Ivan Meyer (Brasil) Pass 'Round - Tenor

[Dr G]

http://www.ivanmeyer.com/album/mouthpiece32.jpg

They are here and ready to go to the next participant!

Please note that this thread is for the TENOR mouthpieces only.

Ivan sent three tenor pieces, each a work of art. Large tip openings, medium-large chamber (others may call it "large"). At first blush, the finish is very eye catching - engraved through a top coat of silver plate. Some of you that get hung up on machining marks will be put off - I encourage you to blow these mouthpieces though, before you pass judgment.

The shank diameter is on the small side - those playing LT Guardalas and older Barones will have no issues. On the other hand, my Borgani Jubilee with a Gloger-modified neck could not take enough of the mouthpiece to get it in a correct position so I cannot comment on intonation. Even though I couldn't put the mouthpiece in the correct position on my horn, response was even and full throughout the range.

Quite frankly, I was loathe to try the pieces with the supplied synthetic reed. I keep two Fibercell reeds in my gigbag just in case but have not used either in over 5 years. I always found the sound of them fuzzy, uncentered, distasteful... Yucky??? Imagine my surprise, then, to put the supplied Fibercell reed on the .110, blow, and get a Huge, Round, Full Sound. These are NOT peashooters. If you are looking for razor edge, laser beam, paint peeler, find a different tool.

Ivan has a unique approach to making these pieces and I encourage everyone in the trial to get past the visual inspection and right to the playing. I was ready to critique the rails as nominally wide and the tip rail as too thin. Those that have criticized Lamberson mouthpieces as having a too rough interior may find objection to the surface finish of these as well. Play them.

I like the Lawton-style ligature. Be aware that even though one can use them as a vise, they are a ligature. Don't clamp the reed with excessive pressure - you don't need to.

I asked Ivan whether we should be using a mouthpiece patch to protect the bite plates and he replied that it is not necessary so I didn't. The inlays seem to be a very hard and tough epoxy. I really like the look and feel.

When these trials are over, I shall select one of these mouthpieces, ream it to fit my horn and try it again. I like them enough to want to give them a real wringing out. Rework/tweaking is certainly an issue when working with anyone across international boundaries. Given that Ivan is a gifted musician, I should think that if a person can communicate their experience and needs, that Ivan can produce a good mouthpiece without iteration.

For those in future trials, please post your setup. If you do try alternate reeds, let us know. Ivan seems to have the synthetic reeds designed into the concept - why, I don't know. It seems to work.

[jmoen3]

Hey. Glad the piece came out well for you (or sort of that is)

I can't wait to try them. I would like to sign up for the tenor as well as the alto too.

[Blueskiestenor]

These look amazing on the outside. I'd be interested in just holding one.

[Ivan Meyer Brasil]

Thanks Dr. G:)
I am very happy with the comment.
I give you this for the mouthpiece you want ok

Thank you for the opportunity and assistance.

In Brazil the saxophonists say I invented the mouthpiece for fibracell:)

I play with fibracell to 19 years for a mouthpiece that works well with fibracell and also with Vandoren Java.

I am curious to know what they will find the mouthpiece for Alto Sax.

Thank you for caring with my mouthpiece


Ivan Meyer

www.ivanmeyer.com

[sounds7]

I had signed up for the Alto trial but after reading this I would really like to try the Tenor pieces. I have a pee shooter already, I need something round and Darker for my Mark VI Tenor. I am looking for a Vintage Berg Larsen HR because I know someone who let me play one and I loved the sound. Still I haven't bought a Tenor Piece yet so if you don't mind I would like to try these. I already PM'd you previously so just use the same info on me.

[acleitao]

Hi guys... I usually just read topics on this forum but when I saw this I have to stop and reply.

I'm Brazilian, i know Ivan and for sometime a was too close him but because of my work (System analist at IBM) I was forced to take a brake from Sax.

I now have two (Tennor and Alto sax hopping to buy a soprano soon) mouthpieces made by Ivan... their great!!! they have a beatiful sound... he made specially for me! I really encourage every one to try it.. they really rocks (for those of you who likes 60's music you have to try it for tennor you will love it) but they are good for jazz, smoth jazz, rock, hard rock and so on...

Hope you guys give a try...(sorry for my bad english hope you can understand me)

Ivan,

Parabéns cara(congratulations)
Fiquei super feliz de ver que vc atingiu nivel internacional
(I'm very glad to know that you are international level now)

Abc's
(hugs)

seu amigo
(your friend)

Alexandre Leitão

[acleitao]

Hi guys,

I usually just go throught reading posts(thats because my english is not too good) but today, when I saw this post I felt like I has to say something.

I was (in a past not too far way) very close to Ivan. I usually post a lot in his forum (http://www.explicasax.com.br), but because of my work, unffortunaly I have to take a brake from sax.

Ivan made 2 custom mouthpieces for me (Tenor and Alto sax) and I'm planning to buy one for my soprano. His mouthpieces really rocks... and they are very, very beautifull...

You ask about the setup that we use with the mouthpiece so I have 2 chinese saxes. A Arena Tenor sax and a Eagle alto sax. Like you I start to enjoy fibracell reeds sound playing with the Ivan mouthpiece.

They are very flexible mouthpieces they can be used for jazz, smooth jazz, pop, rock (I really like to play 60's with my tenor you guys have to see how the growling sounds)

They are very balanced, so its easy to stay on tune in every range of the saxophone. I learn how to play agudissimo on it.

I just wanna say that if can try it! Its a wonderfull piece of art.

Hope you can understand my poor english.

Ivan,

Congratulations... your mothpieces are now international!!!

[Ivan Meyer Brasil]

Hi guys... I usually just read topics on this forum but when I saw this I have to stop and reply.

I'm Brazilian, i know Ivan and for sometime a was too close him but because of my work (System analist at IBM) I was forced to take a brake from Sax.

I now have two (Tennor and Alto sax hopping to buy a soprano soon) mouthpieces made by Ivan... their great!!! they have a beatiful sound... he made specially for me! I really encourage every one to try it.. they really rocks (for those of you who likes 60's music you have to try it for tennor you will love it) but they are good for jazz, smoth jazz, rock, hard rock and so on...

Hope you guys give a try...(sorry for my bad english hope you can understand me)

Ivan,

Parabéns cara(congratulations)
Fiquei super feliz de ver que vc atingiu nivel internacional
(I'm very glad to know that you are international level now)

Abc's
(hugs)

seu amigo
(your friend)

Alexandre Leitão


Oi Alexandre :) Que bom ver você por aqui , pois é rsss estou virando internacional kuauauua

Abs
Ivan Meyer

[Dr G]

Here's Brian's review:

Ok, I've had my time with these and the "Three Tenors" are on their way to the next victim.

Initially, opening the box was a thrill. I was showing them off around the office like my wife getting a new ring. These pieces visually are stunning. Personally, I didn't find the finishing quality to be lacking at all, and I was a bit apprehensive about it after reading Dr. G's post. Not stunning in a Theo Wanne, or Jody Jazz DV work of perfect finish, perfectly smooth transitions ... but stunning in a handcrafted way. You will never mistake these for production pieces. The silver texture with engraving through to the brass was as good as I could have expected them to be. The rails, table, chambers, and tips, though showing a 'hand shaped' type of craftsmanship, did not have machine marks or other tel-tale scratches that I find on lots of pieces.

I love the track ligature. I am a fan of Lawton pieces, and have found that many of those that have imitated that iconic and most effective ligature to be lacking and cheap feeling. This arrangement is as good as the Lawtons ... fit into the track may even be more consistent.

The playing ... well ... my heart sunk a bit. I wanted so bad to love these pieces but found them not in line at all with my type of Tenor sound. All three are significantly more resistant than my Ponzol pieces and slightly more resistant than my Lawtons. Of the three, my favorite was the one marked Ayla 9 (.125). The "Extreme" was , well, EXTREME. The "Nina" was also fairly bright and caustic to my ear. The Ayla is a deeper open piece but not to be confused with dark. These are all variations of contemporary pieces to me. The Ayla was by far the fullest and richest sounding.

Interesting, though, all of the pieces played best with the included Fibracell reed. I played Fibracell on all saxes for several years before needing an intervention to finally go back to cane about a year ago. I hated putting that thing back on to test it ... boy was I surprised. I would venture to say that the pieces are designed specifically to work best with Fibracell (my opinion) ... that's how much difference there was. I played the pieces with JAVA reeds ... both broken in, and new, and for two of the three pieces I didn't like anything I was hearing. The fibracell played well, full, and responded throughout the whole registers ... even the altissimo ... on all pieces. I lost interest in Fibracell because of the inherent lack of focus and center (as well as consistent quality troubles) but like I said, these pieces seem to be designed to compensate and bring out there best when paired with them.

Ivan, can we send you mouthpieces to engrave? (only half serious ... I'd love to have a custom handcrafted finish to one of my Ponzols).

I'm sure someone down this test line that plays more in line with what these pieces provide, will have a better experience ... but for me, it's not a good fit.

[wersax]

Dr G,
How do I sign up for this pass around? These pieces look awesome!!......Daryl

[Ivan Meyer Brasil]

Here's Brian's review:

Ok, I've had my time with these and the "Three Tenors" are on their way to the next victim.

Initially, opening the box was a thrill. I was showing them off around the office like my wife getting a new ring. These pieces visually are stunning. Personally, I didn't find the finishing quality to be lacking at all, and I was a bit apprehensive about it after reading Dr. G's post. Not stunning in a Theo Wanne, or Jody Jazz DV work of perfect finish, perfectly smooth transitions ... but stunning in a handcrafted way. You will never mistake these for production pieces. The silver texture with engraving through to the brass was as good as I could have expected them to be. The rails, table, chambers, and tips, though showing a 'hand shaped' type of craftsmanship, did not have machine marks or other tel-tale scratches that I find on lots of pieces.

I love the track ligature. I am a fan of Lawton pieces, and have found that many of those that have imitated that iconic and most effective ligature to be lacking and cheap feeling. This arrangement is as good as the Lawtons ... fit into the track may even be more consistent.

The playing ... well ... my heart sunk a bit. I wanted so bad to love these pieces but found them not in line at all with my type of Tenor sound. All three are significantly more resistant than my Ponzol pieces and slightly more resistant than my Lawtons. Of the three, my favorite was the one marked Ayla 9 (.125). The "Extreme" was , well, EXTREME. The "Nina" was also fairly bright and caustic to my ear. The Ayla is a deeper open piece but not to be confused with dark. These are all variations of contemporary pieces to me. The Ayla was by far the fullest and richest sounding.

Interesting, though, all of the pieces played best with the included Fibracell reed. I played Fibracell on all saxes for several years before needing an intervention to finally go back to cane about a year ago. I hated putting that thing back on to test it ... boy was I surprised. I would venture to say that the pieces are designed specifically to work best with Fibracell (my opinion) ... that's how much difference there was. I played the pieces with JAVA reeds ... both broken in, and new, and for two of the three pieces I didn't like anything I was hearing. The fibracell played well, full, and responded throughout the whole registers ... even the altissimo ... on all pieces. I lost interest in Fibracell because of the inherent lack of focus and center (as well as consistent quality troubles) but like I said, these pieces seem to be designed to compensate and bring out there best when paired with them.

Ivan, can we send you mouthpieces to engrave? (only half serious ... I'd love to have a custom handcrafted finish to one of my Ponzols).

I'm sure someone down this test line that plays more in line with what these pieces provide, will have a better experience ... but for me, it's not a good fit.

Brian:

Along the years I've being making mouthpieces, I realized that most sax players who want to buy a metal mouthpiece are looking for a bright contemporary sound. And most mouthpieces I make are really for that kind of sound. But I also make some different sounding pieces, when a customer asks me for a dark vintage sound. For this reason, all 3 mouthpieces I sent to this pass around are on the brighter half of the spectrum, as you pointed out.
Some facing details are prone to a little more resistance. The eliptic facing I use makes it easier to get the high notes, but also adds some resistance to the mouthpiece.
I can make a silver plating and an/or an engraving on your Ponzol mouthpiece. I just need to know what metal it is made of. It will look very similar to the ones you just tested. If you send me your mouthpiece, I will try to make a similar sounding mouthpiece, and send you back along with the one you sent me for engraving. You could test this mouthpiece and send it to the next pass around participants. Just send me a PM so we can talk about it.

Thank you very much for testing my mouthpieces and for you feedback.

Best regards

Ivan Meyer

[Nefertiti]

I'm a little confused........are you Ivan Meyer or Dan Camsky. A couple of times I've read our posts and you sign it Ivan but then your signature says Dan Camsky? Or are you one and the same? Like an alter ego.......?:)

[Dan_camsky]

Let me explain. Mr. Ivan doesn't speak English, and he was using the Google translation tools to communicate on his first posts here. As he knows I have a little better English understanding than him, he invited me to be his international contact. So, every message sent to him I translate into Portuguese, and every message he wants to send I, translate into English. When he posts under his user name, it's his words, written by me, you are reading. When I use my own user name, like now, I am speaking by myself. I think ghost writer would fit better than alter ego :).

[MyMartinTenor]

These got here safe and sound today. I'll try 'em over the weekend and get up a review. Look great -- they look almost tacky in the pictures, but in real life they are actually pretty elegant.

[wersax]

Any reviews forthcoming?

[MyMartinTenor]

Dan Perez in Jersey has 'em now.

[DanPerezSax]

OK, I've overstayed my welcome with these pieces long since, so I guess I should do a review! First of all, presentation is a STRONG suit. I've never seen anything like these mouthpieces, and even the box they come in is gorgeous. The engraving is a very cool touch.

Now, to playing. First of all, I expected these to be very unresponsive and hard to play, since I'm used to about a .100 opening. They are not. My favorite was actually the #9 (Ayla) that I believe was a .115. They played well with my Marca 2.5 reeds as well as the Java 2.5s I had lying around. I got a somewhat darker, woodier tone than I do on my normal setup, but I am sure it would center over a couple weeks of shedding. I felt like they were uniform in tone color and response up until about the palm keys, where they lost some oomph. Interestingly, all three mouthpieces had similar sounds to me, but the #9 definitely felt the best. If I were going for a Henderson/Lovano vibe, I'd love to have one of these. Also, if I were made of money, I wouldn't mind having one around for such occasions as called for it.

[Ivan Meyer Brasil]

OK, I've overstayed my welcome with these pieces long since, so I guess I should do a review! First of all, presentation is a STRONG suit. I've never seen anything like these mouthpieces, and even the box they come in is gorgeous. The engraving is a very cool touch.

Now, to playing. First of all, I expected these to be very unresponsive and hard to play, since I'm used to about a .100 opening. They are not. My favorite was actually the #9 (Ayla) that I believe was a .115. They played well with my Marca 2.5 reeds as well as the Java 2.5s I had lying around. I got a somewhat darker, woodier tone than I do on my normal setup, but I am sure it would center over a couple weeks of shedding. I felt like they were uniform in tone color and response up until about the palm keys, where they lost some oomph. Interestingly, all three mouthpieces had similar sounds to me, but the #9 definitely felt the best. If I were going for a Henderson/Lovano vibe, I'd love to have one of these. Also, if I were made of money, I wouldn't mind having one around for such occasions as called for it.

First, I would like to thank all participants in this pass around for posting their impressions about how they felt the mouthpieces. Every opinion will help me improve my mouthpieces.
Up to date, only a few participants have already posted their impressions, but we can read huge differences on how my mouthpieces behave. I would point out 2 most important factors for that:

1) The sound from a setup depends a lot on the mouthpiece, but it also depends on the reed, the horn and (much) on the sax player.
2) The impressions we have when trying a mouthpiece and a reed different from the ones we are used to can be a lot influenced by how different these setups are.

Thank you very much

Ivan Meyer

[cvsimson]

Just a quick note for the pass-around reviewers:
If you also play C-melody, you might want to try these pieces also on them.
I got an aluminum piece from Ivan, and it does a great job on my Buescher TT and on my Conn C-mels.
I am not qualified enough to write a review, but in my unexperienced hands (chops?) it displaced the mouthpieces that were working well before, since it improved the tone in all ranges, dinamic possibilities and volume.:D
The engraved aluminum also looks great on the silver-plated horns!

I hope a more experieced player tries it on a C-melody and writes a review...

[Dr G]

Any reviews forthcoming?

Excellent question, Wersax, got anything to share with us? ;)

All - Now that you've got a feel for these pieces, please renew your interest in the Pass 'Round - TENOR. They may have big tips but they are not chops busters. Who else would like a trial with them?

[wersax]

Sorry this has taken so long, but I've been crazy busy.
These are really cool mouthpieces!
The appearance is remarkable; each of the 3 pieces in the pass-around is covered with intricate engraving: stars and floral designs on the main body of the piece, a two tone treatment to the shank, with details about the piece, (tip opening, etc.), and even more on the table. The ligature is one of those built-on ligs, (a la Lawton), that fits into a groove on each side of the table; the plate that holds the reed has four contact points with the reed. The chamber features a long baffle which is higher/longer or lower/shorter, depending upon the model, straight side walls and a medium large chamber. There is a bit of a roll-over on each piece. The windows are extended slightly with a small "u" at the bottom where the window meets the table.
As I mentioned, there are three pieces, the Nina, marked .110, with the largest chamber of the three, the Ayla, a 9, (at .120) and the Extremus, marked .125. The Ayla and the Extremus have very similar if not identical chambers.
I liked the Ayla and the Extremus more than the Nina; in fact I purchased the Extremus.
All 3 pieces are bright and focused but will spread and subtone if desired. In the scheme of things, these should be considered bright, modern pieces, but they are more versatile than most of the bright, modern pieces that I have played. For example, these pieces don't have the reedy, buzzy sound that you get from the higher baffled Guardalas or from Dukoffs. There are no intonation problems with these pieces.
BTW, I much prefer a Selmer 402 over the built-on lig. But those things rarely work for me.
I've got some recordings, (H2), of me playing at a gig last week, but I've got to edit a "snippet" before I can post. But I will post it in a few days....Daryl
PS: I forgot to mention that I used Fibracell Premier reeds with the mouthpiece. Ivan supplies one, but I have my own.

[wersax]

Here's a "snippet" from a gig last week recorded on my H2. Sorry for the sound quality---I'm playing unmic'ed over 2 guitars, bass and drums, (and 4 or 5 horns). It's audible anyway.

[Mark R]

I tried the tenor pieces recently. Like the alto ones, they simply were not what I enjoy playing on. Geared a bit more for players that like a Guardalaesqe, high baffle, edgy contemporary tone. I kinda like something that is in between that and the soul tenor tone of say Dexter Gordon, Houston Person, Bob Malach and these pieces took me closer to a Brecker, Bob Berg sound. Not a bad sound...just not what I'm going after these days. I also didn't try with the supplied synthetic reed, since I play cane reeds. I have to like a piece with the type of reed I like to play on. I owned a tenor piece a while back that came with a custom sanded Bari brand reed....and the piece killed with the Bari reed. Once the reed got soft and I tried to either duplicate that reed or switch to cane reeds...the piece was just a lost cause for me then.