the best mouthpiece in the world

[alljoe]

i want to establish a top ten criteria. in particular what are your top 10. rank them from 1-10 with 1 being the most important characteristic and 10 being the least important characteristic.

i'm collecting them up just now. im not specifying the usage of this information because someone will obviously tell me you cant do it that way.

just looking for a poll

[milandro]

you can’t do it that way! you have to reveal why before you ask............and then being told that you can’t do it that way anyway

[10mfan]

1. Sound
2. Sound
3. Sound
4. Sound
5. Sound
6. Sound
7. Sound
8. Sound
9. Sound
10. Looks

[Leon]

Sound is primary, yes, agreed, but response is important too. After some 30 years, and still experimenting, I have about concluded that the best piece is the one you have been playing the longest - the one that is like an extention of yourself, and the horn. Not to say I'm done experimenting.

[milandro]

so the best piece is the one you are using, when you are using it, until you use another one?

[10mfan]

Leon---i was just having a little fun.
With all the mpcs i sell here, so many are concerned with cosmetics and ask nothing about the sound...so i posted my top 10 list, tongue in cheek.

[bkobog]

right on +1

[Joe Giardullo]

I'm a believer that the mouthpiece's primary function is the transition of air from player to horn.
The variables involved with that ( tip opening, baffle design, chamber design, rails, etc) should conspire to produce the optimum sound and efficient response to allow the player to achieve the desired results.

Those variables don't really "stand alone" in a great piece, and one person's "great piece" is another person's "ok" piece.

How many times have we each played a piece and been knocked out by the sound, only to decide, some short time later, that the piece, while "sounding" great, is a problem for us in some other way ( too much effort for us to play well, usually).

There are those who would say "man up and practice more", but this isn't the Olympics. It's about art and technique, and comfort, while maybe not the most important aspect, is nevertheless important.

Just my take on it.

[playatsax]

I think Joe is right. Most of us have a drawer full of pieces because our tonal concept changed, our physical abilities changed, our instrument changed, our we just wanted something new and shiney. If not, we'd all have only one mouthpiece. That said, the criteria combinations are as varied as three times the number of people looking for a mouthpiece. One criteria that is usually discussed and not yet mentioned---who played it.

[RandyJ]

The best mouthpiece in the world is the one you like the best because it give you the sound concept you prefer. Or the one you find that you control into that sound concept.

Of course mouthpiece manufactures continually come out with new "versions" of basic mouthpieces hoping to lure the player that really does not know what he wants or is looking for into purchasing another "next best thing to come out on the market".

[FredCDobbs]

There's also the issue of context. For example, I play a different mp in my rock band (JJDV) from the one I play in my jazz trio (Vandoren V16 HR), because it's easier to get the kind of sound I want in each context with the different pieces. Wouldn't this add permutations to the criteria?

[Enviroguy]

10. Must be old. (To get proper street credit and respect, all of a player's gear must look like it was purchased in the 1960's and before. Otherwise the player looks like a newby)
9. Must be highly valued by collectors. (Only mouthpices worthy of being hung on museum walls are worthy to be played)
8. Must have the original box. (Unless a mouthpiece includes its original box, it's pretty well no good.)
7. Must have a really cool ligature. (A great mouthpiece must have an equally great and rare ligature worth just as much money)
6. Must have a giant tip. (REAL saxophone players all use big tips and preferably very hard reeds.)
5. Must be listed and shown specifically on a website dedicated to great vintage mouthpieces. (If the mouthpiece model is not exactly shaped, finished and/or marked exactly like the one in the photos on one of these website, it's pretty well trash or it must be a fake. Even though vintage mouthpiece makers worked mostly by hand, everyone of their mouthpiece are exactly identical and play exactly the same.)
4. Must be 100% original. (No one alive today is capable of recreating the facing of a truly great mouthpiece. Once touched by a refacer, said great mouthpiece become utterly worthless and ruined.)
3. Must have been used by a famous player. (The actual mouthpieces used by a famous players have been scientifically proven to play at least twice as well as any mouthpiece that was not.)
2. Must be made of some mythical or fairly toxic material not available today like high-lead bronze or high-sulfer rubber.
1. Must look cool. (It has to look like a mouthpiece only a seasoned professional would play)

[10mfan]

10. Must be old. (to get proper street credit and respect, all of a player's gear must look like it was purchased in the 1960's and before. Otherwise the player looks like a newby)
9. Must be highly valued by collectors. (only mouthpices worthy of being hung on museum walls are worthy to be played)
8. Must have the original box. (unless a mouthpiece includes its original box, it's pretty well no good.)
7. Must have a really cool ligature. (a great mouthpiece must have an equally great and rare ligature worth just as much money)
6. Must have a giant tip. (real saxophone players all use big tips and preferably very hard reeds.)
5. Must be listed and shown specifically on a website dedicated to great vintage mouthpieces. (if the mouthpiece model is not exactly shaped, finished and/or marked exactly like the one in the photos on one of these website, it's pretty well trash or it must be a fake. Even though vintage mouthpiece makers worked mostly by hand, everyone of their mouthpiece are exactly identical and play exactly the same.)
4. Must be 100% original. (no one alive today is capable of recreating the facing of a truly great mouthpiece. Once touched by a refacer, said great mouthpiece become utterly worthless and ruined.)
3. Must have been used by a famous player. (the actual mouthpieces used by a famous players have been scientifically proven to play at least twice as well as any mouthpiece that was not.)
2. Must be made of some mythical or fairly toxic material not available today like high-lead bronze or high-sulfer rubber.
1. Must look cool. (it has to look like a mouthpiece only a seasoned professional would play)

lol!!!!!

[alljoe]

ok, so from what i see so far:

everyone is concerned about tone - this is obviously rlelvant and you may have different pieces for diferent venues but it is still tone..
i would have added price probably not at the most important spot but maybe for some.
some might be concerned about size/diameter - metal not metal
maybe consistency or manufacturing quality if new and they vary a lot
some maybe about vibration transmission or feel in their mouth
maybe the customer service of the company they are buying it from.
durability baybe? life expectation?

then, ill have a list of whats important to people. i expect ill post the ten best and then based on that ask peole them to rank 1-10 then ill get an average importance.

the list then could be used as things to think about whats most important to you when you buy your next mouthpiece.

if that doesnt work,

[alljoe]

10. Must be old. (To get proper street credit and respect, all of a player's gear must look like it was purchased in the 1960's and before. Otherwise the player looks like a newby)
9. Must be highly valued by collectors. (Only mouthpices worthy of being hung on museum walls are worthy to be played)
8. Must have the original box. (Unless a mouthpiece includes its original box, it's pretty well no good.)
7. Must have a really cool ligature. (A great mouthpiece must have an equally great and rare ligature worth just as much money)
6. Must have a giant tip. (REAL saxophone players all use big tips and preferably very hard reeds.)
5. Must be listed and shown specifically on a website dedicated to great vintage mouthpieces. (If the mouthpiece model is not exactly shaped, finished and/or marked exactly like the one in the photos on one of these website, it's pretty well trash or it must be a fake. Even though vintage mouthpiece makers worked mostly by hand, everyone of their mouthpiece are exactly identical and play exactly the same.)
4. Must be 100% original. (No one alive today is capable of recreating the facing of a truly great mouthpiece. Once touched by a refacer, said great mouthpiece become utterly worthless and ruined.)
3. Must have been used by a famous player. (The actual mouthpieces used by a famous players have been scientifically proven to play at least twice as well as any mouthpiece that was not.)
2. Must be made of some mythical or fairly toxic material not available today like high-lead bronze or high-sulfer rubber.
1. Must look cool. (It has to look like a mouthpiece only a seasoned professional would play)

thanks enviro. that is what i wanted. i realize there is some humor here but its suprising how some people decide

[mrpeebee]

01. How does it sound?
02. How does it play (volume, projection)?
06. How does it respond/articulate?
03. How does it act when pushed to the limit?
04. Can it take all the air I can give?
05. How easy is altissimo?
07. How is the resistance?
08. What does it cost?
09. What material is it made of?
10. How does it look?

[alljoe]

you can’t do it that way! you have to reveal why before you ask............and then being told that you can’t do it that way anyway

all will be revealed in time - then you can assasinate me.

[Nobby Keys]

I'm usually pretty focused on how my mpc is performing when on a gig, however, at the last gig it wasn't until the evening was over I realised that I had not paid any attention to it. So for me a mpc must facilitate what I want to do/play/sound but must not take my focus away from playing. Not sure I expressed that very well.

Anyway, the best mpc is always the next one!

[Swaman]

I think I had the best mouthpiece for myself, an old HR Berg Larsen 105/0 which I played for 30 years. I retired & stopped playing for 5 years. I got the bug and started again about a year ago, but decided to use my old Link STM no USA for a different sound and spent $400.00 for 2 refacings by well known refacers. They did a good job, but it seeems even though the sound is closer to what I want, the transition from high baffle to huge chambered low baffle mouthpiece is too difficult to play comfortably except with very soft reeds which don't give me the sound I want. When I play both mouthpieces on a gig, no one can say they hear a difference except for volume. I think I'll take the easy way out and go back to the Berg and not worry about the difference in sound that no one hears. So I would say comfort is most important with sound less important as long as it's reasonable. The Berg gave me everything I wanted and it was a mistake to get into the hunt for absolute perfection, which I didn't find anyway.

[Swaman]

+1, Leon