From: ai.torosian@mcc.com (Dan Torosian)
Newsgroups: rec.music.bluenote
Subject: sax mouthpieces
Date: 3 Sep 1992 10:56:47 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

	From: henk@fudd.frcs.alt.za (Henk Coetzee)
	
	Hi
	
	...
	I am playing on an ordinary ebonite mouthpiece, and running into
	no serious problems. Most of the people I have asked about 
	mouthpieces give me pretty ambiguous answers, or tell you that
	the only mouthpiece to play on is the one that they play on.
	
	I would like it if somebody could tell me what the basic differences
	are between metal and plastic (I've heard of a plastic mouthpiece called
	metalite) mouthpieces. (Fire physics at me if you like, if the acoustics
	are anything like seismology it shouldn't be too heavy). Also the
	differences in the depths, widths, lengths and whatever other dimensions
	affect the characteristics of the mouthpiece.
	
	I am thinking of trying a metal mouthpiece, but here in the third world,
	you have to know what to ask for to order it or get it ordered for you.
	Then you have to pay, and our dearly beloved government (the one that 
	gave us apartheid and other disasters) slaps massive import duty on
	"luxury goods" (books, musical instruments and all the things which
	make life worthwhile).
	
	Thanks
	
	Henk

My opinions (all mine):

1 - Listen to a lot of players, and start to develop your own sound (in
terms of tone) based on what you want to hear come out of the horn.
Only in this context will choosing a mouthpiece make any sense.

2 - Forget about the metal/rubber theoretical differences.  Just try as
many mouthpieces as you can (I realize this is the hard part, given the
lack of availability where you are).

3 - I'd advise strongly against mail ordering a mouthpiece.  There's so
much variation between individual samples of the same model that it's
hard to get a good one by mail.  In a store, you can often try several
specimens of the model you want.  Also, I suspect that there are certain
mouthpieces which just don't work right, which keep making the rounds of
mail-order customers.

One factual correction to another posting on this subject -

The numbering system for Berg Larsens is like this:  

First number is tip opening in thousandths of an inch.  To compare to
Otto Link numbers (for tenor), it goes like this - Berg's 80 (80/1000
inch) is a Link 5.  Each 5/1000 is another half size, so 85 is a 5*, 90
is a 6, etc.  I play on a 110, which is the same tip opening as an Otto
Link 8.

Second number is for baffle height (how high a baffle there is just
inside the tip).  These numbers range from 0 to 3.  0 is the highest
baffle, therefore the brightest sound, 3 is the lowest baffle, and the
smoothest, warmest (dullest?;-)) sound.

The third designation is either 'M' or 'SMS'.  This has to do with the
shape of the opening under the reed (I believe it's called the 'facing',
but I've heard that term misused so much that I don't really know).  The
'M' is wider (for American reeds, I've been told), and the 'SMS' seems
to be a little tapered (for French reeds).  I don't know how much of a
difference this makes, but I know it's not as crucial as the opening and
the baffle height.  Actually, I'm playing with someone now who has the
exact same model as I do, but I've got the 'M' facing, and he's got the
'SMS'.  I've been sufficiently incurious about this that I've never
checked his mouthpiece.  Oh well.

Hope this helps.