Decisions Decisions

[Big B]

Well Big B is ready to decide on a new concert band mouthpiece for next year to work on during over the summer ad while i play tuba for my final high school marching season. ( What a combo sax and tuba ) but anyway i'm lookingfor a warm expressive sound that can be pushed a lil bit in th rough passages.I still rock my Dave Guardala Silver Artist Alto. For my final 3 I'm lookig at a Selmer Soloist Mpc C*, a Vandoren Optimum Mouthpiece ( just maybe it'll go best with my optimum lig !!! ), and a E. Rousseau New Classic 5. I know i'll get a barage of responces but for those who have ad thier time with any of these come make thier mark on this post and talk to a young player.

[JS]

I strongly recommend the Vandoren A 28! A lot of saxophonists/teachers recommend the Selmer C*, but I've aways found the newer ones left a lot to be desired (IMHO). The A28 is a nicley finsihed mouthpiece, with a very warm and natural sound. I recommend the Vandoren Master's ligature (the gold plated inverted ones) as well to go with it.

[singlereed]

You are looking at some good classical mouthpieces; I use a A28 too, haven't seen the new A3 or A4 to try them yet and do not know if they have the same kind of design. The Vandoren is more lively sounding than the Selmer C* for me, habven't tried a Rousseau.

For concert band, however, I think you need a bit more power from time to time - at least if your repertoire is anything like ours is. For that reason, if I was playing alto in our concert band (I'm usually on tenor or bari) I'd take my Vandoren V16 A6S or Jody Jazz with spoiler. You want the control to play soft, but you need to cut through and get down'n'dirty too and either of those would fit the bill.

On ligs, the Optimum would fit any of these, my other favourite is the BG Tradition metal single screw inverted lig, I prefer it to the Vandoren Masters model, it feels a lot more secure to me. The Optimum is great but the BG works as well and is a lot cheaper.

[Big B]

I have tried using theSelmer S80 C* and the Vandoren A28 in a sde by side. I dd like te C* better but maybe it was so quick in trying that i didn't give the vandoren the same amount of time and i really just slaped the read on without looking much into positioning. Plus i was using a lavoz med on both pieces somaybe the reed cut didn't agree with the mouthpiece. I really still wanna look at the optimum mouthpieces really because they ae new and i have my best luck with stuff i have never tried. Like my Guardala sax for instance. Only really had much experince with a Yamaha 62 and 875 ( 62 too light in sound and 875 too dull an colorless .) and with the Yanagisawa 901 which i had a ball with. I still wante something more to work with and just getting the guardala out of no where and lovng the power was the best and most risy decision i ever made.

[singlereed]

If you prefer the C*, then go for that. Many players are happy with it, we aren't all going to like the same thing and the Vandoren is not 'better' per se.

[Big B]

Ok I think I'm gonna take another chance like i did with the guardala andgo for vandoren optimum mouthpiece. ( might be extreme with the optimum lig ) For a big one-two punch i'm also ordering the meyer G 5 for a full sound for or jazz. I mean since we are still tring to revive ar school jazz program after a 2 year break i think a fresh new sound will do the trick. I am just taking SOO many chances in my yound sax life. It's sure gonna get me one one day not trying before i'm buying.....well i hope not.

[saxguy9345]

Hey Big B - when you get that new Meyer G, tell me alllllll about it :) I'm really gathering a list for my local shop to come up with for me to try out, and I believe this will be on there. Your opinion is appreciated! Thanks!

[solflare100]

Oooo... ever thought of trying a Morgan L Jazz model or a Morgan C Classical?
You might be surprised....

I also recommend the Vandoren V5 mouthpieces (For Alto, at least)
They are pretty good classical mouthpieces.

[CodyW]

Have you tried a larry teal? They're nice.

[mostly alto guy]

I use both an A28 and a C* (among other pieces), depending on my mood, which horn I'm playing, the genre, etc. The Vandoren plays better in tune on more horns than the C*, esp my SX90R.