tenor

[luther66]

hi all just became a member about 10 mins ago so here it goes
i was learning on an alto for 3 months and was just finding myself and getting related to this wonderful instrument but i wasnt happy with sound so now i have a tenor and its wonderful, thing is it came with a standard mouthpiece and im not at all sure about mouthpieces but i use a vandoren 2 reed and this mouthpiece seemed a little too open and i was getting a really breathy sound when i didnt want it in the notes to be honest i practice every day and i have a few songs to my repitoir already can anyone tell me how i tell the difference with the numbers that are assighned to mouthpieces just one other thing i think ive made a big mistake as i won a bid on a certain otto link super tone master metal mouthpiece and its an 8 i expect this is hard blowing considering the high number but please any info at all will be appreciated
thanks
luther

[Dave Dolson]

Luther: Welcome on board.

I think it would be helpful if you described your saxophone and the mouthpiece you are using. Some new saxophones come with pretty awful mouthpieces, some not so bad.

The Link you bought should be a good one, but we are all different and what works for me may not work for you, especially at your level compared to mine (or other experienced players).

Many problems may be associated with a particular reed. Not all reeds are equal, either. Some need some adjustring - all could use a proper break-in.

Also, you need a teacher - or someone close to you who knows how to play. A few lessons, if you are not doing so now, could do wonders for your development - and would serve to correct playing and equipment errors. DAVE

[gary]

Welcome Luther! I and I'm sure others would love to help you out, but you gotta give us a little more to go on OK? What kind of mouthpiece came with the sax? Give us all the markings, numbers, names etc that you can find and maybe then we can help more specifically.

Regarding the Link #8 it is very likely more than you can handle at the moment and your stock mpc might be just as good as anything else you might need. You could keep the Link or try selling it here on the forum when you get it, but I'm almost sure it's too much for you.

Oh, BTW...could you please use periods and make complete sentences? This is an international forum and everyone is not familiar with American-internet speak. Thanks.

edit: well it seems Dave and I were writing at about the same time..I'll leave my post unedited, though, because some of it supports Dave's suggestions.

[Dave dix]

If your original mpc is the stock one with the sax then there is a huge difference in size, try the link with a 1 strength reed and work up from that, you may find it a struggle at first or maybe not,
Dave

[Ruediger Kramer]

the 2 strength reed should be very wet

[luther66]

thankyou for your information
the mouthpiece does not have any markings or names. The sax is a stag it wasnt expensive but my teacher grades it as excellent.Staying on the subject of my teacher he did advise me that the mouthpiece is ok for me i can play the mouthpiece ok im just looking for a more reedy fuller sound.Just to give you a bit of my experience ive been a proffesional singer for 15 years and decided to learn the sax as an extra bonus and also ive allways loved the sound.To be honest i think i have a head start from new pupils as i have 15 years of breath control. i had no problem blowing and making a sound the first time i picked a sax up and i can hold a G1 for around 20 seconds,i dont know if thats good but it sounds a long time.Thanyou for reading my post
luther.
ps im english from the north east of england !

[gary]

Thanks for a little more info, Luther. And, again, welcome. I think you've got a good head-start with your background, like you said; just a few extra comments.

IMO any mpc that requires you to start with a #1 reed and work your way up in strength, is too big a mpc. That's just too big a ratio between tip opening and reed strength to be productive. I'm sure Dave is just giving you a little bit of damage control, since you've already bought the Link #8, and not making a broader recommendation -that folks make such a large jump in tip sizes that they must revert to #1 reeds.

That being the case, I would put your new Link in a drawer and come back to it in a year or two, in the meantime learning to control your playing better and with a mpc/reed combination that promotes better control throughout the range of your horn. By that I mean, a #1 reed on a Link 8 is likely to give you a weak upper register with intonation problems, whereas, i.e., a HR Link #6 with a 2.5 reed will give you better over all control.


QUOTE=luther66 "ps im english from the north east of england"...a fascinating region where Capitalisations and punctuations have obviously been extracted from the language by invading Picts and Scots, LOL. :D

[luther66]

thanks for that gary i was in mind that the new mouthpiece would be useless to me at the moment but it is beautiful and ill store it for future sample.Just one other point on my message that wsnt answered was what is the size numbers on mouthpieces anyway you know like 5 and 5* and so on.Does this measurment count for the opening or the size of the chamber or the length of the whole thing.Anyway thanks to all and ill keep posting as time goes by and ill let you all know when im on tv (ha ha just dreaming).
bye for now

[gary]

Luther, the number refers to the different tip-opening categories of respective mouthpieces but it is not the size of the opening, per se.

By that I mean, Meyer might have the categories 5 or 6 and those refer to two different tip opening sizes. Another manufacturer may call their model a 5 or 6 but the tip openings may not be exactly parallel to Meyer 5's and 6's.

This also depends on which sax the mpc is for. I.e. a Meyer Alto 6 is not the same tip opening and a Meyer Tenor 6. Take a look at this chart and you will see what I am talking about:http://www.saxophone.org/facings.html

The numbers in the blocks on the horizontal lines are the numbers given by the various mpc manufacturers for their products. Across the top of each chart is the actual tip opening measurements. You will also notice that Selmer, i.e. uses Letters and not numbers.

Generally, these designations have nothing, in and of themselves, with the size of the chamber. This is not quite true for all mpc manufacturers, but for your purposes at the moment, just keep them seperated in your mind.

[luther66]

thanks again gary i see the measurments are they in mm also if i had my otto faces to this size ie 5 what i mean is could my otto be machined by someone to a smaller size by taking a fracton off the facing what do you think.By the way i have a sample of my first recording of the tenor after playing it for 3 days and after only playing an actual sax for 4 weeks do you have a mail adress i can send it to you i would like your experienced oppinion if its ok
luther

[Dave dix]

Luther here is a link to mpc comparrison charts for many different makes, they are in thousanths of an inch http://www.bill-lewington.com/charts/tnrsax.htm
Dave

[gary]

.By the way i have a sample of my first recording of the tenor after playing it for 3 days and after only playing an actual sax for 4 weeks do you have a mail adress i can send it to you i would like your experienced oppinion if its ok
Luther, you're more than welcome to send it to me (jazzbeau42@gmail.com) but I don't know what I would say. This is a pretty short time to have been playing. If you have any faults, your teacher may have already given you the solutions and you only need practice and time to overcome them. Also please keep in mind that I could only comment on your sound if you are recording on high-quality equipment. You might want to wait a month or two and send something then. But I'm not saying don't send anything, just that you might want to give it a second thought at the moment.

Dave thanks. :| I posted my message without inserting the chart url (which I've now added).