Advice : OttoLink Super Tone Master

[Shai Berkovich]

Hello To Day i recommendation About The 1 And The Best Mpc For Saxophone
Ottolink

Super tone master usa

5-8 STARS
5 Very Close
6 Med Open
7 Open
8 Hard Open

Give Open Sound in the high Number Star 6-8
The Open Mpc Give advantage in the altissimo I get to G 5

[amoram]

So what are you trying to say..?

[Dan Molloy]

He is saying that they are good and that he recomends them. I agree.:)

[SAXISMYAXE]

Yes Shai,
I Believe the LINK STMs really start to shine with the more open facings too. I prefer an 8* myself.

[Tully]

Yes Shai,
I Believe the LINK STMs really start to shine with the more open facings too. I prefer an 8* myself.

I agree--except for a couple 7*'s, I've never played a metal Link I liked with less than an 8* tip. However, I've usually tried Links at some local music stores that are very popular with the school band crowd, so I bet the kids (practically none of whom have the chops for the 8*'s) pick out all the good 6's and 7's. I've been considering getting a perfected 5* or 6 just to see what the small tip/hard reed set-up does for me, though.

[ssleb]

I use the 6*, straight from the box. Even when you have the chops for an 8 or more, using a smaller piece will give you way more control and support. Of course, when going all Ben Webster, you will find it helpful to go higher than 8 (I think I read somewhere that he used a 12!).

[baritone]

what aabout Tone Masters? my alto Tone Master is a superb piece.

[Michael Ward]

Re Ben Webster's piece.. Bob Ackerman wrote that he had seen Ben's Selmer and Link in a museum and it measured about 85 , looked " rough" and had been worked on but was a perfect fit for the reed.

[Wailin']

Question: If I want to increase my reed strength, let's say from a 2 1/2 to 3 and I currently play an Otto Link 5*, should I increase the mpc to a 6 or 7? I want to play a 3 since it gives a thicker sound but with they current mpc a 3 is hard to blow.

[Wailin']

BTW...it's a STM (super tone metal).

[SAXISMYAXE]

BTW...it's a STM (super tone metal).
STM=Super Tone MASTER, not Metal.:)

[HUTMO]

STM = Supper Time Moron!

Any other takers? :)

HUTMO

[ssleb]

STM= Sexy Tush Mama

[Wailin']

Ok...it's supertone master...now please answer the questions!

[sinkdraiN]

A 2 1/5 reed on a 5* will be very free-blowing. It sounds like you are most comfortable without any resistance in your setup. A little resistance affords you more control over your sound. A size 3 reed is not too stiff for a 5*.

Blow through the stuffyness and use a full airstream. If you used a full airstream on the 2.5 with a 5* it would probably close up or blow flat. Stick with the 5* using a 3 reed...you will get used to it.

[Wailin']

Thanks for being consientious enough to answer!

[sweetsax]

I Believe the LINK STMs really start to shine with the more open facings too. I prefer an 8* myself.
question for you guys that like the Links in these bigger tip openings - do you like tips in the .105 to .115 range on all tenor mouthpieces or is there something about the Links that makes a smaller tip size less playable to you?

I just ordered two used modern STMs from Junkdude, one is a 5* and the other 6*. I wanted the smaller tip openings because I want better pitch control. My mouthpiece history on tenor so far has been; Fred Rast 7*, Kessler 50/50 7, Ponzol M2+. All these are at least .100 tip opening, and they are plenty BIG sounding on my CJS tenor. I actually have plenty of room to back off a little, come down in tip size, work on my air stream, and maybe even increase my reed strength as I develope a better sound.

I'm hoping one of these Links will do the trick, but do you think the 5* is too closed a tip and will be extra stuffy?

[sinkdraiN]

I play an STM 8 but that opening isn't necessarily a rule I follow. I find that Morgan mouthpieces work exceptionally well in a medium tip like a 6 or 7. However, when I played on a V16 I needed to play on the .116 opening to fatten it up. That just isn't an issue with the Morgans so I'm happy with a smaller tip. Now on the STM I definately did not find the smaller tips stuffy at all. The 5* and 6* I played was just as capable as my 8 tone-wise. I like the 8 STM better because the tip affords me extra control when playing loudly. I can play just as loud on the 5* only I lose some flexibilty...only at full volume, mind you.

[rleitch]

This is such a tough-but-interesting question.

I had some work done on my STM, which included opening the tip from 6* to @7-7* (I'm not sure what the exact tip opening is now, but I can definately feel the difference). I actually liked the feel of the 6*, but my thinking was that as I got more used to the piece I would want the flexibility of a more open tip--as Sinkdrain says--and, since I'm usually playing with LOUD bands, I was worried that with the 6* I might tend to close the tip shut while playing. (BTW, I switched from a 6* to an 8* HR Link on my Alto for pretty much the same reasons).

Anyway, I really like the corrected mouthpiece, but the jury's still out on whether I should have opened the tip or not. I'm on that infamously long Link learning curve, but I am finding that I'm having to work a little harder than I want to to hold my embouchure at times. Also--and again I stress so farI've been noticing, with the bigger tip opening, that I occasionally lose it at the end of longer phrases, especially if I'm in the bottom register: it's like I run out of airstream when I'm not expecting to. Lastly, it seems to take a little longer to break in reeds now. Such things are, I guess, part and parcel of the extra work involved in going to a bigger tip opening on any piece, but I think that the difference might be more noticible on an STM, just because it's a bit more demanding of a mouthpiece anyway? My Lakey, by comparison, has a bigger tip opening but its super easy to blow (and sounds like crap :) )

Rory

[Tully]

As I said in my post toward the beginning of this thread, I wonder if I have simply never played a good small-tip Link. My Sugal and Lamberson, .105" and .110" respectively, are the two most comfortable mouthpieces for me. However, I've just purchased a Link STM that I'm going to have refaced to 5* or 6 to see what that sort of tip opening, coupled with a hard reed, does for my sound. Obviously, there's nothing inherently wrong with smaller tip openings, so I'm going to see if I just can't play them well or if I've never tried a good small one.

[sweetsax]

However, when I played on a V16 I needed to play on the .116 opening to fatten it up.....I wonder if this is because the V16 has a longer facing curve? The only V16 I ever tried was used and it had too big a tip opening so I couldn't play it very well. I thought about ordering a handfull from WWBW so I could try a range of sizes and facings, but I've been hoping to find something I like for less money than a brand new V16 (hence the used Links from junkdude).


I am finding that I'm having to work a little harder than I want to to hold my embouchure at times. Also--and again I stress so farI've been noticing, with the bigger tip opening, that I occasionally lose it at the end of longer phrases, especially if I'm in the bottom register: it's like I run out of airstream when I'm not expecting to……This has been my experience too, but even more than that I'm hoping that a smaller tip opening will be easier to play at quiet volumes. It seems like the more open mouthpieces take more air to keep the reed moving so you can get it to respond to pitch changes. But I want to work on my air stream more with sound in mind, not struggling to move the reed. It's not that I have a difficult time playing bigger tip openings, but I feel like I'm loosing a whole spectrum of dynamic range and sub-tone. It's like with bigger tip openings, there is a minimum volume you have to play at just to keep the reed going. Maybe a smaller tip would give me the resistance I need to hold my emboucure better when playing phrases using a sub-tone approach.