B & S Mouthpiece

[Nolzman]

My 15 year old son has been playing Alto Sax about 4 years. Last year I bought a B & S Chicago Jazz Series for his serious playing and he also has a lesser sax for Marching Band. He currently only has the mouthpiece that came with the B & S. I am looking to get another all around mouthpiece.

In another thread I've asked what would be a good/reasonable "Step Up" mouthpiece. I currently looking at the Vandoren Optimum AL4, the Selmer Paris S80 C*, and the Meyer 5.

This got me thinking. How "good" is the mouthpiece that came with the B&S. Where would it rate and compare with these others? Would you consider it a Jazz mouthpiece, or a all-around or Classical? Just curious.

[milandro]

Are you talking about metal or HR mouthpieces? I know the metal ones, stainless steel in fact . They are pretty similar to the Amati Classic (which were not at all classical music mouthpieces !) which are somewhere inspired by metal Berg Larsen mouthpieces. I've seen loads of them sold very cheap..... all with some fault or other. When they were good though, they were good, but they were definitely screamers.

[Canadiain]

The black plastic ones that come with the recent horns are OK, but there are better ones to be had. I found it to be pretty loud and bright, but the tone wasnt all that involving. More Jazz than Classical for sure, but more marching band than anything else.

I think they are plastic, not hard rubber, seem to be pretty well made, but you will probably find that a Meyer or Selmer or Vandoren will allow a bit more room for expression.

Its not a door wedge in disguise, but its probably not the last mouthpiece you will ever end up with either.

Dont discount the Vandoren V16 HR from your mouthpiece list by the way, the bit of brightness it brings helps to counter the mostly dark way the B&S altos play. I experimented with one for a while, but ultimately have drifted back to the metal pieces that I feel more comfortable with.

[Nolzman]

The black plastic ones that come with the recent horns are OK, but there are better ones to be had. I found it to be pretty loud and bright, but the tone wasnt all that involving. More Jazz than Classical for sure, but more marching band than anything else.

I think they are plastic, not hard rubber, seem to be pretty well made, but you will probably find that a Meyer or Selmer or Vandoren will allow a bit more room for expression.

Its not a door wedge in disguise, but its probably not the last mouthpiece you will ever end up with either.

Dont discount the Vandoren V16 HR from your mouthpiece list by the way, the bit of brightness it brings helps to counter the mostly dark way the B&S altos play. I experimented with one for a while, but ultimately have drifted back to the metal pieces that I feel more comfortable with.

So what I am hear is that the one that came with the B&S (Plastic, I think), should be his daily, school, marching mouthpiece, and I should consider a Step Up one to be used on his B&S only.

If so, do you have a recommendation? I still would want it to be somewhat all around, but maybe more on the Jazzy side.

[Canadiain]

So what I am hear is that the one that came with the B&S (Plastic, I think), should be his daily, school, marching mouthpiece, and I should consider a Step Up one to be used on his B&S only.

If so, do you have a recommendation? I still would want it to be somewhat all around, but maybe more on the Jazzy side.

Well, I think he should use the same piece at home and at school...its not a lot to carry back and forth, and chopping and changing all the time will impede his progress. Probably a good idea to change to the B&S on the marching field though, just like horns, bad things can happen to mouthpieces in that environment, and its not like anyone cares what it sounds like as long as its LOUD out there;)

There are all sorts of suggestions for step up pieces, but its an individual preference thing, so he needs to try some and see what he (and preferably his teacher) thinks of them.

The usual commonly found suspects would be

Meyer 5 or 6
Selmer SA80 C*
Link Tone Edge 5 or 6
Numerous Vandorens (Java, Optimum, V16, A35)

Those are all the standard rubber pieces, then there are things like Jody Jazz and Morgan pieces that might be harder to find locally

My personal experience was that the Selmer was a bit too classical for my taste. I first started on a Vandoren A35, which was a good piece, and haven't played a Meyer or Rubber Link for long enough to form an opinion.

I learned on a Selmer metal classic that was given to me as a gift. Metal for alto is probably not normal, but it was "cool", and I guess I have adapted to the more compact size of metal pieces as thats my preference now. I currently play on a Beechler Bellite, although I have a Jody Jazz ESP that I got as a trade that could take over from it.

Perhaps a Jody Jazz HR piece would be worth checking out, they are relatively inexpensive and hand finished to a good standard. There is no right or wrong answer here I guess, just what does and doesn't work for a particular person.

[tigerhobs]

My recent experience with recent jjBabbitt manufactured meyer and otto link mouthpieces has been relatively poor (2/4 that played well), so I recommend trying something else first. I like the sound I get with a selmer series II (another relatively "dark" horn) and a Jody Jazz HR*.

If you don't want to spend as much, the Hite mouthpieces have a good reputation on these forums, although I don't have any personal experience with them (search function). They are, however, inexpensive and reportedly consistently good players as compared to the other Babbitt manufactured pieces that can be hit or miss http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=100028

You will also hear that phrasing is more important to the jazz sound than the setup, and learning this prhasing requires a lot of listening. It might be wise to invest in an E-music or other music service subscription (or get it some other way, but I didn't tell you that). Actually, Emusic has a "free 50 song" offer, so you can get Saxophone Colossus, Tenor Madness, Sonny Rollins Plus 4, Way Out West, Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Freedom Suite, and some other stuff... but especially Plus 4 (Clifford Brown for the win). There are other excellent saxophonists well represented there (for alto, Lee Konitz and Sonny Sitt are there)... but I just like the Sonny Rollins sound XD

[Alun Bliss]

I came across this thread whilst researching my B&S (metal) mpc. I love it when I get it vaguely under control - but the squeaks are driving me mad - and it has to go. Good to hear that I am not alone in finding the mpc difficult to control.

Favourite "next step" mpc at the moment are Yanagisawa or Otto Link New York. I have played the Yanagisawa and find it free blowing and comfortable. The Link was a little less "free" but much closer to the tone/character that I like for tenor - a little darker and fuller....