Mouthpiece for a Bari Sax

[Biff]

I'm looking for a mouthpiece for a "Viking" (idunno, used one of the school bari's mouthpieces on it and it played real nice. f natural's sharp though) Bari Sax. I'll have to check for when it was made, but by the looks ( and the grime) i'd say it's pretty vintage. any suggestions?

[DirkW]

I've just tested several mouthpieces for accuracy on my '53 vintage The Martin Baritone. It will play F from 15 to 40 cents sharp depending on the mouthpiece. I've found that my horn likes a mouthpiece with a large chamber. If the mouthpiece plays middle A in tune with it pushed high on the cork, it's good. If I have to move the mouthpiece farther out on the cork to play a middle A in tune, everything else gets further out of wack.

For me, the answer is to pick up a $75 mouthpiece on eBay and spend another $75 to have it reworked. But when I was in school, I just played whatever they had. Your best bet may be to look for a Selmer S90 D or a Rousseau R4. If you can play with a wider tip opening, it will make it easier to pull F and E back into tune. Just remember that the more open the tip, the more responsibility you have to listen to your pitch and make the note in tune.

[mark_m]

Dirk,

I wonder what pieces you've found that do play in tune on The Martin bari. Have you found that it's all about chamber size, any other discoveries as to what pieces work? I too am looking for mouthpieces that play in tune on my TMB with more than a half-inch of cork in the mouthpiece.

[DirkW]

I wonder what pieces you've found that do play in tune on The Martin bari. Have you found that it's all about chamber size, any other discoveries as to what pieces work?

My experiments so far are with three mouthpieces, one having two removable baffles. My favorite is a vintage Babbitt Artist which is fairly rare, refaced by MojoBari. I believe the intonation issues are all about inside volume of the mouthpiece either by a large chamber or a long shank. For stock mouthpieces, I recommend the following, from dark to relatively bright:
- Selmer S90 190
- Otto Link Tone Edge
- Otto Link Super Tone Master

If you want something brighter, you'll need to have one customized. Last I checked, MojoBari had a Berg with a custom baffle and an extended shank. Theo Wayne does some interesting work with Link STM's. Either of those guys can make the chamber larger on existing pieces.

[Bootman]

I have found that RPC copy with a slightly larger window and wider tip gives me the best results on the Martin Magna Bari. I have a few more things arriving in the next week or so and I will post my findings.

[mark_m]

Richard - have you experienced any intonation issues with small/medium chamber pieces on the Magna? I wonder if this problem is specific to the Bb The Martins or is shared with the Magna as well.

[Bootman]

Mark,
Yes the Magna doesn't like small chamber mpcs, the intonation becomes very sketchy. This isn't such a problem as mist Bari's don't perform well with small chamber mpcs, at least the ones I have owned. I think I have tried just about every bari mpc on the market, one day I hope it will end but it seems to on the Conn Tranny with the Lamberson although I have noticed that this mpc has a tendency to chirp with certain reeds. This being said, it is stilthe best Bari mpc I have found for a low Bb Bari to date.

[mark_m]

Is the DD a fairly large chamber, then?

[Bootman]

The DD feel like a medium-large chamber behind a hig baffled tip. This is a powerful mpc. It really starts working with the Plasticover reeds, the RJS. La Voz sound very thin and brittle on this horn. The darkness, presence and thunder return with the 3 1/2 Plasticover. I realise that this goes against what you would expect from a plasticover reed. All Ican state is that it works and it is scary to listen and feel how well it works.

[ProfessorZeek]

richard, what is rpc ?

[DirkW]

http://www.saxmpc.com/ 8)

[ProfessorZeek]

dirk, thanks. serious prices for serious players.