mouthpiece upgrade

[amirmk9]

Hello,
I'm 16 years old and playing Alto for over a year, from Israel, the land where unless you play guitar, any instrument store is three hours away, which is half of the country. I'm going to the big apple next week and I want to buy some sax things.
What mouthpieces should I look for,if I'm looking for a bit darker sound, for jazz only? The current list includes the Meyer, Link, Lakey,Vandoren V5J, V16, Beechler and Runyon, all HR. Where can I find those in NY?
Also on the list are reeds, and maybe a ligature. Rico Jazz Select, LaVoz and ZZ are my options. What setup would you try in this condition?

Thank you very much, Amir.

[Rahspeak]

hey. in another thread we told you about going to Sam Ash on 48th street between 6th and 7th avenues in Manhattan (Times Square). Well, there you can try all of those. Plus, next door to that is Roberto's Woodwind and across the street is Rod Baltimore's International Woodwind and Brass. At Roberto's you can find more higher-end designer mouthpieces, like Lamberson or Jody Jazz (for a lot more money of course), and at Rod Baltimore's ythere should be a bunch of used pieces.

As far as which one to choose, well, I'm a tenor player primarily. I play a Morgan Excalibur alto mouthpiece because it's the first one I tried and it works, since I only play alto a couple of times a month. But the alto sound in jazz history has been defined by Meyer mouthpieces. they are not as consistently made as they used to be, so you have to try a bunch and pick the best one for you, which shouldn't be a problem because they should have plenty to choose from at those stores. also, you can see if they have any of the Meyer "G" facing, which some people feel are much better than the normal modern Meyers for the same price. From the list you gave, I've also heard good things about V16 mouthpieces. 90% of the alto sounds that I've heard and liked have been made on hard rubber mouthpieces, but in the end, it's all about what you try and like. More experienced alto players might chime in and give you more to think about.

But remember...48th between 6th and 7th...if you can't find a mouthpiece on that block, I don't know what else to tell you. And bring extra money, because you're gonna come across so much sheet music/little gizmos/method books/ etc/etc/etc, it's gonna be really, really tempting to spend a little extra. but don't spend too much...make sure to save a little money to catch some jazz while you're there. I hope you have a great time. let us know how it works out..

Hope this helps,
Miguel.

[steve]

I agree regarding the Meyer "G". Free blowing.....nice retro jazz tone... They are promoted as such. Not too pricey. The stock ligature that comes with it is just fine. I like Fibracell reeds because they are fairly consistent reed-to-reed and last a long time.