Help me find a metal BASS mp!

[Randall]

I want a metal bass sax mp...plastic would be ok, but what I want is something he likes of my Runyon Quantum Spoiler...something that is as narrow as possible and doesn't make you feel like you are going to dislogde your jaw everytime you put it in your mouth.
I have a Paul Coats made, Runyon Custom now (and it is a fine piece of work!), but the tonal color isn't exactly what I had in mind.

Another problem is my bass, which is a Couf Superba..the neck is several millimeters bigger in circumference than any other bass out there, so many pieces cannot be modified to fit it. The Runyon custom is thick enough that I could drill out the shank to get it to fit.

Any recommendations? Any custom mp makers out there who make bass pieces in metal?

[bruce bailey]

I know that Babbitt in Elkhart makes C soprano and F mezzo-soprano mouthpieces (they also make Link and Meyer) and maybe they can provide a source.

[Randall]

One person recommended getting mp "blanks" to have my piece made...problem is, as I mentioned, thickness of the mp "blank". If it isn't sufficiently big, then it can't be drilled out to fit my neck.
If it is too big, then I have a dill pickle in my mouth.... :roll:
Do you have any contact addy or email for Babbit?
Thanks!

[Bootman]

Got a Tuba and Bass Bone mpc? Any use? :P

[Randall]

Are you asking or suggesting, Sir Boot?! :mrgreen:

[MojoBari]

Metal RIAs are fairly large, like HR mouthpieces. A RIA bari could be reworked into a bass piece. They are discontinued, but still around. Silver plated brass or hard Aluminum.

[Randall]

Any ideas where I might find one of these beasts, Mojo?
Also if they are like a HR piece in terms of circumference, I may be no better off....thinking out loud here....
Basically the old mps are tooo tooo big for my tastes. Are these RIA metal pieces you speak of as large as the old "dill pickle" HR pieces? :?:
Thanks!

[Mike Ruhl]

Supposedly on closeout:

http://www.wwbw.com/Item/?itemno=119486

Also, have you thought about discussing this with, say, Phil Barone or Theo Wanne? One of them may take up the challenge. It would cost you, I'm sure, but it would be a unique piece. Maybe get one of them to make one from scratch, or modify and existing Link Super Tone Master.

[Mike Ruhl]

And what about that Bootman character? Rumor has it he knows a little about mouthpiece modifications and bass saxophones...

How about it, Boot? Can a clapped-out baritone Link STM be tuned for the bass sax?

[Bootman]

Randall,
Paul Coats is doing some good things with Runyon Customs for Bass. Perhaps these measure could be added to a metal Bari Link. Ed Pillinger is also worth contacting as he did a Bass mpc variation on a Bari RPC I had here. He could one of these in Bronzite too.

The Tuba mpc thing was a joke.......

[Randall]

Boot, as I mentioned, I have the Runyon Custom (ala Paul) and I thought if a Link blank were available, maybe that would work.
The problem with most bari pieces is that the shank is not thick enough to allow boring out to fit the awkward size of my bass neck.
Mike, I looked at the RIA metal...seems like it may be too thin also...without having a good look and measure I can't say. Thanks for the link to it.....
I know the size of the RPC Boot, and that size is bigger than I want...but I realize what I want may not be possible.
I asked Theo about this about 3 years ago and he said "If"...it would probably run into the 600 shekel range and, frankly, I don't have that kind of money for a horn I only get to play out on 3 or 4 times a year.
Does Phil or anyone have a slab of bronze to actually whittle a thick shank from ?

[MojoBari]

The RIA shank may not be as big as I thought. I know the ligature area is large.

I've seen one guy who plays a bari Quantum on bass. If you stripped off all the cork on your bass neck, and just wraped it with a thin layer of Teflon tape for a seal, could you get stock bari piece to work?

[Mike Ruhl]

I've seen one guy who plays a bari Quantum on bass.
That was Bootman, wasn't it? I think that's what he's playing in the picture on the home page of his website.

[MojoBari]

Actually, I was thinking of Jay Easton. But he now has a bari Jaguar listed as one of his Bass Sax pieces.

http://lachesis.caltech.edu/jayeaston/Saxophonist_resources/saxResources_equipment.html

[Bootman]

Mike,
A modified Ed Pillinger copy of an RPC. Longer Window and refaced to take Bass sax reeds. Works great. I still have it here too.

Randall,
I still have a metal Jaguar Bari mpc here that would work on a Bass too. The only dilemma is that it is a man's sizing, #14.

On the Sax Quintet recording on my site where I play the bass has a Quantum modified by JVW as the mpc on the Bass and the Bari sax. The Quantum works very nicely indeed, particularly when the window has been opened slightly, as it does on bari too. The only draw back is that more air is required to keep it really humming.

[Bar-Ron]

I want a metal bass sax mp...plastic would be ok, but what I want is something he likes of my Runyon Quantum Spoiler...something that is as narrow as possible and doesn't make you feel like you are going to dislogde your jaw everytime you put it in your mouth.
I have a Paul Coats made, Runyon Custom now (and it is a fine piece of work!), but the tonal color isn't exactly what I had in mind.

Another problem is my bass, which is a Couf Superba..the neck is several millimeters bigger in circumference than any other bass out there, so many pieces cannot be modified to fit it. The Runyon custom is thick enough that I could drill out the shank to get it to fit.

Any recommendations? Any custom mp makers out there who make bass pieces in metal?

Zinner's bought through either Hans Zinner or Benedikt Eppelsheim have enough meat to handle 20.0mm necks or larger. You may want to consider one of them. Not metal though.

[bruce bailey]

Metals come up on ebay and I think the guy selling them imports the Mason saxes. His ebay name may be Licoricestick or similar.

[Randall]

Wow..it has been a while since this thread was alive!
Thanks for the info, albeit a bit too late. I sold me bass last late last year. However....:rolleyes:

[Martinman]

GET THE BEST.....GET A MASON!!!!!:twisted:

Seriously, they do make a metal bass piece, but I don't know how good it is...Heck, I've only played a Bass once, and used a bari HR Berg.

[bruce bailey]

I would just look for a Link STM Bari since it is pretty fat inside.

[Bar-Ron]

GET THE BEST.....GET A MASON!!!!!:twisted:

Seriously, they do make a metal bass piece, but I don't know how good it is...Heck, I've only played a Bass once, and used a bari HR Berg.

I have tried a Berg 120-3 it was ferocious, but in tune! Not a pleasant tone for anything but frightening the neighbors.

Best so far is Rico PLasticover on the Zinner 54s-6.(a bit stuffy with a cane reed but with an added baffle, decent) Plasticover is so much clearer and rich in comparison. Fibracells too narrow, but would have been a nice sound I bet.
Haven't found any bari mps that play with any depth or legitimate intonation on a old Conn. They all seem to fall short of richness below D.
Vandoren's bass mp is too small a bore and gurgles at G-G#, if it worked it would be a nice tone, intonation is iffy up high.
An old Woodwind of Paris Bass mp is sweet but some what tame. Nice for quartet work.
Morgans C1, bass mp is a beautiful sound but lacks true intonation up top as its a refaced Bari mp. Also lacks dynamic flexibility and has some awkward abilities slurring over the break up or down.
I would think that a metal link, already a wind hog on bari, would be difficult to get more than one measure of play time at a time out of it on Bass.
Someday maybe a Runyon Jaguar will be in my midst to try out, but I can't imagine any Runyon having a big bottom tone. Growl maybe, but as much as I like runyons for their playability and ease of presence, I have never considered them full and rich sounding like a larger bore mps can be.