As I posted in another thread, I completed a rebuild of a nice York C-Melody. When play testing it, I was getting an odd 'flutter' on the low D (D1). I thought I had a leak somewhere but couldn't find one at al. Thinking it might be related to a regulation issue (G# perhaps) I ran through all those adjustments as well. Couldn't find a problem.
As I had been testing with a Lakey Alto mouthpiece, on a whim, I pulled out the old Conn Eagle mouthpiece and put on the only reed I had hand at the time; a 2.5 Vandoren ZZ Tenor.
The issue immediately went away and the horn came alive.
I've never seen an issue like this caused by a MP / Reed but it sure seems to have been.
It seems to have been an odd harmonic with that reed / mp / horn combination.
Anyone else run into such a thing before?
(I added a pic of the completed horn on my other post)
No, but do check, if your horn has a side low Eb, that it doesn't open under the pressure (as in it might be closed when you check it with a leak light and might open slightly when playing).
This is the reason why some technicians block it with cork or reverse the spring. In case that is the culprit do make the spring action stronger. I am of the opinion that all parts on a saxophone should be operational, no matter whether you use them or not.
It's common to have some gurgle/ motorboating on low notes, if the mouthpiece - chamber doesn't match with the horn. My new tenor gurgled on d and lower until I realized that I had to sand down the cork a bit and push the mpc more on the neck. Perhaps you should try a real c-melody- mouthpiece?
People using Tenor MPC or some other mpc is where things get dicey. C-Mel Mouthpieces are out there....pricey and cheap, but a new modern mpc will please your ears
Common issue regarding the mouthpiece. If the gurggle is only on the low D, it may be the low C pad (on the bow) is set too low and impacting the D. It will cause D to not be loud or open enough. Try removing the felt on the C pad cup and see if it helps. If so, cut the felt shorter. A good starting point is to match the levers where the Eb and C rollers are of an equal level.
All great information! I did play it with the original Conn Eagle C-Mel mouthpiece and the issue went away. It sounds great with that MP, but the MP tastes bad (even after cleaning / de-oxidizing - sulfer leaching from HR).
Funny the mention about the side low Eb; I was just thinking about that this morning recalling how a lot of folks cork that shut. I'd rather go the stronger spring route if needed although I'll most likely never use that key.
Since I've never really experimented a lot with mouthpiece combinations I'm learning a lot!
I used to have this issue in my Conn C melody when using tenor mouthpieces.
Throwing a cork in side the bell solved it.
Not very night tech, but a cheap and easy fix.
A stronger spring on the rear Eb will not help as it is sprung open. Some horns are just hard to get that bugger adjusted so I reverse spring it to stay closed, looks better than a cork.
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