Rico Metalite on Alto

[greenhorn]

Hi Guys,

Am thinking of getting one of these. I want to use it for big band lead alto playing and jazz combo.

Opnions and set up suggestions are welcome.

[hotsax]

Yes, I used one myself for years,I still have it if you would like to buy it $15.00 with a rovner ligature....I used LaVoz mediums with it...by the way it is a M7 facing,very powerful.

[Anonymous]

Are Metalites still available? Where can you find them?

[SteveZ]

i had one for years on tenor. it was a great mouthpiece for the money. sounded like a really good berg, believe it or not.

come to think of it, i had a really wierd setup back then--rico metalite with a bari synthetic reed. All that was missing was the grafton plastic sax.

[super20dan]

i would avoid the rico metalite for lead alto work. it chokes off some of the low register and dosnt respond well unless playing loudly most of the time. the sound is very thin also . while these mpcs are great for sop and bari they dont seem to work as well on alto .

[greenhorn]

Hmm... I might still give it a try. It seems like a cheap experiment. I think these pieces go for a really decent price on ebay. I don't think they make these anymore.

Hmm... might be a collector's item in the future.

BTW are these pieces consistent? Maybe super20dan had a lemon?

Hotsax, drop me an email at bakchormee@yahoo.com

[Anonymous]

Mojo has posted that he has found the Rico Royal mpcs to be very consistent (both the Graftonites and Metalites).

[Subtone Sam]

I use one on sop.M9.Its probably the best sop. piece I´ve tried,clear,medium bright sound without any stuffiness.They work well on tenor too,mine are M9 and M11,King Curtis-type of sound.All of these are very consistent,even rails and tip.I was lucky enough to find a M11 for bari,too.I wonder why Rico discontinued making them,maybe they were too good for the cheap price?

[super20dan]

no i didnt have a lemon .these are probably the most consistant mpcs ever made. i played mine for a few years on alto until i discovered dukoffs. trust me -there are plenty of better alto mpcs of this type.but these are or at least were a bargin.

[Anonymous]

I also have M9s for soprano and tenor. I tried an M11 on tenor, but it was too open for me. These are the only high-baffle mpcs I've ever played that I enjoyed playing.

[Andrew]

They are very good mouthpieces for that cheap of a price. I loved the one I had on Bari...projected me into the atmosphere...it was so great.

[tomsch]

I use a M7 for soprano that works great! Easy to play in tune and gives ability to play against the lead trumpet in a R&B setting.

[Bloo Dog]

Why were these mouthpieces discontinued? I just bought an M-9 alto and I am impressed.

Seems that for the price it was well-suited to the student market and could have been sold on the pro market with the right approach.

Response could be a little better, tho. I wonder if that ridge on the tip could be eliminated.

[Bodhi]

In my recent search for a Metalite Bari, of which I haven't found yet. I found this evening new Metalite Alto mouthpieces in a store. If anyone is interested email me bodhi at asurfer dot com and I'll send you the phone number. Their new in the box. No I'm not associated with the store.