Why did everybody tell me to go with a little mouthpiece?

[Konrad]

A friend lent me an open mouthpiece. Wow! I've got no trouble with air, and finally I've got the sound I wanted.

I've got pretty big lips and a big jaw... Maybe that's the problem, but those little mouthpieces made me want to scrunch up like a prune. I just couldn't relax.

Also, my friend's got an Otto Link 5 something for sale. Is that fairly open? I don't think I need a huge mouthpiece, but something bigger than a Selmer C, that's for sure.

K

[Ritchie]

Otto Link 5 is more a medium-closed piece. A 7-8 would be medium-open, a 10 or bigger definitely open (for Jazz this is, classical saxophonists usually use the closed mouthpiece/hard reed combination). Open mouthpieces are often not really much harder to play, combined with the right reed strength. Extremely open mouthpieces usually have a longer facing curve and higher baffles to make them play easier.

[Konrad]

Thanks Ritchie!

[Dave Dolson]

Konrad: The title of your question corroborates my contention of the fallacy of recommending mouthpieces to other players. All we can do is tell you what WE liked, not what YOU will like.

The answers to the endless questions . . . "What mouthpiece will play on my No-Name alto?"; "Please recommend a soprano mouthpiece," etc. are of little value, in my opinion. I suppose we can all go out and try the ones others have listed, but in the end, only the player can pick a mouthpiece. Many models recommended on this forum have proven to be useless for me.

That you probably followed someone's advice about a closed mouthpiece is unfortunate, but all you lost was the price of the piece and you learned something - i.e., not to take too seriously someone else's advice on mouthpiece choices. Good luck. DAVE

[Mike Ruhl]

A #5 Link for tenor is a .080" tip - still pretty closed for tenor. But if you're used to a Selmer C (very, very closed tip), it might be just the ticket. Try it and see. Then you'll be an expert, too, and will be qualified to advised others on what they should be playing! :wink:

[colibri]

They tell you to go for a mouthpiece with a small tip because you may not have the embouchure and air to use a larger one. If the tip opening is too large for you, you'll lose flexibility like bending notes and will have intonation problems, noticeably in the high end. Low notes aren't easier to hit either. But as MikeR said, the #5 isn't big (I use way bigger tip than that on soprano). I'd say even a 6* is fine, but you might want to stick with it for a while before going bigger.