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Rico Metalites coming back in the next 12 months

Ed

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
I just received an email that the Rico Metalites are going to be re-introduced in the next year.

This is from Rico:
"Sorry, we discontinued the Metalite mouthpieces but are planning to reintroducing it in the next year."

The Rico graftonite is a seriously underrated mouthpiece and a great value for the money.
 
That will make a lot of people very happy. Hope they don't go and change anything with the reintroduction pieces.
 
This is great news. I'm with Saxismyaxe though in hoping that they don't change anything.

Heh Rico: Don't fix what's not broken!

Yes Ed, the Graftonites are seriously under-rated pieces... Especially the bari ones. It's strange, but I think there is some "price snobbery" going on. "What they cost how much? They can't be any good." That seems to be the thinking for some people.

Given musicians for the most part have little disposable income, you would think that they would appreciate a economical m/p. I don't get it.
 
Yes Ed, the Graftonites are seriously under-rated pieces... Especially the bari ones. It's strange, but I think there is some "price snobbery" going on. "What they cost how much? They can't be any good." That seems to be the thinking for some people.

Given musicians for the most part have little disposable income, you would think that they would appreciate a economical m/p. I don't get it.

I agree that the baritone models are the best of the bunch with the Graftonites. I've been teetering between a Lawton, Runyon Quantum, and the Graftonite piece on my The Martin Bari for some time. For now, the Rico piece is winning out.
 
The boxes at one point had the tip openings on them.

According to my gauge the bari pieces measure as follow:

B3 - .085"
B5 - .095"
B7 - .105"

Helen has a post on her site that lists the metalite pieces as:

M5 - .100"
M7 - .110"
M9 - .120"
M11 - .130"
 
Sweet, I wanna try one. I like my Graftonite.:) People from the Metalite Fan Club on SOTW would be interested in this, no?

Rico's website says:
Sop:
3: .055
5: .060
7: .065

Alto:
3: .070
5: .080
7: .090

Tenor:
3: .085
5: .095
7: .105

Bari:
3: .090
5: .100
7: .110
 
Thanks for finding it on their site. I took a quick look and couldn't come up with it. Interesting that my gauge and their numbers differ on bari.

I'm playing a B7 right now with a Rico 3.
 
I wonder if they'll be the "pebble finish" or the "smooth" finish. Also, I think I'm alone in liking the alto version the best, although I don't play Bari (yet;-)) so I can't comment on the Bari pieces. I've got sop, alto, tenor (x2) and Bb clarinet. The only one I don't like is the clarinet piece. Whoa--it just doesn't work at all for me.
 
The bari Metalites are hands down the winners out of the pack (SATB Metalites). They do everything my über expensive bari pieces will do (and in some cases more), but for a fraction of the price.

I don't have a soprano Metalite, but I prefer the alto over the tenor for sure. I have heard that the sopranos are 2nd only to the bari though... But that's just what guys have said, as I say, I can't say from personal experience. I always like to make my own mind on these things. I do like my soprano Graftonite, however I do like my Runyon more.
 
As these are such a bargain, I plan on trying a baritone one. I've played Berg Larsens for so long on saxes that anything else might not fit in my embouchure, but I'll give it a shot at a bargain price point.
 
Yes Terry, do give the bari piece a try. I too was a devout Berg user on bari, and then I tried a Rico Graftonite... It was amazing. I then had the chance to get a new-old-stock Metalite and wow! It turned my Mark VI into a screaming rock horn.

For me (remember I'm a rock player on bari) the biggest problem has always been that the Bergs tend to "break" when pushed too hard. The Rico mouthpieces just don't do that. None of the notes break when you force a lot of air through the horn for maximum volume. What you do lose with the Ricos, is some of the lushness that the Bergs are known for.

For jazz I still use my Berg hard rubber. For R&B I have a Berg stainless steel. For rock I use a Metalite. YMMV of course, and probably will.

The Metalite is versatile enough that it can be used for many applications, but for a true section sound, it will probably not blend very well (unless the other sax players are using them of course).

The Graftonite is a very good mouthpiece in its own right, and is very under-rated. I have a couple of them, and use them for a variety settings still.
 
I've never personally liked the Rico mouthpieces, but about 15 years ago when I got a chance to hang out with Tower of Power at a local concert, I noted Doc (Steve) Kupka was using one. He may have gone back to his Berg Larsen
 
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