New alto mouthpiece tips

[sax rookie]

After reading several posts on mouthpieces, I am more confused now then ever. My scenerio is this...A returning player after 20 years with a Yamaha 23 alto in great shape. It came with a stock Yamaha mouthpiece which plays as well as can be expected (a little stuffy and bland). From reading scores of posts regarding stock mouthpieces, I can only assume that this piece is about as vanilla-flavored as they come. A handy piece to have when needed in an emergency, only. I have been to the WWBW site and found a Bari nickle metal mouthpiece http://www.wwbw.com/Item/?itemno=74191 for an affordable (price is a BIG factor) any pros or cons with this piece or brand?
Is it to my advantage to get a better piece now (vs. the Yamaha) to develop good tone etc.?
Is buying a better piece for my student line horn akin to putting $1500 tires on a $300 car?
I am interested in playing rock/r&b style tunes (jazz players please be kind). I am looking for a brighter tone with a little edge, is this piece a good choice for this type of tone?
They have several opening(?) sizes, From what I have read I think I would want a larger opening mouthpiece, but what is too large and/or too small?
Forgive me if this has been addressed before. I did a search of SOTW and literally hundreds of posts appeared when typing in "Bari alto mouthpiece"
Any tips that some of you seasoned players can offer woould be greatly appreciated.

[singlereed]

Getting a good mouthpiece is the best move you can make. Unlike the tyres on a car, you can take the mouthpiece with you if you change horns, and the mouthpiece does more for *your* sound than the choice of horn. As for what you should buy, then go to a good dealer and try a few. Maybe you will like a metal Bari, but I wouldn't say it's a novice's mouthpiece, the ones I tried were rewarding to play but not exactly easy.

I would suggest you get used to something like a medium to closed facing hard rubber model from Selmer (say an S80 in C*, C** or D) Vandoren (e.g. A28 or A35) or Meyer (5 or 6). You won't go wrong with a Runyon either. There is bags of debate about the merits of these on the forum, but I suspect you would like one of those I mentioned. Bear in mind you may need to change reed make or strength too, so ideally have two or three strengths and a number of new reeds to use when you go mouthpiece testing, I would play these with a 2.5 to 3 strength Vandoren or similar. Make sure you get a decent ligature too, no need fo ranything fancy, but make sure it's a snug fit.

[MojoBari]

I think you should play on the stock Yamaha mouthpiece for a few months to get some chop muscles. You'll enjoy enjoy taking the training wheels off more if you have some balance. But this I mean the next mouthpiece you get should have a wider tip opening than the 4C. If you do not have the embouchure muscles in shape, you will rely on jaw pressure for support. This will cause you lower lip pain. Your chewing muscles are probably in great shape.

The YAS-23 is a great sax. Keep it leak free and you may never need an upgrade. Many players make the opposite mistake. they upgrade their sax and put a lousy mouthpiece on it.

For economy, stay away from metal mouthpieces. Many of the new hard rubber/plastic mouthpieces can play as loud and bright if not louder. Look at Runyon Custom Spoilers (or the similar Jody Jazz), Runyon Custom Jazz Spoilers, Vandoren Java, and Vandoren Jumbo Javas. Lakeys are bright and loud, but some of them are not finished well. If you find one to try that you can return, go for it. The Bari metal has a good price for a new metal MP. I just have not seen one up close.

Look for used pieces for deals. Most can be picked up at 60% of the new cost. Sometimes you can get a trial, but if not, you can usually resell them for a similar price or trade them.

Also, a $60 piece that is hand faced for another $60, will nearly always play better than a $120+ piece.

[Joe]

Sax Rookie, the Bari pieces like you're looking at seem to be a mass produced copy of their gold/silver plate model. If so, they get a lot of power and body with just medium edge. They have great response and incredible altissimo. They're probably more of a jazz/lead alto type piece than R&B.

One problem before with these Bari pieces was that they had hand finished baffles so that every one played markedly different. Some were fantastic while others were downright bad. I'm not sure how accurate their robotics system is. I doubt that it's accurate enough (3/10,000th's of an inch) to produce totally consistent results.

Another problem with these Bari pieces is that they have an odd shape on the side that takes quite some adjustment. I've found them a little uncomfortable and hard to control because of this, although it gets better with time. For both reasons, make sure to try before you buy.

Although you may eventually end up playing a more open set-up, something like a 5 would be an easy transition for you now. You may be able to handle up to a 7 (90) without too much trouble right now, depending in part on the piece you select.

A cheap selection that would work for the style you want is a Lakey. You should try a 4*3. They're probably the easiest to control of the power pieces. Once again, they're very inconsistent, so try more than one.