Dave Guardala Studio

[UOPJohnny]

I use the Dave Guardala Studio (goldplate) tenor mouthpiece. It's one of the recent laser-faced ones.

With every other mouthpiece I've owned in the past, I've found I can upgrade/improve the sound with a different lig.

Have any of you experimented with different ligs for the Studio piece? I tried one... I can't recall what it was, plausibly an olegiture? I liked the sound, it was different, but not worth the effort of upgrading for. All it did was make it slighty darker. But shoot, I have trouble finding a lig that'll FIT onto it. Maybe some of you have successfully (or unsuccessfully) tried alto or soprano ligs?

I know this is a shot in the dark! It's an absurdly pricy piece and I doubt those that own it are gonna take fooling around with ligs seriously. I'm a student right now, and my parents promised to support me though my undergraduate studies, which is the only reason I'd ever buy this mouthpiece (money isn't an issue).

Maybe some of you could list your experiences with this mouthpiece? When you use it, etc.

All the best,
Johnny

[Dirty Dave]

I use a Selmer ligature for metal alto mouthpiece (on a studio tenor). The mouthpiece is so small you've got to use an alto lig.

[Subtone Sam]

Rovner Ed Daniels II tenor lig. for metal tenor mpc fits the Studio.

[Frank D]

I've got an early DG Studio, and like the way it plays with a Winslow, although I've tried the Selmer metal, and it plays almost as well. I'd caution using fabric ligs like Rovner, as they will darken the sound.

[Dr_sax]

For me the selmer alto lig. for metal mps is the way to go. I tried a BG jazz metal with is also very good but it slips when you tune the mp. I also tried a rovner -it darkens the sound too much.
Best try is the selmer, even Dave Guardala himself seems to recomend it. It also is pretty cheap. I paid 17€ two months ago.

[Steve T Sax]

I'm using an Olegature (#305-07) and a Consoli dark. Both produce a moderately bright tone and plenty of volume on my setup.

[DJ TJ]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your helpful information.

I recently bought a Dave Guardala Studio. The ligature that comes with it does work, however, I sometimes noticed some moisture would leak under the reed, so I wasn't always getting a good seal. Perhaps with more knowledge and experience I would consistently get a good seal with the stock lig.

To experiment a little, I bought 2 ligs: a silver Selmer for metal Alto and a Rovner Eddie Daniels II for metal Tenor, thanks to this thread.

It was fairly easy to adjust the Selmer to fit the D.G. Studio. To avoid scratches to the Guardala, I stuck a piece of clear 3M shipping tape to the inside of the lig and trimmed it with a single edged razor blade. The Studio sounds great with this lig.

Yesterday, my Rovner EDII showed up. I got a good reed to mouthpeice seal on the first try, and I loved the sound. The ligature comes with nice information that explains you can get 6 different sounds with the lig. I left the lig with the factory setup for now. The EDII came with a very nice mouthpiece cover that I am happy with.

Many thanks to all of you for your tips on ligs for the Studio.