Mouthpieces with Holton Baritones

[bjazzman]

are the holtons better suited with large or smaller chambered mouthpieces?

[SaxPlayer1004]

large per almost all vintage baris. caravan and raschers work well

[hgrail]

The old large chambered Woodwind Co mpcs are a good bet as are some of the old Conn Precision mpcs as well (and when you can find them they are usually cheap!)

[bjazzman]

what about for jazz/experimental music?

[SaxPlayer1004]

large chamber with baffle? hrrrmmm. barone contemporary will do it, but might not be worth it. No offense Phil, I respect all that you do, but I can't shell out $800 :-(
I have played a Link STM Metal 8* on bass sax. It plays in tune and will ROAR. That should work. Junkdude has an old double chamber that might work, but again thats $350, and you may not want to shell that much out. My bet is a hard rubber or metal link. What are you playing on now and why do you want to change?

[Mark Fleming]

I have a 1930s Gretsch Commander bari that is a Buescher stencil. It came with a Geo. Bundy mp (with a .07 facing). I bought some more modern mps off of Ebay, like a Bamber Jazz and a Rico Graftonite. Glad I stayed with the inexpensive ones, because I can't get any of them to play in tune. Too sharp and not enough neck to pull the mp back far enough to correct. I've read that the vintage baritones seem to like a big chamber and a shorter tip-to-neck distance for proper intonation. That's what I've found. I may just open up the Bundy a little more.

Mark

[bjazzman]

large chamber with baffle? hrrrmmm. barone contemporary will do it, but might not be worth it. No offense Phil, I respect all that you do, but I can't shell out $800 :-(
I have played a Link STM Metal 8* on bass sax. It plays in tune and will ROAR. That should work. Junkdude has an old double chamber that might work, but again thats $350, and you may not want to shell that much out. My bet is a hard rubber or metal link. What are you playing on now and why do you want to change?

I got a hard rubber berg either 110/2 or 120/2 it plays nice except I would like more control on the lower notes with subtoning. it will do some altissimo but i'd like more. I just ordered a dukoff so we'll see how that works.

[jazzbug1]

I have usually found that pre-war saxophones require an older larger chamber mouthpiece to play in tune up and down. I use a Goldbeck on my Conn 1927 baritone. Some Berg Larsens work well on pre-war horns, so I'm sure there are exceptions. If you want an aggressive, more modern sound from your baritone, you could try a Larsen, as my friend has had good intonation on his 1920s Martin when using one. I also use a medium chamber Larsen to achive a very edgy sound on my 1929 Wiedoeft tenor. Bueschers and French-built horns of the 1920s and 30s have smaller bores, so I think thay may work better with more modern smaller chamber mouthpieces. I've found the mouthpiece is at least 50% of your sound, regardless of the horn. Good luck.

[SaxPlayer1004]

The /2 on the Berg would probably be why you are having trouble. The baffle is controls a lot of the overtones and helps with altissimo. The /2 is pretty steep as far as Bergs go. HR Link might do the trick. I use a 120/0 metal Berg and get plenty of umph, but I'm playing a modern bari so that helps some. Best of luck