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are Yanagisawa mouthpieces good?

i looked on this site: http://www.jodyjazz.com/facings.altosax.html

and it shows all the mouthpiece sizes for the certain level you play. so if by any chance i buy a yanagisawa mouthpiece #5 or 6 will it play good or is it one of those companies that only care about money and make the cheapest junk ever and say it's all good?
 
There are a lot of different mouthpieces out there.

What do you play on presently? What kind of music do you mostly play?
 
Mouthpiece choices are VERY personal and it is VERY difficult for anyone to make recommendations without risking poor advice. You will find experienced players who will hate a mouthpiece recommended by another player. It has to do with a person's personal design (embouchure), playing style, and many subjective factors.

I have a few Yanagisawa mouthpieces but never play them, favoring other brands and styles. I've also owned JodyJazz mouthpieces but traded them away. Yes, they were nicely finished but they didn't play well for me. No slam on Jody's work - it is a personal physical thing.

The numerical designations can only be compared within a single brand. Each maker designates his/her mouthpieces differently and there is no industry-standard. A Meyer 6S-Medium Chamber (one among several I like on alto) may not be anywhere like someone else's "6". Selmer uses letters not numbers.

So, while many teachers will advise you to start on something like a Selmer C* or a Yamaha 4C or whatever, once you develop your "chops" you'll most likely want to buy a different mouthpiece. At that point, the only one who can make a good decision is you. Most of us have boxes of mouthpieces we bought hoping for success. It is rare when someone buys one mouthpiece at the start of a playing career and sticks with it. DAVE
 
Two of the top tenor jazz players in Orlando play Yani mouthpieces. I have a Yani tenor mouthpiece. I don't play it much. But I'm not a top tenor jazz player in Orlando. Or anywhere else.

No one can tell you what piece will work for you. Try and decide. If you are like many of us, you will change your preference from time to time. I read somewhere that Getz travelled with a bagful of mouthpieces.
 
There are a lot of different mouthpieces out there.

What do you play on presently? What kind of music do you mostly play?


well i play in a church band. sometimes the music is moderate and sometimes its faster. i still play on the 4c mouthpiece that came with me saxophone when i bought it.

here is some example music:

http://noty.bratstvo.org/10k/kudateper'id/kuda_teper'_idti_mne_duh2t.mp3

http://noty.bratstvo.org/13n/nebonebovpre/nebo_nebo_duh/nebo_nebo.mid
 
I have a Yanagisawa R3 for alto and I think it is a good general mouthpiece.
 
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I have a Yanagisawa alto mouthpiece just like the one pictured. And I have Yanagisawa soprano mouthpieces of comparable tip-openings (sop to alto). Those are the ones that are included when one buys a new Yanagisawa saxophone (just as the Yamaha 4C and Selmer C* or Super Session comes with those brands new).

For ME, the Yanagisawa stock mouthpieces are better players than the Yamaha stockers (4C), just like the horns. But again, what one person gets out of a mouthpiece doesn't mean the next person will have the same result.

Prosax, I read where Moderator Helen gently directed you to the FOR SALE section for one of your posts. I am not a moderator, but I'd like to gently nudge you toward better English, spelling, and punctuation, when you post on this forum. This isn't like texting, etc. Most of us would really appreciate correct spelling and punctuation, plus complete sentences and paragraphs. If you can play saxophone, you can do this. DAVE
 
Prosax, I read where Moderator Helen gently directed you to the FOR SALE section for one of your posts. I am not a moderator, but I'd like to gently nudge you toward better English, spelling, and punctuation, when you post on this forum. This isn't like texting, etc. Most of us would really appreciate correct spelling and punctuation, plus complete sentences and paragraphs. If you can play saxophone, you can do this. DAVE
+1. And I'm an admin.

I might write more later.
 
Mouthpiece choices are VERY personal and it is VERY difficult for anyone to make recommendations without risking poor advice. You will find experienced players who will hate a mouthpiece recommended by another player. It has to do with a person's personal design (embouchure), playing style, and many subjective factors.

So, while many teachers will advise you to start on something like a Selmer C* or a Yamaha 4C or whatever, once you develop your "chops" you'll most likely want to buy a different mouthpiece. At that point, the only one who can make a good decision is you. Most of us have boxes of mouthpieces we bought hoping for success. It is rare when someone buys one mouthpiece at the start of a playing career and sticks with it.
Exactly.

Another way of writing it is that if you're a beginner, you just need a decent hard rubber mouthpiece and there's lots of those. I generally recommend Vandoren, a Selmer C* or a Selmer Soloist (now that they're being sold again) because they're fairly inexpensive and they're all-around good. I've not played a Yani mouthpiece, but I tend to think it looks like the Yamaha, which looks and plays like the Vandoren V16.

I don't want you to learn on the mouthpiece I use because you'll a) hate me and b) hate playing: I use a Sigurd Rascher on everything -- except when playing jazz -- and I use Vandoren 3.5 reeds or harder other make reeds.

Bottom line, though, is that the mouthpiece is like the sax: if you're a beginner, get a decent one of each and just practice. Professional? We can make more suggestions and then you have to decide what works for you.

EDIT: someone needs to tell me what the most ungodly expensive mouthpiece is. I will start recommending that and Inderbinen saxophones to everyone ....
 
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Gerber mouthpieces? The wait is killer.
 
Start posting prices, too. I seem to remember that the Inderbinen was something like $8K. I know I've seen $1000 - $1500 mouthpieces.
 
A B screw Brillhart ligs.
 
i have a vintage brilhart sax strap =-)

makes the horn play brighter and snappier :emoji_relaxed:

seriously .. it does. it digs into my neck a bit more than other ones... which constricts my throat a bit which makes the airstream faster which stimulates the reed in a diff way and provides a faster reed response and brighter tone and the horn is a bit faster from the faster sound waves. but i hate it when the blood starts streaming outta the bell !! LOL
 
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Steve, you are so full of DOODY! :emoji_rage:
If you really want that screaming sound you have to use a barbed wire neck strap. They're perfect for alto and tenor, but I wouldn't recomend them for bari.....Too messy.
 
The most expensive thing I have seen on alto is a vintage New York Meyer. They can hit two grand. Add in a Brilhart lig with the B screws and you are at $2650. Then you need a five digital Mark VI at about 8 grand. :D

On tenor, a Florida Link should do the trick. Although they are cheap compared to Meyers. I think they're still going for about a grand. Again the horn of choice has to be a Mark VI or a Balanced Action. Either one in great shape should go between 8k and 10k . . . maybe more if you check out some of the horns from Paul Maslin or Randy Jones (pristine examples I am sure).
 
Don't forget about the hand made Guardalas. I've seen some of them go for almost 2 grand.
 
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