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What Mouthpieces Do You Use?

For my soprano I have :
- a Selmer S80 C
- a Warburton 55

For my alto I have:
- a Selmer S80 D
- a Meyer 6
- a Morgan Excalibur 6E ( with a serial # )
- gold plated SML Metal ( that came with the vintage 1952 SML )

My favourite mouthpieces are my Selmers and my Morgan Excalibur. They are very fine mouthpieces. You’ll never go wrong with these.

Friday I received 4 Syos mouthpieces
Has anyone else heard of these?
 
Sops (WWII Conn & Yamaha YSS-62): Selmer G (hard rubber)
Alto: (Balanced Action w/ MkVI neck) Meyer 6M (hard rubber)
Tenors: (MkVI) 1990 NY Otto Link 7* (metal)....(YTS61) Otto Link 7* (metal)
Bari: (YBS-61) Brilhart Level Air 6* (metal) I bought this mpc in 1980......

I used to have "legit" (Selmer c*)mouthpieces for my ATB saxes but I gave them away to students years ago....
 
With ten doubles in rotation, I'd hafta look! Some are custom made with no maker logo though. I really buy into trying the mouthpiece out before I buy one.

Sorry, never heard of the Syos mouthpieces. How do they sound to you?
 
Otto Link Tone Master 8 with NY chamber on my Tenor. I've got a Berg Larson 100/0 that I used to use a lot when I had my Mark VI and my Couf Superba, but with more modern tenors, the Link sounds better.

Otto Link Tone Master with the normal chamber on my alto.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably try out a number of different pieces.

But I am a believer that as long as your tone is 'in the ballpark' for the style of music you are playing, your expression is more important than tone. YMMV

Notes ♫
 
With ten doubles in rotation, I'd hafta look! Some are custom made with no maker logo though. I really buy into trying the mouthpiece out before I buy one.

Sorry, never heard of the Syos mouthpieces. How do they sound to you?
It’s a company in Paris, France who make 3D clarinet & saxophone from coloured plastic. There are many famous players using them who aren’t getting paid to endorse them.

I have been intrigued with them and wished I’d purchased one from them since they guarantee satisfaction. You can even get custom made mouthpieces.

Anyway. I made the mistake of purchased the FREAKS which are basically their mistakes as they perfect their styles. The sale was 2 mouthpieces with a ligature for £99 so I got 2 mouthpieces for my soprano and 2 for my alto.

The deal is that you can pick your chamber preference but the colour and style is their choice. Apparently the mistakes are only cosmetic and not functionally but I actually disagree.

Some of the plastic is so rough that the reed doesn’t fit flush. This itself causes less.

Another big criticism is that they only give you one ligature with 2 mouthpieces.
If one mouthpiece is longer or fatter than the other, the ligature won’t fit right. These are plastic and if it sits up to high, then there isn’t even space for the reed to vibrate probably which means the player needlessly strains them self and their tone would be far too sharp.

The tips of the soprano mouthpieces aren’t smooth at all. The tips are very rough but I’ll see what they say.

Maybe it’s personal preference but I prefer a hard, very smooth mouthpiece that’s finely crafted with a leather ligature that’s very flexible.

Shamefully I was seduced by the ultra cool
colours. I wanted a pretty fuchsia pink one. Yes it’s a tad vain. Lol


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That Otto Link Tone Master is probably the most noted mouthpiece / ligature combo I’ve heard about but haven’t tried. What type of chamber size are you referring to @Notes Norton? I prefer a medium chamber 6 to 7 and anywhere from c to e. My first experience with this was when I got my Morgan mouthpiece which I believe was in my mid 20’s ( 1985 era ) Thats a wonderful mouthpiece.
 
Some of the plastic is so rough that the reed doesn’t fit flush. This itself causes less.

Another big criticism is that they only give you one ligature with 2 mouthpieces. If one mouthpiece is longer or fatter than the other, the ligature won’t fit right. These are plastic and if it sits up to high, then there isn’t even space for the reed to vibrate probably which means the player needlessly strains them self and their tone would be far too sharp.
If you really like a piece's look you could have a mouthpiece maker/hobbyist finish it off? We use Bob Carpenter in the PNW for that kinda thang.
 
If you really like a piece's look you could have a mouthpiece maker/hobbyist finish it off? We use Bob Carpenter in the PNW for that kinda thang.
Yes I suppose I could be I shouldn’t have to. This mouthpiece cost me over $100 Canadian currency including duty. Then I’d have to ship it out, pay for Bob Carpenter to fix THEM then have them shipped back.
I new one would be far cheaper and the quality guaranteed. I should have bought OnE good mouthpiece instead of 4 sub grade ones . Thanks all the same. I can properly fiddle with it. I’m a woodcarver with special tools. :D
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Today I got a response back from the company. Their solution was to send the mouthpieces back . If they are playable they will send them back, if they aren’t, they will give me a refund.

Their standard of quality is if they are playable. Of course I can get a sound out of them. I’ve just got to put more air into my instrument which strains me. It’s uncomfortable, it has fuzzy stuff growing out of it is places where the plastic isn’t smooth and it squeaks at the beginning of many notes.

Normally my D note on my soprano is heavenly to play with my other quality mouthpieces. Not with this thing me. My D with this one feels and sounds stuffy, not clear.

It’s just disappointing to pay over $400 and get this type of quality and service. Still I blame myself for being foolish enough to pay for their mistakes.

Plus I didn’t get any colours except for this olive green one. The other mouthpieces are black (2) and white. Sadly, the colour is what initially attracted me.
 
That Otto Link Tone Master is probably the most noted mouthpiece / ligature combo I’ve heard about but haven’t tried. What type of chamber size are you referring to @Notes Norton? I prefer a medium chamber 6 to 7 and anywhere from c to e. My first experience with this was when I got my Morgan mouthpiece which I believe was in my mid 20’s ( 1985 era ) Thats a wonderful mouthpiece.
The NY chamber is larger than the normal chamber. How much? I don't know.

There might be some experts here or at Sax On The Web who know a lot more about mouthpieces than I do.

Back in the day before Guitar Center bought Woodwind & Brasswind there were experts there to answer questions and guide the choice.

I explained what kind of music I played, what I wanted out of the horn, and that's what the guy recommended. I'm very happy with it.

I play a lot of rock and blues, as I play music for a living, which means I play what is popular in my area.

The tone is fuller than my Berg 100/0 that I bought in the late 1960s, but it still has a lot of power and edge when playing forcefully.

Notes ♫

BTW, I used to live in Pompano Beach, Florida, and met Otto Link when I was in school.
 
I didn’t realize Otto Link was actually a person and I don’t know all that much about mouthpieces either.

I’m starting to like the ivory mouthpiece now. The larger chamber takes some getting used to but I’m actually enjoying the raw, uninhibited sound it puts out. Power and edge as Nick puts it. This mouthpiece challenges me which is a good thing.

It will take a bit of time for my chomps to adjust. They probably are worth modifying where needed. Plus my leather ligatures work much better than their plastic ones. They are a better fit and what they suggested.

Apparently I got all their oldest models but I’ve adjusted my attitude.
 
When I met Otto, I was just a child in school and didn't realize what an icon of a person I was meeting. He visited the school band during band class, and was a very pleasant person. That's about all I remember.

I'm the kind of player who doesn't fuss too much about the finer points of the instrument. Not that there is anything wrong with fussing, it's just not my way.

I would rather spend the time playing the instrument, experimenting on how to get more sounds out of it for vox humana, or just having fun playing. I'm happy with the Links that were recommended to me, and the hour of research and the cost of trying out new mouthpieces to me would be better spent on learning to shape individual notes in a new or old song to get the sax to sing to me. Besides, I live on musician's wages. :D I figure if it sings to me, it'll sing to the audience.

It's not about choice of notes, but how each note is shaped and minute timings that make the difference between empty notes and a song to me. YMMV.

Notes ♫
 
Isn’t that interesting that he is such an icon.

You know, except for this last purchase , I haven’t purchased a new mouthpiece in about 25 years. I’m so completely satisfied with my mouthpieces that I’ve never considered looking for something new but got stupid.

The colours of these got me which is crazy.
I couldn’t get the image of me playing my saxophone with a fuscia coloured mouthpiece. That’s sad isn’t it!!! :\
 
I'll jump in here.
Clarinet - Woodwind Co. G10 (.045) for concert band, John Pierce (.054) for jazz / pit work
Bass Clarinet - Clark Fobes Nova
Soprano - Beechler 5* - alas, I have no soprano sax!
Alto - Meyer 7S, Ponzol Custom Delrin .090, Ponzol M1 .075 gold brass (reworked by EZ to reduce the baffle a bit and open it to .083), Yanagisawa 5 metal
Tenor - Ponzol M2+ .110 gold brass (my main piece, so I have 3 of them!), Ponzol HR Custom .110
Bari - Ponzol M1 .120 gold brass (also 3 of these), Jody Jazz Classic 7 (for concert band work)

Can you tell that I like Ponzol pieces? I settled in on the tenor and bari pieces around 2005 as the final answer after a lot of experimentation. Once Peter discontinued the gold brass pieces and the .120 bari opening, I decided that I needed backup(s), so I hit the used market. I just love the flexibility and easy blowing characteristics of these. Suitable for big band work and pit work, as well as screaming rock'n'roll.

I don't play much alto, but if I get a call, I use the Meyer for big band work, and the Ponzol Custom for rock gigs.
 
My only Soprano Mouthpiece I have is a Yamaha 4c. I have a cheap soprano that I fool around on once in awhile.

For alto, I have an old S80C* that I bought from my instructor in college. I've tried to rebel against the institutional ubiquity, but have failed as I simply kept coming back to it. Its the first thing I grab and its beaten back an AL3, a Soloist, a Ponzol Silverline and a Runyon 88. The only thing that has challenged it is another C* I picked up back when these were practically being given away. That one plays slightly brighter, I think.

Tenor, I have a Selmer Metal E that I had MOJO reface some nearly 20 years ago now. To date, its my only metal mouthpiece. Sometimes I play a stock Soloist E when I don't feel like putting up with metal in my mouth, but it lacks the warmth (sound) but it also lacks the cold (feel).

Bari: I play a Ronald Caravan. My only other MPC is a Metalite I got for cheap and tried enlargening the chamber to. The Caravan is excellent for the community band work I do on the old Baritone Saxophones I have.
 
Baritone:
Sigurd Rascher (main; also used on bass sax)
Hard rubber Berg Larsen 110/0 (for jazzy stuff)
Geo. M Bundy from the 1950s or so (what was in the case when I bought my Keilwerth-made Bundy)

Other horns:
Sigurd Rascher (main, for alto and tenor)
"New" and "vintage, long shank" Selmer S80/C* and LT on alto (I'd rotate them)
Woodwind Company (C melody tenor)

Bb clarinet:
Selmer C85/120, IIRC.
Vandoren B40 and B45, before I got the Selmer.
A vile plastic Bundy mouthpiece, before I knew that I could buy a better mouthpiece.

I did play a variety of bass clarinets and a Bb contrabass clarinet when I was in high school. I just used whatever was in the case, so we're probably talking stock Selmer, Buffet, and Leblanc mouthpieces. I also bought a bunch of horns that had whatever mouthpiece in the case and I'd give them a test. Yamaha 4Cs aren't bad.

The reason I played on the Raschers was because I took lessons from a 2nd gen student of Rascher, then a 1st gen student of Rascher. I'll also mention that I never had a soprano mouthpiece for any length of time because I suck at straight soprano, which was the only horn I could borrow. I briefly owned a curved soprano and I did sound better on it, but it needed too much work and I sold it fairly quickly.
 
Soprano Planet Missing Link - Sop
Phil Tone Aurora - Alto
Phil Tone Intrepid - Tenor
Long Shank Soloist - Bari
Fobes San Francisco - Sop Clarinet
Grabner Selmer Blank - Bass Clarinet
Fobes San Francisco - Contra Alto Clarinet

I'm not really enamored with the Grabner, but the BC isn't getting much play time lately,
I may get a Fobes San Francisco for it some day.

I have a few short and long shank Alto & Tenor Soloists that I will sell soon.
I also have a bunch of Sop Clarinet pieces that I will sell also.

I sold about 6 pieces earlier this year on EBay and they didn't seem to go for what I thought they would.
 
Regarding Syos, I went to their website. First thing I should mention is that they're currently doing a 10% off sale for new customers.

Anyway, I played around with their customizer. I think that's just all sorts of cool, right there: you can use sliders to customize tone and "power." However, you can also click on samples of some sax players (they need more) and accept what Syos considers the player's levels to be. I, of course, chose Paul Desmond. It then asks for your current mouthpiece brand and allows you to change the tip opening. I chose a Selmer C* and I wanted a larger opening. Just because. Then you choose your pick of 9 colors for a mouthpiece and ligature. Then an engraving design.

I tried the customizer for both alto and bari and the prices were the same: 270 Euros (Syos' website says $319 US). A Selmer Soloist C* alto mouthpiece is $200. If you're lucky, you can get an MC Gregory 4a 18M mouthpiece, the mouthpiece Desmond used, per Wikipedia, for around $375.

I posted an article here, probably at least a year ago, about how some museums are using 3D printing to make copies of rare mouthpieces and other instrument parts. I guess this is the mainstream version.
 
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