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Alto mouthpiece blindfold poll

5K views 39 replies 22 participants last post by  jolind 
#1 ·
Hello fellow Sotw members,

here's an alto blindfold poll for you (and for me). I did two short sound clips with two different alto mouthpieces.
Both pieces were played with a red rico 3 reed, a standard two screw ligature and both on my conn 6m alto.
Please tell me if you hear any differences and what mouthpiece you like better and for what reason you do so.

alto mouthpiece 1

alto mouthpiece 2

I will wait for a couple of posts from you here before I resolve the puzzle.
Thank you very much for participating!
Jo
 
#3 ·
I like #1. It was more lively without being 'edgy'. It sounded to me like it fit with the music you were playing better than the second one which seemed to have a darker and deader sound; too much 'roundness' for my liking. If you were to play 'Take Five' on the first one I think you could emulate Desmond pretty well. As I say, a good mouthpiece is good for any style, and if you used the second one I believe it would restrict your freedom of expression.
 
#7 ·
Just to completely ruin this for you, I thought #2 barely edged out #1 as well. If one clearly *feels* better to play, I'd just go with that one.
 
#12 ·
Here are the facts about the pieces compared in this thread:

Mpc 1 is a Meyer New York limited edition 6m from the late 90s. It's been my main piece for the last 15 years. Today these go between 300 and 500 € or $.

Mpc 2 is a Yamaha 4c that I did some work on to get something similar to my main piece. Costs: Around 15 to 20 bucks and some hours of work.
 
#13 ·
I'm not sure but I think mpc 2 still has some potential and maybe I can give it a bit more sparkle by working on it. I agree with some of you that it doesn't sound as lively as mpc 1. I'll see and let you know how it works if you're interested.
 
#14 ·
Hello Sotw, this is what happened today:

Still surprised by the fact that a simple yamaha 4c can get that close to my best alto Meyer, I did some research on the web to find some used 4c mouthpieces. I checked some websites and by chance I found a shop with a 5c for sale in new condition, just a few towns from my place. I grabbed my horn and took the car to get there immediately. When I tested the 5c it was just a standard yamaha stock piece, not better than any other I've played, but I felt its potential. I bought it quite cheap as it was a sellout piece, took it home and immediately started working on it. I basically did the same what I did with my 4c and now it's a really nice player. I'm not sure if it's really better than my Meyer yet but it feels and sounds great and it projects as well. Of course I will take it to the next gig and do the reality on stage test with it, but I'm quite thrilled about it at the moment. What do you think?

alto piece 3
 
#15 ·
Altos can sound piercing, but you have a smooth, warm sound. Maybe it affirms the effect of good baffle, chamber, or facing work on tone. I doubt that just anyone can make a basic Yamaha 5C sound like a high end Meyer, but apparently you can. Nicely done!

I'll be sending my 5C tenor to you shortly. . . . . (=
 
#16 ·
Thanks. Of course sound always depends on numerous factors like the player, the horn, the reeds and so on. My horn is quite dark sounding and I guess I naturally blow on the darker side on every other horn as well. I'll have to give that piece to some colleagues of mine and see what they think and how it sounds when they are playing it. I've not checked it on other horns, I just have my Conn 6m and the 5c fits it nicely now.
Concerning the tenor pieces I'm not sure if the 5Cs on tenor have some potential, I've never played one. It would depend on the specific tenor as well and I think even more than on alto.
 
#19 ·
Today I modified the Yamaha 6c I got and the result is quite nice again! At the moment I like it better than my Mexer NY. I'll do the stage test on a gig next weekend and see how it delivers, but I'm quite sure that it will deliver very well. So at the end it's not Meyer, Link, Dukoff or Yamaha - at the end it's just physics.
Recording to come when I find the time. Keep swinging!
 
#24 ·
I'm so happy to have found my new main piece on alto! Just did the on-stage-test with my modified 6c and it's killer. Way better to control than my Meyer, the right amount of resitance and it can get loud and focused when I need it. Still rich sound and complex at the same time. Well, it took me some time and some ruined (cheap) mouthpieces to get to that point, but eventually it feels good to play on something that you have made for yourself. I'm quite sure I would have never been able to explain to a mouthpiece maker or another refacer what I was looking for, so it probably was the only way to get it.
Keep swingin' fellows!
Jo
 
#27 ·
The facing on all Yamaha pieces I've owned has been quite accurate so far, so I just did some very tiny adjustments on the rails to make it really sing. I guess the most important thing was a slight enlargement of the square chamber and thinning the rails inside which gave it some more complexity soundwise. Both the 5c and the 6c have a concave type of baffle which produces a dark sound for me. It was okay with the 5c but with the 6c it was a bit to much for my taste - sounded a bit stuffy, for the gap between reed and baffle is bigger at the tip, so I added a small rollover baffle and now it's fine. Works great with my Conn 6m at least, not sure if it works as good with other type of horns. And it can get loud with that baffle without to much effort on stage, I like that.
 
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