Believe it or not, a killer Goldentone piece...

[Chris Kelsey]

I just acquired an old, early '50s vintage ivory Goldentone tenor mouthpiece for practically nothing...which is about what I expected from it, but I'm looking all over for a piece to go with my '53 Martin and I'll try anything. Wonder of wonders: the thing really plays! I mean it; it feels a little bit like an old Brilhart ebolin, but gets a bigger, fuller, richer sound, with just the right amount of edge. Am I losing my mind? Has anyone else had such an experience with an old Goldentone?

[cd]

Way back in college, I had the opportunity to play a school tenor that had a well used Goldentone mpc in the case. I only played it for one jazz band gig and I usually played alto but everyone including me thought it sounded really good. Played easily too.

[BlockAM]

Chris Potter uses a stock Bundy bass clarinet mpc. He says it sounds the best. Sometimes, you get great sounds out of unlikely setups. I have a Bundy II alto (am a tenor player 95% of the time), that is a really fantastic horn.

[Conrado]

I've been playing bari and decided to walk on the wild side with an alto that i just received today (a 1929 Chu Berry) - it came with a Goldentone 3 alto mpc. I had recently acquired a Vandoren Java 175 (pretty open) - but found that i had to expend a lot more effort with that mpc on this sax than with the Goldentone that came with it (looks pretty old, teeth marks, etc., but don't know how old it would be). The Goldentone plays easier than the Vandoren and has a nice sound (kind of on the dark side giving a Desmondish tone, but edge is there when pushed), but, unlike the Vandoren, it tends to gurgle on low B (I had it checked for leaks this afternoon, but it has no leaks).

[10mfan]

theyre typically $25-$50 mpc's. I once had one that sounded nice too.

Talking about using what works....

For quiet houseparty settings, I use a stock, cheapo Yamaha 4c with a fibracell reed for the DESMOND SOUND---- and no-one I have heard comes closer to that sound. It gives me all the fluff in the sound with a nice core, and sounds very pure. I have owned well over 100 MC Gregory mpc's like Desmond used, and none have even come close to this Yamaha in getting that sound....go figure!

You need to just go with what works, and not be caught up in a name....Chris Potter is a great example of that.

Congrats on your Goldentone!

[Bob M]

Pete Thomas could chime in and correct me, but if I'm not mistaken Lee Allen used a Selmer Goldentone during the latter part of his career (when he was recording with the Blasters).

[Conrado]

I just uploaded some photos of my Goldentone on a related thread:
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?p=598062#post598062

[nslalto]

I just acquired an old, early '50s vintage ivory Goldentone tenor mouthpiece for practically nothing...which is about what I expected from it, but I'm looking all over for a piece to go with my '53 Martin and I'll try anything. Wonder of wonders: the thing really plays! I mean it; it feels a little bit like an old Brilhart ebolin, but gets a bigger, fuller, richer sound, with just the right amount of edge. Am I losing my mind? Has anyone else had such an experience with an old Goldentone?
I believe it. I play the same piece with my '46 Martin Alto-- like a Brilhart but better sounding and feeling. I switched from a Great Neck Tonalin.

[stevesklar]

I have a white alto goldentone that I use from time to time. very nice tone, and consistently handles all registers - it practically plays itself.

[Sigmund451]

Anybody wanna buy $900 goldentone? :twisted:

[stevesklar]

why $900 ... ones that play well are rare ?

if that's so then I'll sell mine for $1,000