Worst mouthpiece(s) ever?

[Subtone Sam]

What is the worst one(s) you´ve owned/tried/smashed into a wall?
I´ve owned and tried a few but couple come to mind:

a stainless steel Berg Larsen tenor piece(I don´t remember the exact model) but it played the same if the mouthpiece cap was on or off,never produced a single sound! I took it back to the shop.

Just a while ago I had a bari metal Link STM 8 * that came with the horn.Zero projection,zero edge,just STUFFY,STUFFY,STUFFY.Yes,I made a doorstop out of it.

[Bootman]

It colud be a Dukoff D9 I once owned, a couple of Links, a couple of Bergs and even a Brancher too. There have been a few but I try to forget the really bad ones.

[super20dan]

this is a easy one -guy hawkins metal -any of them!

[zadu]

Had an old style Levelair alto piece that just was wimpy with any reed, what a drag (the equivalent tenor piece was outstanding).

[colibri]

Currently production alto metal Berg 105/1/m. The window, facing and table is way smaller than the reed. In fact, it fits an alto clarinet reed very well, but that's not why I hated it. You can see file marks on the table. You can even feel that the table is coarse. It will only play with a brand new reed for the first 10 minutes, then it starts leaking air under the reed. It never forms a seal.

[Paul S]

:oops: - Link Reso Chamber 4* - paid $300 for it - what a piece of crap! Probably could have been rescued with a good reface (facing didn't look that bad and was supposedly original); Was stuffy, lifeless piece of junk.

After that I am cured of the "vintage is always better" factor :roll:

[jd]

i ordered a brand new berg metal tenor to trial. it wouldnt play a note !!. i had a used metal levelair tenor i bought was awful too. recently i bought a used dukoff 6 tenor and someone had tried to reface it unknown to me. the seller claimed ignorance but i could hardly get a note out of it. when i asked for my $ back the seller said he would refund if i left him a positive?? i did and he did. i had a guardala skrb that played terrible .sold that for a lot of $ after i told people i didnt think it played good at all. i noticed that evrybody that wound up buying that piece resold it. i guess it wasnt me?i guess the moral of the story is that when you find a good player you better keep it at any cost otherwise you spend tons of time and $ looking for it again. right?

[Roger Aldridge]

The worst experience I ever had with a mouthpiece was trying a current production Babbit Company Meyer. Terrible!

[Thomas]

Unequivically the worst piece of junk I've ever had the misfortune to experience-some sort of useless POS made by GARY SUGAL. Unplayable! For a moment I thought it was me so I took it on the road and had five other very competent tenorists try it with reactions from shock to gagging. One well respected mpc maker suggested a fishing hook be welded to it but then mused that it would most likely be useless for that purpose as well.

[paulwl]

Any of several Goldbeck "Superb" pot metal pieces (circa 1920s). No wonder nobody played a metal piece till Otto Link came along. Even when they weren't hacked up by amateurs with only 60 grit sandpaper and a kitchen table for tools, they have this unique combination of bad tonal ingredients = whistly+breathy+reedy+tubby.

[saxusa]

I would have to say the newer Meyers mouthpieces. :(

[m3pilot]

Metal Brilhart Levelair tenor. Got to be one of the silliest designs ever.

Also I actually played on a Strathon Adjust-o-tone for a while. That sucked too.

[Tonehole]

My teacher gave me a Duckoff 9 he had dropped on the tip. I beat it straight with a hammer and then refaced it with a file, finished it with emery paper. When I was finished with it, the thing could peel the paper from the wall.as a scraper or blowing in it. The brightest , hardest to control piece you could imagine. When my teacher played it he almost wet himself. He was laughing so hard he couldn't blow through it. Said it reminded him of trying to play when he was nine years old. Finish on the piece was very good. He took it back to make students play when they got to cocky!

[OnyxSax]

Claude Lakey 6*3. I played one briefly when I was at University of Maryland. It squeaked constantly. I thought I was lucky to sell it to a fellow student who liked it, but it would up squeaking constantly for him. He sold it to another student, and it squeaked on that person well. I'll bet 16 years later, that Lakey is still at Maryland being handed off from student to student and it still squeaks.

[Altoholic]

Two BARI brand alto pieces (.072 and .077 tip openings). I could barely get a sound out of them.

[John Robinson]

The only totally unplayable piece was a (surprise) Otto Link HR 9 factory fresh. Morgan and Link STM are what I normally play. Haven't picked up a HR Link ever since. The pits.....

[singlereed]

The ones they supply as standard with Keilwerth saxophones.

[sax maniac]

definately has to be a Yamaha 4c or a conn precision, they play like as if you are blowing into a ducks bill instead of a mouthpiece :lol:

[-TH]

Definately current production Bergs.

The first challenge is to get a sound out of them (NOT a trivial thing with Bergs). If you succeed you're lucky! But don't get excited 'cause there will be more problems to come for sure..

:shock:

Tuomas

[MikeS]

It may be heresy around here, but it was a Runyon. A plastic Custom (tenor). The chamber was off center, and the tips and rails were unbelievably uneven. It was the first piece I bought after taking up the sax again following a 30 year hiatus. My teacher at the time was surprised I managed to get a sound out of it at all.

[gary]

Lakey Jazz 4*3. Loud, bright, very open with no tone quality whatsoever.

[Quijote]

Rovner Eagle for sop :x

[Fun Bun]

The new Links are pretty bad. I couldn't even play mine. I had to send it to JVW to get it fixed.

[jazzbluescat]

Well, I have to agree that the current Links are stupid, at least inconsistent, kinda like playing roulette to find a good one...

Anyhow, the worst piece that I've experienced was a HR 7* Link. I tried to blow and....after checking to make sure I hadn't accidentally left a towel in..,or corked up the neck, had a torn oct. pad, etc, I concluded that that was the stuffiest piece of crap ever made.

[gary]

You shure you didn't miss that wad of Skol stuffed up in the baffle? :shock:

[David Spiegelthal]

Any of the first one hundred or so mouthpieces I worked on while learning how to reface.

[singlereed]

So we are best to avoid 'Early Spiegenthals then :?

[David Spiegelthal]

Dear singlereed,
Don't worry, the "early Spiegelthal" experimental mouthpieces were thankfully never released to the public (most of them have 'mysteriously' vanished......). Like contagious diseases and weapons of mass destruction, some things must never see the light of day!
In all seriousness, I never let any mouthpiece leave my house until it's good enough that I would be happy playing it daily on my own gigs. A reputation is very hard to come by and easy to destroy --- and it only takes selling a few lousy mouthpieces for the word to get around that "_ _ _ _ _ 's mouthpieces suck!"

[Subtone Sam]

Yep but if reputation is destroyed (usually for a reason) a mouthpiece maker can always build it back by adding 100-300% to the price.Bloody expensive mouthpieces always seem to play REALLY well,or so some mouthpiece makers (and some players) do seem to think :x

[Venus Waltz]

Had to buy an alto mouthpiece last year at the last minute without doing any research, the day of an audition... I went over to Mars Music (is that chain now closed all over, or just in New England area?). The meyer 5 had been reccommended to me, but the salesperson had never heard of it... That should have been a hint for me to get out of there. She said this berg larsen mouthpiece was their best inexpensive all-around mouthpiece, very popular... I wonder how much Mars was paid to say that, 'cause it was almost impossible to play, the mouthpiece curved away from the reed way too much. It's nice at least to hear how many other people think bergs are crap.

[vick]

definently modern production bergs. went to brook mays to try a few. sounded just like Lenny Picket. only problem was that I was on a bari. no wonder he plays so high on snl, none of the lower notes will come out.

[Kritavi]

In general most Links both Tenor/Alto and HR/Metal have been terrible considering the reputation and price.

[Johannes Gerber]

have to agree - the finishing and workmanship is worse than terrible, if only the facings were at least right - have a brand new 2000 edition ME Link here for work - it's so bad, it's not a case where you can just fix the lay and table and finish it off. This piece needs major work - it's just ugly.
Where has their pride gone? it seems they don't have any.

[Just Say Sax]

Toss up between a Metal Brillhart Levelair #5 and a Guy Hawkins Metal Tenor piece.

[Alan G]

Wow - all those bad Brilhart Levelair Reviews!!

well - I kinda like mine! Tenor 5* and 6*, Bari 5*....

Umm - they could be better - :?

On tenor - I've have an older Metal Meyer 5 - THATS the worst. Also a Black Runyon 6 (not sure what model) - not enough character or somth'n.

Got me a Claude Lakey 4*3 (i think) for cheap, for alto - nasty sounding. Loud. Nasty.

[Mike Cesati]

Bionix, the absolute worst.

[SopranoSue]

Mars Music went into Chapter 11 and then declared bankruptcy. Sold out all inventory from what I understand. Used to go to the one in Framingham.

Worst mouthpiece? The piece of crap that came standard with my sop. Bought it at Emilio's in Boston (Boston Music Co., I think). He wouldn't give it to me. Threw in a Yamaha instead. Thanks, Emilio! :D

[HonkBopSax]

SopranoSue,

I was the band manager at the Natick store from March 2002 until we closed, but worked in the department since July of 2001. I wonder if we met at some point!?

[pbsax]

Dukoffs have traumatized my embouchure indefinately. Playing on a Dukoff is like being in an abusive relationship, as far as my embouchure goes. :(

[saxusa]

All Runyons.

[MojoBari]

You have not tried my Runyons.

[SopranoSue]

HonkBopSax, it's possible we met or saw each other at some point. I was there like once a month for the past year before they closed. Probably spent most of my time in the percussion room since my friend and I used to go in there looking for percussion items to hand out to family members for our singalongs. We like to get everyone involved, and most people can handle jingle sticks or shaky things... I digress...

I bought some reeds there a few times, and a music book. Was intrigued with the crystal flutes, too. Bought my sop sax stand there, too.

I'm short (5'1"), shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, and look like I'm about 25 (I'm 40). :roll:

Didn't buy any mouthpieces there, though...

(How was that as a feeble attempt to get the topic on track?) :wink:

[HonkBopSax]

Sopranosue,

I do miss working there. It's strange, but I still get phone calls from former customers asking how everything is going, etc. It was a great place to work. The only thing I didn't care for was rental season - 15 agitated parents wanting a trumpet RIGHT NOW...only to be told that the sign on the front door stated that we are out of them. I've been in bars that were less hostile.

[SopranoSue]

"I've been in bars that were less hostile."

Kapeesh. God forbid these parents can't get their child their instrument of choice AT THAT VERY MOMENT. Can you say... "call ahead first?" I knew you could... ;)

I think working in a music store would be great! Nothing like working near the hobby you love...

[Chris]

Claude Lakey 6*3

[John Robinson]

Most of these posts sound like Babbitt has real quality control problems. And/or WWBW keeps sending out the same Lakeys?

[conntenor]

I bought a conn 22M tenor and the guy who I bought it from included a king mouthpiece. Playing a number 2.5 is the same as playing a 3.5 reed on it. That's why I have to buy a new mouthpiece cause this should be used as a doorstop. :evil:

[conntenor]

I looked at a Steve Goodson site somewhere and it talked about how math has to do with why some mouthpieces won't work with certain necks and saxes.

[conntenor]

has anybody tried a tenor meyer 10 or a conn steelay Medium Open? Im going to buy one on Saturday at one in the morning so I need to know if this is worth it.

[Johannes Gerber]

ok, here am I again. Lawton 9*B (alto) I have here for refacing. A stock piece - tip is at 0.120! Lay start at 54!! The only explanation I can come up with is that they have put a tenor lay on this alto piece. A real beast to play!

[MojoBari]

Here is a table for Lawton facings:
http://www.saxophones.co.uk/lawton_saxophone_mouthpieces.htm
It has some typos. The .1000 tenor facing lengths should be 1.000".

So if its a .120" tenor facing, it should only be ~51 long. A 9* alto should be .105"/44.5.

[Johannes Gerber]

funny, the left rail begin at 54, right rail at 52 - a big difference at that specific thickness. There's no sign whatsoever of removed plating - this piece is untouched.

[bigsaxy]

Old berg 100/0 that came with my used YTS-61 in '75. It chipped my front tooth the first time I put it in my mouth, & never treated me any better than that. facing feels more like a 150, leaks out the sides & squeaks like a turkey calling competition. I still try to make it work every now & then, but only till the gobbling starts. Looks like the guts have been routed out, & you can cut paper with the edge. Someone must have gotten a dremel tool for christmas. I marched with it as an eighth grader, using hard reeds & lotsa air. I don't see how I ever played that thing in public, even as a kid. I used to have a permanent groove in my bottom lip from playing that beast. Oh, to be young & loud again LOL.

[Tenorsaxer]

Definitely a non descript brown mouthpiece that came with my YTS-52

[Cameron Wigmore]

Some mouthpieces are very inconsistent. There are a lot of crappy otto links out there, but I have a great one. The worst m.pieces are the Rico graftonite. Who designed those?!?

[MojoBari]

Supposedly Arnold Brilhart. The Metalites look like his work, but I'm not convinced of the Graftonites.

[Mike Ruhl]

The Graftonite boxes say they were designed by Brilhart.

[DanF]

Had to be a Dukoff D6 metal alto piece I bought new. It was the shrillest piece I have ever had and squeeled worse than Ned Beatty in Deliverence. For a year I thought it was just me. Then I sold it to a guy on here and ended up paying his expense of sending it back to me. It must have been dropped or something but it was terrible. Also don't care much for Meyer tenors. They sound like a honking goose with a sock in hit's mouth, or is it beak? Love my Bergs and a RIA that Mojobari sold me.

[popsax]

Newer Bergs, Dukoffs, and anything made of plastic.

[T-MAN]

Modern production Bergs--can't get anything to come out on them, they're so bad.

[winfried]

Modern Meyer (can't rembember opening) on soprano. Worst sound ever. Horrible to control. Tried also different reeds like Hemke, La Voz, Vandoren, Rico, but nothing made a big difference.

[shmuelyosef]

With many of the new production pieces (Berg, Link, Meyer, Lakey, etc...) the problem is inconsistency. My son works in a music store, so I have had the option on occasion to go through a whole box of "identical" mouthpieces...it is a funny experience!! There is often a really good one. If you inspect them carefully, the biggest problems are : table crowned in center (inconsistent reed set), rails not level with each other (unresponsive), and tip rail is rounded (causes squeaks).

Personally, I stick with hand-faced mouthpieces...the Morgans seem to be consistent. JVW has done a couple great pieces for me (wish I had gotten more). I just got my first Lamberson and the facing is beautiful...

[DaveR]

Unfortunately, I would have to say the Tenney 'perfected' HR Link I just bought from Saxquest; it's worse than most 'unperfected' ones I've played - really, a dog! I'm surprised, because most people on this forum seem to rate them highly. :shock:

[MojoBari]

Do you think it is made poorly or the design is just not a good fit for your sound goals?

[Mike Ruhl]

Unfortunately, I would have to say the Tenney 'perfected' HR Link I just bought from Saxquest; it's worse than most 'unperfected' ones I've played - really, a dog! I'm surprised, because most people on this forum seem to rate them highly. :shock:
Want to sell it?

[colibri]

He could have been using an old reed with the newly refaced Link.

[Sassaphone]

My favourite mouthpiece at the moment is an STM Link from the current production era. However, in order to find it I tried sixteen different 6* and 7* metal Links. Some of them wouldn't play at all. Others play only with constant squeaking in the upper register, and still others sounded completely dead. Of all the ones I tried, three were worthy of consideration, and one was a great piece. So within the same group I found the best and the worst.

[DaveR]

Want to sell it?

No, but thanks for the offer; one day I'll get around to asking Freddie Gregory to reface it properly!

BTW Colibri, I used new reeds of many varieties and strengths on it - it just does not play well.

[max]

Have you contacted saxquest? I'm sure they'd be happy to help in any way they can.

I've got three mouthpieces that Doc has worked on, and they're all great; I can't imagine what could have happened to it, but it seems something must have...

[JJK]

I agree with Tuomas completely about Current Bergs... Terrible! I tried 2 or 3 both HR and metal and I couldn't get a sound out of them. I have a 120/2 SMS metal that actually plays, but it still needs work, as it tends to close up in the upper rigister for no apparent reason... I tried a current production Metal Otto Link and that was pretty bad too.... Meyers are the same deal... Just about anything being made by Babbitt these days is sketchy at best...

I also have a Sugal SG1 Wood MP that acts as a doorstop... facing is pretty bad... barely can get a sound out of it. Dukoffs can be bad too, but at least I have found ones that do play well, even though the look like heck :D

So cast another vote for the Bergs!

[saxtub]

I don't want to sound redundant, but here goes. A HR Meyer #5M(Babbit), HR Otto Link #5* (Babbit). These used to be great pieces you can count on back when Meyer Bros. owned the business. Now I use a Vandoren V5-A27, outstanding. What ever happened to that 'ole yankee work ethic'? :(

[conntenor]

This topic should not discern what mouthpiece are good or not because certain mouthpieces will work on only certain saxes. Such as a yamaha mouthpiece won't work on my selmer but it will work on a yamaha. Besides not every person who has posted here has tried different reed strengths to see if the mouthpiece will work.

[Dan000892]

Uh oh... the only mouthpieces I have are a Guy Hawkins metal and a Brilhart ebolin :shock:

I got the Hawkins on a bet from a friend... it's ok (I say ok, given that I've tried hardly any mouthpieces at all). I kept trying different reeds to get a better response both high and low... V16, various V Blue Box Tenor, V Blue Box Bass Clarinet 4, LaVoz Hard Bass Clarinet (hey, I'm a doubler :)). Then I found the perfect reed!

My friend got a SA80 Tenor with the Hawkins mouthpiece and a crapload of old unused reeds. During our plunder, I found it... a Selmer Soloist 2 or 2 1/2 in a box stamped "1974" I believe

(Yeah, I need a new mouthpiece)

[jazzmasta123]

I would have to say all the mouthpieces that have come with saxophones! :x

[Dan000892]

Hey, Yamaha 4C's are the best mouthpieces you can buy for under $15! :lol:

[BobD]

Worst was a HR Link. So stuffy. But one of the best I've played was a HR Link. They are inconsistant but you can get good playing ones. Plus you need to learn how to play them.

[samsax]

My worst mouthpiece was a Berg Larsen 95/2 which I replaced with a Runyon Custom #10.

[kevvieg]

Brilhart LevelAir on any horn. Dukoff, except for the LD chamber, but they are so soft they disfigure if you look at them the wrong way.

[werkinsnake]

I've heard that a lot of people do not like the new Links, but I know a lot of players who swear by them. I myself like them. I've played 4 STM. 2 were for soprano, 1 mine and 1 a friends both 7*, and both played great. I use an Alto 6* and I wouldn't dream about using anything else. My friend has a tenor 7* and I loved that mouthpiece as well. The only Link that I did not like was a HR tenor link owned by the same kid. I sounded stuffy on it and thought that the response sucked. But he liked it. Bottom line, unless you have a truely poorly made piece it's all players preference. Oh and I would think from experience that any mouthpiece that comes stock with a taiwanese stencil horn is crap.

[ProfessorZeek]

when you guys say the modern/new meyers suck, how new is new? i got my meyer 5 alto in the late 80s. is that considered new?

CKL

[saxman69]

Just about every brand you can mention - and I've played great pieces on just about every brand you can mention!

The problem is two things - bad manufacturing, and a consumer without the proper tools to know.

I've visited a few mp manufacturing facilities, (I won't say which ones). You'd be surprised at the process - it's awesome and terrible at the same time. I brought my gauges with me and measured some of the stuff coming off the press and boy! We're talking concave tables, convex tables, uneven facings, the whole 9 yards. I even saw where one guy was using a gauge that was 50 years old to judge his work by! The gauge was so far off... I bought him some new ones when i got back home!!

And yes, Babbitt does appear to have quality control issues. The thing I've been told is that nobody there can play a horn now! The old staff had people that played, but not now, apparently. So who can tell what's what??

The other problem is us. I bet less than 10% of the people that posted to this discussion own a set of gauges. I'm not being condescending here, it's just that I can't even tell whether a mouthpiece is even or not until i put it to the gauges. You just can't tell. (Well, you can tell if the dog's gotten a hold of it...).

It's just a tough thing. We as saxophonists need to have gauges, even if we're not in the business of refacing mp's. It's a real salvation. And I will agree with the person who liked the more handmade pieces - they're usually made by players, and the manufacturing inconsistencies are minimized and dealt with.

also, to the guy from south africa with the crooked facing -

some sax players hold thier instrument to the right, (especially while sitting), which put more pressure on the left side of the mp, which is why some mp makers intentionally make the left side of the table longer - the reasoning is that you'll close it up anyway.

johnny hodges reputedly took a mp to a facer and said, 'copy this'. the luthier said, 'it's crooked' - hodges said, 'copy it anyway', and he made a crooked copy. Depends on how you hold the horn!

And 54 vs 52 isn't that much - more, and i'd be careful, but those numbers reflect 1/2 that distance on the ruler, if i remember correctly.

Dave

[jazzbluescat]

I agree. A set of gages can save time in selecting a piece. I recently made acquaintance with a local tech that possesses gages. I had him measure the tip openings of my tenor Dukoff D6 and STM 8*. They both measured .120+...off his scale; with the STM being .122+(guessed). [The D6 is supposed to be .095, the STM .115.]
I worked in a factory that made housings for various household products, like kitchen stove vents(with fans), window fans, etc. Anyhow, most of their products had to come within +/- .005 variance to be accepted. I can remember the inspector stopping(my operation)to reset the precision. Heck, it seems to me sax mpc production should be at least up this degree of accuracy.
Some really crappy manufacturing going on....another thread/book.

[MojoBari]

...some sax players hold thier instrument to the right, (especially while sitting), which put more pressure on the left side of the mp, which is why some mp makers intentionally make the left side of the table longer - the reasoning is that you'll close it up anyway.

johnny hodges reputedly took a mp to a facer and said, 'copy this'. the luthier said, 'it's crooked' - hodges said, 'copy it anyway', and he made a crooked copy. Depends on how you hold the horn!

And 54 vs 52 isn't that much - more, and i'd be careful, but those numbers reflect 1/2 that distance on the ruler, if i remember correctly.

I have heard stories of some refacers making one rail longer than the other to add resistance to a piece. This is why Hodges wanted an exact copy. But there are many, and better, ways to add resistance to a piece.

Nearly all sax players play to the side. The player and sax neck swivels and the mouthpiece can be turned so you play it straight. There is no need to alter the facing curve away from being even. A refacer might consider doing this after observing the way a particular player plays, but I doubt new MP factory pieces consider this.

A 54 vs 52 length would be 27 mm vs 26 mm long. Borderline significant, just fine tuning.

[saxman69]

hi blues & sax man -

I found your story to be hilarious. Yes, one would think that mp's would have greater tolerances than some of the other products you mentioned. Go figure...

Glad you checked those mps on the gauges - it's revealing, isn't it? Did he go a step further and tell you the lenght of the facing, or the numbers and evenness?

Dave

[MojoBari]

I recently measured a new Dukoff D9* for a client. The piece looked more symetrical than many older Dukoffs I see. But it measured .112" vs .130" on the charts. More than a tad off.

[SelmerSaksMan]

For professional, Guardala brecker model, for student, a Yamaha 4c

[jazzbluescat]

Well, I got my opinion of Link pieces reinforced today. I tried out 2 ea. 7*s and 2ea 8 STMs. You would not believe the difference betwee the the two 7*s. One was the best out of all four IMO, I almost bought it but it lacked the "body/guts" of my old 8*, and the other 7* wouldn't qualify as a door stop...very, very stuffy.
The 8s lacked body, IMO.

These pieces are built differently than my old 8*. It's hard to describe. They definitely have a shorter shank, and either a shorter beak or longer body/chamber section; the overall length is about the same. And, the circumference(around the chamber section)is much smaller.

[ProfessorZeek]

i have to say, the otto link metal on alto is absolutely the worst. like blowing into a water pipe--no resonance whatsoever.

strange bc it's the industry standard on the tenor.

[werkinsnake]

i have to say, the otto link metal on alto is absolutely the worst. like blowing into a water pipe--no resonance whatsoever.

strange bc it's the industry standard on the tenor.

To each his own??? Actually I'm becoming quite fond of the Selmer S90 mouthpieces.

[jazzbluescat]

.....Glad you checked those mps on the gauges - it's revealing, isn't it? Did he go a step further and tell you the lenght of the facing, or the numbers and evenness?

As far as length of facing, per se, no; he did check the balance of the rails. They're not perfect, but not way off either.
He did reface the table(for "free"). It had a few peaks and a valley.
[This is not a bad piece, as compared to the modern Links. It's an "Early Babbitt, made in 1975-80, if I'm not mistaken.]

[iplaydasax]

my jupiter student mouthpiece which came with my horn, it was sharp,blunt and skeaky yuk!

[jazzbluescat]

my jupiter student mouthpiece which came with my horn, it was sharp,blunt and skeaky yuk!

Explain. How can it be sharp and blunt? And, what, pray tell is skeaky?

[MojoBari]

Maybe skweekee?

[jazzbluescat]

:lol:

Where'd that wascally wabbit go(?).

[tubbycub]

Seems like there is hardly mentioning of the LA Sax Saxtech metal mouthpieces. I happened to have one for the tenor. It seems to copy the design of the Dukoff but doesn't sound like one.

It's one of the hollowest sounding mpcs I have ever played on. The finishing on the mpc tends to tarnish very easily.

[Subtone Sam]

Modern production Bergs--can't get anything to come out on them, they're so bad.

It depends.I currently play new production steel Bergs on both bari and tenor and they work great.So,they CAN be good.

[T-MAN]

Good for you. Not sure why you decided to quote me, since others have had the same experience. :?

[Subtone Sam]

just for the fun of it,believe me :lol:

[T-MAN]

:wink:

[SelmerC*]

I own and play a new Metal Berg Larsen, and i am quite happy with it. Even before i had the table redone, it pas acceptable. I thik the players who "couldn't" get a sound out either didn't use the correct reeds, or didn't know what the numbers in the Berg meant. They are misguided in their rage. Oh, and the worst mouthpiece make i've found are the new Gary Sugals. Kill reeds, too expensive, and too stuffy.

[GHawk]

New Berg 130/0 on trial from WWBW - unplayable.

Teal for tenor....the altos are good but the tenors are a bear to play.

[BrassaxMan5]

I once had a selmer Goldentone. That was when I started, and those things are plastic! can you say 'Ouch'? That was probably the worst one i owned. 2nd mouthpiece, Berger or something like that. 3rd mouth piece, Meyer 5 (best mouthpiece ever) :D :D

[David Spiegelthal]

Sorry, Mr. C*, I must strongly disagree with you --- the reason so many people have problems with Larsens (and yet you don't) is because the facings are SO inconsistent, and the quality control in the last decade SO poor, that any given Larsen mouthpiece of any particular facing/baffle/chamber combination might be great, or just OK, or absolutely horrible, or anywhere in between --- a complete crap shoot. So don't put other people down because they can't play their Larsens --- you probably couldn't play theirs either.

[saxplayer07]

Selmer Golden tone for tenor. God that mouthpeice sucks.

[Nitetimer]

GHawk, I think every other person on this board has tried that same 130 Berg from the WW&BW. I tried one in June then sent it back and received the same one in August. I'm a long time Berg player and that one was terrible. It still doesn't mean that all new Bergs are bad. They're inconsistent enough to where you can still find good ones.

[SelmerC*]

To Reply: I'm not =trying to put people down, certainly some inconsistencies could be a problem. But just because 1 particular mouthpiece that you played is bad, there 9is no reaason to put down the whole brand. When i bought my Berg, iu tried 3 different pieces of the same model, to get the one i like best. This is a process everyone should go through when selecting a mouthpiece, so they can have the full spectrum of opinion. No one should judge their opinion of a mouthpiece on one piece inparticular.

[acadiansax]

Any Runyon or Jody Jazz Mouthpiece. Real junk.

[rini]

Tenor pieces:
Guy Hawkins metal 6.
Wolf Tayne metal. I have had several, was I stupid. Couldn't get anything out of them. Thought it was my fault.
Several Berg Larsens. They were awful already on 70's. However, at that time they were the few that were available in this country.
More recently, a Berg Larsen rubber 100/1 M. Made in England, sold by Rose-Morris (I think it was during 80's). "Hand-crafted for precision and quality". What a joke!
A recent dissappointment was a red Jody Jazz 10. I still don't understand why didn't I send it back when I could have done it. Was I too disappointed? Better forget it.

rini

[FellBoyzs]

Was I the only one that tried the "David Sanborn" model from Joe sax?

It was sweaky and what was up with those rings for the ligature? I didn't like it.

Anyone else?

-Zach

[saxophobe]

I have to agree with those who have posted about the modern production Bergs. I have a 120/0 that I bought a few years back that is almost unplayable. I haven't put it on a set of gauges, but the main problem with this piece is that the damn thing is too narrow for any tenor reed I put on it! Every reed I have tried hangs over on both sides!!! This alone makes it unresponsive, uncomfortable, and as far as I know, impossible to fix. Unless someone has come up with a way to add more metal to the piece, and if that's the case, why bother?

I do know, however, that there are those that get lucky with one every now and again. That's great, but doesn't really help the fact that their quality control sucks, and that because of this fact, we are forced to pay higher prices for a piece that was made right the first time. I currently play a Guardala Studio that I have had for several years that plays great, and does what I want it to, but I had to pay $500 for it.

[MojoBari]

The simple fix is to start with a stiffer reed and sand the sides of the reed down. But there may be facing problems that still keep the piece from playing well.

If the outside of the piece is curved such that the body gets wider than a reed, then it may be possible to face down the piece until it widens to the width of standard reeds. But on SS mouthpieces, this is a real pain. The material is hard and slow to work with.

[saxophobe]

Thanks for the reply MojoBari, but I don't think I'm going to bother with it as I am not a mouthpiece technician at all. My Guardala Studio still sounds great, and for what I paid for it, I'm going to play that piece until one of us gives out! :D

Thanks!

[dolphyo]

yeah ducoff alto silverite mpcs but worse than that runyon soprano customs. can you say suck wind...............!

[Nefertiti]

How come when someone asks for the best mouthpiece ever everyone says it's too subjective and a stupid question. Doesn't the same apply to the worst mouthpiece ever? Just wondering? :?

[Bill Mecca]

Nef,

I would agree with you. I think if you took the two lists and compared you would find the same mouthpieces make both.

i.e.: Grover Washington loved the Runyon Soprano custom, and Doc Kupka plays a Rico Metallite.

[sw3119]

The worst piece that I have tried is the Dukoff D6 Alto that I got on ebay.

It is very loud and has a nice sound, but it rarely plays.

I think if it was refaced it could be made into a good piece, but not the way it is.

The piece itself is kind of lopsided. The table doesn't appear to be parallel with the chamber. Most of the reeds I have tried on it will not even form a seal.

I have a new Dukoff Hollywood 45 6 tenor that I like, and figured I would like the alto as well.

[Kritavi]

As for the Runyon Soprano Custom, I find it among the two or three best of more then 25 good soprano mouthpieces I worked through. I've been playing soprano for over 30 years so I am fairly familiar with the instrument. Maybe I got a good one? For the record, the other pieces I most like from this whole experience are a Link STM and a Pomarico wood. The Runyon seems to be a good middle ground between these others.

Worst one? A brand new Lawton metal. Boy was that a surprise! Even with consideration given to inconsitancy of any model, differences in reeds and ligs etc, this is still one very subjective judgement.

[MichaelWard]

Barone 5M HR alto bought from Bill Lewingtons who no longer sell Barone pieces ( I wonder why ?).So unplayable I DAREN'T sell it but instead donated it to a needy music school in Russia I read about in saxophone journal. They wrote back to say they weren't THAT needy (joke).Pure junk

[Brendan Muse]

But I've got to say the C* We've done experiments, where someone with a metal Link stuffed a shirt in her bell and sounded exactly like she did with her C*. No projection and no identity. Perfect for backing up a gutless French horn section, but not for serious playing.

[saxofunk]

... Doc Kupka plays a Rico Metallite.

He does? The gear list at bumpcity.com has him playing a Berg.


And back to topic: I have a Dukoff D5 that is machined crooked, breaks ligature screws and wont hold a reed straight.

[Bill Mecca]

I've seen pics of Doc playing a Metallite, and Tom Timko, who is with Gloria Estefan's band(and TOP, and BS&T) has played a Metallite on bari as well. Like all of us, or many of us, the gear does change over time. Heck I've seen it listed as Clarence Clemons playing a Dukoff, whcih I have never seen, Bergs and Rovners for the Bigman, AFAIK., but who knows at one time, for a day, a week, a month, a year....;-)

[TMadness1013]

Gotta agree w/ the poster who said the C*. Not bad for classical playing if thats the sound you want. But I know two people who use them for their "jazz" setup, and it's truly atrocious. That's the worst to listen to ;)

Worst I've played is a Woodwind Co. piece for tenor. Couldn't even get the thing to play more than half the notes on the horn after a week spent on it.

[HC]

Yamaha 4C for bass clarinet, tip opening is so small that i could barely get a note to play.

Berg Larsen for Bari- the high F is 30 cents sharp and the notes above that gets flatter, high C was 20 cents if I'm not mistaken.

Using a Meyer with a tip opening of 5 and plays very well.

[Morry]

Teal for tenor

I would have to agree that the Larry Teal tenor piece is the single worst mouthpiece I've ever tried to play.

[saxofunk]

Bill Mecca - good to know about Doc, I'll have to keep a closer eye on him when they come to town again.