Besides being an intermediate level tenor player I like to collect Vintage Otto Link mouthpieces. Currently I have one or more examples of all the (metal) types produced by Otto Link between 1930 and now.
I recently recorded a simple blues tune (Honky Tonk) with most of my mouthpieces. Out of the different takes I copied some parts of my solo's and compiled one long track of almost 20 minutes out of that (good way to learn Audacity!). This compilation track contains 44 chorusses played with 12 (!) different mouthpieces. Most MPC's are Vintage metal Otto Links, except one, which is a cheap Chinese metal MPC (sounding well and costing about 10% of a Vintage Link!). Almost all takes are recorded with a Selmer SBA tenor of 1952 and La Voz medium reeds. For some tracks I used plastic Fibracell 3 or 3,5.
My main reason for recording was to sort out the differences in sound and to help me to choose my main mouthpiece(s). Recording and listening back helps, because you hear then different things then during playing.
Below you find two tables with information of the "Vintage Otto Link Mouthpiece Comparison Blues" recording:
- Table 1: Track, time-range, number of solo chorusses per MPC and MPC indication ID's (B to N).
- Table 2: List of used MPC's with an identification number in front (1 to 12), sorted by age.
Couldn't post the complete MP3 track in one file on SoundClick (too big!), had to split it into two parts.
See below links to my "Vintage Otto Link Comparison Blues" part 1 and part 2:
- Part 1: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10259932
- Part 2: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10259916
I would appreciate if some of you could find the time (and patience!) to listen to these long MPC compilation tracks!
Questions:
1. Can you identify the correct recording sequence of the 12 mouthpieces and connect the MPC ID's to numbers (f.i. MPC X=6, Y=11, etc...)?
2. What is your top 3 of these mouthpieces (and why)?
3. Who can identify the Chinese MPC? (EDIT: Q3 added after suggestion of zorrosg)
Let's see who gets the highest score out of it!
After a week or so I will publish the correct sequence of the used mouthpieces.
Have fun (I had it during recording and compilation)!
Peter.
PS: Please remember that I'm not a skilled player. So it's not about the quality of the improvisation, but about the sound differences.
*** Table 1: Recording-times and mouthpiece ID's
Track Time-range Cho Mouthpiece ID
------------------------------------------------------------
Part 1 00:00-00:28 1 - (intro, no sax)
Part 1 00:28-00:54 1 Mouthpiece B (head, mix 2x)
Part 1 00:54-02:42 4 Mouthpiece C
Part 1 02:42-04:30 4 Mouthpiece D (from 2 takes)
Part 1 04:30-05:51 3 Mouthpiece E
Part 1 05:51-07:39 4 Mouthpiece F
Part 1 07:39-09:00 3 Mouthpiece G
Part 1 09:00-10:21 3 Mouthpiece H (fade-out into MPC I)
Part 2 00:05-01:26 3 Mouthpiece I (fade-in from MPC H)
Part 2 01:26-03:14 4 Mouthpiece J
Part 2 03:14-04:35 3 Mouthpiece K
Part 2 04:35-05:55 3 Mouthpiece L
Part 2 05:55-07:43 4 Mouthpiece M
Part 2 07:43-09:31 4 Mouthpiece N
(The MPC used in the head (B) is also used in one of the solo's)
*** Table 2: List of used mouthpieces (12, sorted by age):
# Age Mouthpiece (all metal Otto Links, except 12)
------------------------------------------------------------
1 1930-1935 Master Link 4->6 (refaced)
2 1935-1940 Four 4*->8* (refaced Mojo)
3 1935-1940 Four 8*->10 (refaced Jon van Wie)
4 1940-1950 Tone Master 5->8 (refaced Erik Greiffenhagen)
5 1950-1960 Florida no USA 9
6 1950-1960 Florida no USA 10*
7 1960-1974 Florida USA 11*
8 1974 Early Babbitt 8* (small bore)
9 1974 Early Babbitt 10* (small bore)
10 1975-1980 Early Babbitt 10 (wide bore)
11 1980-now STM NY 7->9* (refaced Mojo)
12 2010 China Metal Gold Plated 10 (cheap 40 USD MPC)
I recently recorded a simple blues tune (Honky Tonk) with most of my mouthpieces. Out of the different takes I copied some parts of my solo's and compiled one long track of almost 20 minutes out of that (good way to learn Audacity!). This compilation track contains 44 chorusses played with 12 (!) different mouthpieces. Most MPC's are Vintage metal Otto Links, except one, which is a cheap Chinese metal MPC (sounding well and costing about 10% of a Vintage Link!). Almost all takes are recorded with a Selmer SBA tenor of 1952 and La Voz medium reeds. For some tracks I used plastic Fibracell 3 or 3,5.
My main reason for recording was to sort out the differences in sound and to help me to choose my main mouthpiece(s). Recording and listening back helps, because you hear then different things then during playing.
Below you find two tables with information of the "Vintage Otto Link Mouthpiece Comparison Blues" recording:
- Table 1: Track, time-range, number of solo chorusses per MPC and MPC indication ID's (B to N).
- Table 2: List of used MPC's with an identification number in front (1 to 12), sorted by age.
Couldn't post the complete MP3 track in one file on SoundClick (too big!), had to split it into two parts.
See below links to my "Vintage Otto Link Comparison Blues" part 1 and part 2:
- Part 1: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10259932
- Part 2: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10259916
I would appreciate if some of you could find the time (and patience!) to listen to these long MPC compilation tracks!
Questions:
1. Can you identify the correct recording sequence of the 12 mouthpieces and connect the MPC ID's to numbers (f.i. MPC X=6, Y=11, etc...)?
2. What is your top 3 of these mouthpieces (and why)?
3. Who can identify the Chinese MPC? (EDIT: Q3 added after suggestion of zorrosg)
Let's see who gets the highest score out of it!
After a week or so I will publish the correct sequence of the used mouthpieces.
Have fun (I had it during recording and compilation)!
Peter.
PS: Please remember that I'm not a skilled player. So it's not about the quality of the improvisation, but about the sound differences.
*** Table 1: Recording-times and mouthpiece ID's
Track Time-range Cho Mouthpiece ID
------------------------------------------------------------
Part 1 00:00-00:28 1 - (intro, no sax)
Part 1 00:28-00:54 1 Mouthpiece B (head, mix 2x)
Part 1 00:54-02:42 4 Mouthpiece C
Part 1 02:42-04:30 4 Mouthpiece D (from 2 takes)
Part 1 04:30-05:51 3 Mouthpiece E
Part 1 05:51-07:39 4 Mouthpiece F
Part 1 07:39-09:00 3 Mouthpiece G
Part 1 09:00-10:21 3 Mouthpiece H (fade-out into MPC I)
Part 2 00:05-01:26 3 Mouthpiece I (fade-in from MPC H)
Part 2 01:26-03:14 4 Mouthpiece J
Part 2 03:14-04:35 3 Mouthpiece K
Part 2 04:35-05:55 3 Mouthpiece L
Part 2 05:55-07:43 4 Mouthpiece M
Part 2 07:43-09:31 4 Mouthpiece N
(The MPC used in the head (B) is also used in one of the solo's)
*** Table 2: List of used mouthpieces (12, sorted by age):
# Age Mouthpiece (all metal Otto Links, except 12)
------------------------------------------------------------
1 1930-1935 Master Link 4->6 (refaced)
2 1935-1940 Four 4*->8* (refaced Mojo)
3 1935-1940 Four 8*->10 (refaced Jon van Wie)
4 1940-1950 Tone Master 5->8 (refaced Erik Greiffenhagen)
5 1950-1960 Florida no USA 9
6 1950-1960 Florida no USA 10*
7 1960-1974 Florida USA 11*
8 1974 Early Babbitt 8* (small bore)
9 1974 Early Babbitt 10* (small bore)
10 1975-1980 Early Babbitt 10 (wide bore)
11 1980-now STM NY 7->9* (refaced Mojo)
12 2010 China Metal Gold Plated 10 (cheap 40 USD MPC)