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GAS attack is over...

6K views 41 replies 18 participants last post by  CashSax 
#1 ·
Several months ago while having my VI Tenor overhauled I decided to try a darker and mellower sound for the small-venue gigs I was playing.

I had been on a Guardala and a Lakey for many years..Both very good mpcs..I bought a couple of good links but I did not feel at home and I found the sound really wasn't what I was after.

Now I don't usually go for all the hype, and after 15 yrs on the forum I've seen many fads come and go. But after reading a lot of reviews and hearing actual players (Euge for one) I ordered a 10mfan "Black widow".

..Well it took a few weeks to get my BW order filled and while I was waiting saw a "Boss" metal on ebay at 1/2 price. long story short I now have both and man they are something else..in fact better than I imagined.

The tenor tank is empty, I'm out of GAS :mrgreen:
 
#28 ·
Here's a little update: Last night I played a great country jam in Vegas, full stage hard blowing..they told me the sound was good out front, but I had no Sax in the moniters worth a crap onstage. I was on my 400 Tenor.

The metal Boss 9 tenor mpc w/#2 Legere Signature was my weapon of choice, it delivered big league..if you guys need a mpc that will actually let you hear yourself through a swirling din of Pedal steels, Guitars, keys, loud drums and screaming crooners, get a Boss. Felt really nice. I blasted one short solo sans moniter that really soared and proved the Boss's mettle in the midst of the potent mix. Well I knew it felt good, but I still had no idea how it was reaching the crowd, the applause told me it did.

My new hard rubber Black Widow 8* honestly I can't really tell yet how good it will be, I'm still waiting for an exchange Legere 2.25 Signature to perfectly dial it in..Previously I had swapped the 2.5 Sig (too hard) for a 2.0 Sig (too soft)..the Legere exchange program is great, but it does take time..

The only prob now is I got a bunch of other perfectly adequate tenor mpcs gathering dust..!
 
#30 ·
How about an update..GAS ATTACK under control (for a moment):mrgreen:

On tenor my 8* HR Black Widow is still going strong, the metal Boss 9 went down the road, replaced by a fantastic Jen Price Vigilante NYSV. I realize 2 great tenor mpcs are plenty for me, although I do keep a couple good Lakeys and a fresh LT super king just in case.

As you folks know changing our mpcs for real is not always easy.

My set-up choices on tenor for the last almost 20 yrs was limited to a metal DG super king or a Lakey Rubber. I always liked to have the metal or rubber option. So the 'widow and vigilante are doing a great job replacing my previous 'pieces.

My alto mpcs are dialed,I have a gold Sakshama custom G metal, I played it for a year now, fantastic sound and response. I also play a Lakey rubber 8*3, once again those 2 mpcs give me the best of both worlds.

Also, I'm playing and concentrating on my lovely VI tenor and VII alto again now that they're fresh overhauled. They need to be played. (my tech reminded me)

Hey here's one good side effect of GAS..I recently sold off all the extra gear including a couple of my now mostly unused backup horns and raised just enough bread to score a beautiful used series II soprano. I got 2 good mpcs already, a great old BARI 74 rubber and a metal Hawk II #8...

OK I'll admit I'm trying very hard not to dream of perhaps trying a Soprano Planet in the future...GAS never sleeps , does it..??..:whistle:
 

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#31 ·
Found an answer to GAS... for the last 3 years, I've limited my mpc collection to only 10MFan pieces - an HR Merlot, a Metal Merlot & a Metal Robusto.

Like many of us, over the previous 20+ years I've fallen in and out of love with bunches including Ponzols, Morgans, Barone, Otto links, Sakshama, .... but my current collection of 10MFan pieces absolutely has covered the waterfront of all my needs. I mainly sold my old ones to get my current collection.

To tell the truth, I don't even window shop other ones anymore and am able now to focus on my practicing!! Thank you again Mark....
 
#32 ·
Found an answer to GAS... for the last 3 years, I've limited my mpc collection to only 10MFan pieces - an HR Merlot, a Metal Merlot & a Metal Robusto.

Like many of us, over the previous 20+ years I've fallen in and out of love with bunches including Ponzols, Morgans, Barone, Otto links, Sakshama, .... but my current collection of 10MFan pieces absolutely has covered the waterfront of all my needs. I mainly sold my old ones to get my current collection.

To tell the truth, I don't even window shop other ones anymore and am able now to focus on my practicing!! Thank you again Mark....
I'm with you. Tenor wise I haven't played anything but 10mfan pieces for the past 5 years. I love all the pieces, but my go-to has always been by Robusto. I will try other mouthpieces as a lark, because I'm always disappointed by other pieces compared to the flexibility, depth of tone, and richness of my 10mfan pieces.

On alto I've been on a Lamberson Fmaj7 for 12+ years. I haven't touched that Lamberson since receiving my 10mfan Showboat alto piece and, in fact, sold my backup Lamberson. If Mark holds on his pattern, the Daddy-O may in fact replace my Lamberson, although I'm a bit skeptical, even with how great his other stuff has been.

- Saxaholic
 
#33 ·
Hehe, 10mfan's Showboat is a real killer, I second the motion !

Even if I am still a bit curious about the Daddy-O, I must admit that my mouthpiece curiosity has been severely turned down... and converted straight into reed curiosity !
I have a lot of fun with that these days...

And on soprano, I experienced the same thing with my Sopranoplanet mouthpiece !
 
#34 ·
+1 on the reed curiosity! Much fun
 
#36 ·
Yes GAS is a chronic disease!!! The only way I have really managed to control it , is not tasting any other mouthpiece. You have no idea how hard is being for me to resist that 10mfan " the classic ". Let's face it we are not living in those times when the best and more popular options were only Otto link, Dukoff, Berg Larsen. There are more options and better made now than ever before in the history of human kind. Things don't last forever though. I am afraid with the super modern technologies of 3D,... at some point the handwork will become super unaffordable or even very scarce.
 
#40 ·
***One Year Report***

Well gang I'm holding true, still off the GAS..I made it a year on the same 2 tenor mpcs.

Once I like a mpc it takes me awhile to explore it fully. Honestly in the first year I'm still on the learning curve with my hard rubber Black Widow 8* tenor mpc. The thing just gets better and better, still producing a great sound using #2 Legere Signatures, (although I have had some probs with a few Leg reeds) they still provide the best sound and response....

The metal handmade Vigilante is a great tenor mouthpiece too. I'm hanging on to it for now..reed-wise for some reason the Vig sounds better to me with a Fibracell.. The mpc is simply a monster, you can feel the horsepower, but honestly it still feels a bit alien after so many years on a standard Laser Super King. The Vig is a different animal, much more of a versatile sound than the DGSK. Iron fist in a velvet glove..

But sadly it has not been let loose lately as most of my gigs these days are softer affairs..

My Alto mpcs have not changed either..I have heard the clips of the new Alto offerings from Mark, and they are damn impressive tones. But I've had an ancient 8* Lakey rubber on my Alto that to me is not replaceable, it just does everything so well. For the Sanborn edge and R&B sound I'll play my Goldplate Sakshama Studio G. I bought it to replace an orig DG studio I stupidly sold. The Sakshama is another mpc I'm still learning to love, also getting better and better.

I spent a lot of Cake to order the Sak alto mpc direct from the man himself, but I'm glad I did, as the first one I ordered was too open. I was fighting it.. An exchange was necessary, I had never measured my original DG studio, so I had unknowingly ordered a .096 tip opening on the first "Studio G". Fortunately Sakshama made the switch for me to an .090 tip that is a perfect fit. Once again this mpc feels limitless too, an amazing handmade work of art.
 
#41 ·
Great to hear, same here: I sold everything except a few pieces and I didn't change anything for months now. Just one piece on tenor that I play and one as a backup. I even sold one of my tenors. And I feel much more comfortable since that. Only one setup to get used to and adapt to.
Same on alto and soprano. I came back to the very same soprano setup I've been playing for 15+ years, every change I've tried to make has not been an improvement over that.
Then I still have some of my own refaced pieces here, which play as good as the expensive boutique mpcs I own, so at the moment I'm not sure if I will ever spent much money on mouthpieces again.
Reducing has been the point, I'm more into just the music than ever before. 😊
 
#42 ·
I agree More Music..Once you have 2 of the best mpcs you hardly need more, I have only a metal and rubber for S/A/T..tenor is my main horn so I do have a couple rubber Lakeys and a LT Super King stashed for a rainy day but that's it ..and you are right expensive does not always mean better. My Bari mpc are 2 Metalites. They BARK
 
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