, Brillhart, King, or even Rico mouthpiece that will play circles around the S80.

My biggest complaint on the C* facing for tenor is that you can not play any louder than MF with them. The tip opening is so small that if you blow hard, the reed starts sealing to the mouthpiece and your tone is cut off. I do not feel as if I use soft reeds by any means, and I was still getting an unintentional slap tongue effect. Should I swap my Alexander 3's for a 2x4?

I had a cheap Chinese clone of an S80 C*, and I actually prefered it to the real thing. It was better, but I still didn't care for it and ended up giving that piece away along with an old Bundy tenor.
 
Ralph Morgan and I had a lot of fun one day talking about how square chambers were the silliest idea in saxophone mouthpiece design.
 
Tenor is the weakest of them. I think the soprano pieces are actually pretty decent. Same with the Bari pieces.
 
Ed Svoboda said:
Tenor is the weakest of them. I think the soprano pieces are actually pretty decent. Same with the Bari pieces.
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I agree.

I am currently using a C* for my soprano and I am actually satisfied with my sound. Though I am still considering other options...
 
I'm actually playing a #7 Rovner Wilkerson piece. A friend of mine let me try it and it worked well so I worked out a trade and kept it. Strange looking piece but I'm digging it at the moment. :cool:
 
S80 sq chambered pieces

the ones for alto make wonderful door stops IMO.....I never got as far as a tenor one; however, this dude next to me in the community band played one an a SA 80 II alto & it sounded really nice. they obviously work for some.
 
I don't really like the tenor pieces,tonally. I have a E or something and i'm modifying it to a horseshoe chamber & modifying the baffle so that it's not so dead sounding (and lack of response) =-)

I do use them on alto though - something like a E or F. though the square chambers one them are bigger than normal. My original late 80s S80 C* on my alto actually has a chamber the sze of the S90s - i had two of them at one time and noticed the throat size differences way back then
 
saxmanglen said:
I'm actually playing a #7 Rovner Wilkerson piece. A friend of mine let me try it and it worked well so I worked out a trade and kept it. Strange looking piece but I'm digging it at the moment. :cool:
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You have friends? :emoji_rage:

I've never liked the sound of S-80s on any horn. I do like my Super Session on soprano though.
 
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