Rock mouthpiece for a student

[Bob Rogers]

Hi! I'm new to the forum and here under false pretenses. I'm a bass player. My daughter is the sax player. She is 13 and has been playing for two years. She is a good musician -playing guitar and piano since six - but she is obviously still developing on the sax.

She is playing a Selmer Series II with a Selmer C* mouthpiece. (I know, she is spoiled, but she was struggling with a Conn 20M and this one walked into the local pawn shop at a great price.) This setup is fine for her school bands, but she (and I) would like a mouthpiece with a brighter tone for her rock band.

She is comfortable with the Selmer C* and has been uncomfortable when trying mouthpieces with much larger openings. (We live in Blacksburg, Va and don’t get much chance to try out many mouthpieces. Stores have standard things. Random things show up used.) So I'd like something that would not require her to make a big change in embouchure but would give a better rock tone. (She would continue to use the Selmer in concert band where the director would have “issues” with a brighter mouthpiece. In the school jazz band, the director would have an open mind.)

Price is clearly an issue since I would expect she might make some changes as she develops, but I’m willing to pay for something that will help her enjoy the instrument and learn.

Suggestions?

[Morry]

For years I played on a Guy Hawkins metal piece for alto. It is not well loved by many on this board, but is a nice, inexpensive piece with a contemporary sound. Take a look at www.wwbw.com for one. If she doesn't like it, they have a nice return policy.

[super20dan]

the guy hawkins metal is a terrible mpc .esp for a young player. try a vandoreen junbo java a35- a lakey 4*3 , runyon x.l or beechler diamond small chamber. all thrse hard rubber mpcs are easy to play and are similar in size to her selmer c* and wont require a big change in emb.to play. they are also fairly priced.

[Bill Mecca]

At the risk of being called a Runyon goon, :wink:

I'll suggest a Runyon Custom Spoiler, the spoielr gives her the option to be even brighter with the rock band, without the custom is a good allaround mouthpiece, reed friendly, a good value, and rather inexpensive. Plus, if you order directly from Runyon (http://ww.runyonproducts.com or Charlie A http://www.gigdust.com you can get them in black, translucent red, blue, amber)

Check Paul Coats articles on the main sotw site for more details.