From: hkang@concho.intel.com (Hananel Kang exp 9/92~)
Subject: Re: sax mouthpieces (long)
Keywords: saxophones, mouthpieces, long article
Organization: Intel Corporation
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 17:58:33 GMT

In article <715124086snx@fudd.frcs.alt.za> henk@fudd.frcs.alt.za (Henk Coetzee) writes:
> 
> (stuff deleted)
>
>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.
>    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Don't take their word for it; really, the only way you will find the
mouthpiece (and sound) you are looking for is by trying countless 
different mouthpiece/reed combinations.  Everyone's mouth and
chest cavity are different shapes and sizes.  You will get a different sound
than another player even if you play the same equipment.  A player I knew in Philadelphia
said that he got to try out Dave Liebman's equipment at a lesson one day; he  
said that he could barely get a reasonable sound out of Liebman's horns.  I'm 
rambling here, but the gist is that you've got to play it before you 
even think about buying it.

>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 ....(deleted)

Historically, metal mouthpieces have worked well with tenor sax; most metal
mouthpieces are made with jazz and rock in mind, although I've seen
metal mouthpieces made for the classical player.  A metal mouthpiece
will make your tone a little brighter and edgier, but what makes the most
difference in sound are the sizes of a mouthpiece's chamber, tip opening,
and facing.  Plastic can get you the same sound as metal, if it's made
to do so (e.g. Dukoff's mouthpieces come in plastic and metal versions and
they sound essentially the same.)

The size of the chamber affects the roundness of your tone; the larger
the chamber, the wider your sound.  The size of the tip opening will
affect how much air you can push through the horn; this will widen the
difference between the loudest and softest note you can play, but too wide 
a tip will make intonation a problem.  I don't think the reed facing
size makes as much of a difference as the tip and chamber size, but
it affects how much of your reed is going to vibrate; I've never experimented
with vastly different reed facings, though, so take my opinion here
skeptically...

Saxophone players have it bad; I know many who've gone through hundreds, thousands
of dollars looking for "that sound" that they've got to have.  Ask any
saxophone player if he's happy with his mouthpiece; guaranteed the answer's
a litany of equipment that he's gone through and discarded.  Like I said 
before, you've got to try before you buy! :)  But if you're in the "third
world" without access to the stuff, there's a few mouthpieces that most
people would recommend (IMHO) that might increase your chances of buying blind
and being happy:

Alto Sax, good for Rock:
DUKOFF D8 (good combination with Mark VI 144k or older--Sanborn's equipment)

Alto Sax, Jazz/Classical:
MEYER 5MM  (medium chamber, medium facing) This is a staple in U.S. high
school and college bands. It can swing either way--legit or jazz.  They're
all machine-made now, so chances are you might want to get it worked on.
The tips and facing are where the work usually has to be done; if you buy
one and don't like it, ask to have the facing flattened just a tiny bit, and
ask for the tip to be finished off--the tip's edge shouldn't be razor sharp, but
it should be fairly thin.  Phil Woods uses one of these, but he got his
when they were made right (late 50's, 60's).

Alto Sax, Jazz:
OTTO LINK 5*  (old, hard rubber version, if you can find it)  Link doesn't
make any hard rubber mouthpieces anymore, and it's too bad because this
one sounded great.  I heard a guy use it for classical once, too.

Alto Sax, Classical:
Selmer C*  (NOT the S80 kind, but the older kind) Never heard any complaints
about this one; really popular mouthpiece.

Tenor Sax, Jazz:
OTTO LINK 5*  (metal) Coltrane picked up one of these when he lost his
hard rubber mouthpiece.  Works very well with Mark VI and balanced action Tenors.

Dave Guardala Mouthpieces  (metal) I'm not familiar with his line of mouthpieces
as far as what's offered (he's got a bunch of different models) but I heard
this kid play a Guardala with a bari plastic reed on an old silver Mark VI Tenor (I
think it was 62k, but I'm not sure)--he was SMOKIN'!!!  It was the ballsiest,
gutsiest, funkiest tenor sound I've ever heard.  I mean, it wasn't all edgy and
Sanborn-like; in fact, it was a nice 'fat' sound, more like Joe Henderson.  The
horn had plenty to do with this, and the kid was a great player, but the mouth-
piece was definitely a factor.  I've heard negative things about Guardala, stuff
about throat damage, but I don't know whether that was BS or not (hope you don't
find out the hard way).

Tenor Sax, Classical:
MEYER 5MM  again, a staple for many players in the U.S.

VANDOREN  they offer a bunch of different lines; I never really liked them, but
they're really into making legit mouthpieces.

SELMER C*  again, the old kind, not the new kind.

Where to get it from:

Bob Ackerman
15 McGotty Place
Irvington, N.J. 07111
(201) 375-5859

This guy has tons of old Selmer C*'s and old New York Meyers (the kind Phil
Woods uses) that he's worked on.  The C*'s he has are for jazz, though...they've
all been worked on (last time I checked).  I think that he'll let you try out
mouthpieces and return them if you don't like them.  Be careful before you
buy and make sure it's what you want.  In my humble opinion, all music
dealers will rip you off as often as possible.

One last piece of advice--DON'T buy a Claude Lakey mouthpiece--I have NEVER
heard anything good about this mouthpiece; I've tried one a few times and
it can play very loud and very soft, but it plays out of tune like you
wouldn't believe.

Sorry this was such a book, but, hey, I've got diarrhea of the keyboard.
I really hope this helps you!

H. Keeho Kang