[JohnMarkPainter]

So it doesn’t Google well

What’s the consensus on these?
I recently got their hard rubber mouthpieces for Baritone and Soprano and like them.
Then I randomly found a good deal on their “Raptor” Alto but haven’t gotten it yet.

Of course if they work for me that’s all that matters. But I don’t know what I am doing (reading descriptions of mouthpiece construction doesn’t tell me much yet)

 

[vbluesman]

Their standard hard rubber blank is a good, solid mouthpiece and the student mouthpieces are an excellent value. I never got excited about the line of metal tenors, they play but like I said. They make mouthpieces for other companies also. The founder of Bari is a legend too, Wolfe Tanenbaum. (SP?)

 

[Lambros]

Their standard hard rubber blank is a good, solid mouthpiece and the student mouthpieces are an excellent value. I never got excited about the line of metal tenors, they play but like I said. They make mouthpieces for other companies also. The founder of Bari is a legend too, Wolfe Tanenbaum. (SP?)

Wolfe was very active in promoting them from the onset as well as offering his designs in the late 80's into the early 90's. I like the hard rubber soprano pieces with the metal shank even though the ligature fit of choice poses a challenge, nothing that trying out various ligs can't remedy.

 

[JohnMarkPainter]

Wolfe was very active in promoting them from the onset as well as offering his designs in the late 80's into the early 90's. I like the hard rubber soprano pieces with the metal shank even though the ligature fit of choice poses a challenge, nothing that trying out various ligs can't remedy.

Yep...my soprano came with a (generic?) lig that is terrible on it. It creeps up when you tighten it.
I'm going with a Rovner for the time being.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

I've used a Selmer Super Session on soprano for many years now, but before that I used (and still have) a Bari .068 and it's a very good mouthpiece. Like many of my peers, I got that one because Branford Marsalis used it for a while, and I've always loved his soprano playing. I like the Selmer a bit better but that Bari is solid! I've been curious about some of their other pieces from time to time, they're certainly affordable. One of my favorite Dallas tenor players, Shelley Carrol, used a Bari hard rubber for a while and sounded phenomenal on it.

But yeah... the Google factor for that poor company is pretty rough. They couldn't have predicted that the Internet would be a thing when they opened, I guess.

 

[Benjamin Allen]

BARI soprano mouthpiece are very good mouthpieces. You're fortunate to be playing on one. (It was my first soprano mouthpiece for the same reason HeavyWeather articulates but also because Tony Dagradi was playing one as well.)
Kind regards,
Ben

 

[Lambros]

I've used a Selmer Super Session on soprano for many years now, but before that I used (and still have) a Bari .068 and it's a very good mouthpiece. Like many of my peers, I got that one because Branford Marsalis used it for a while, and I've always loved his soprano playing. I like the Selmer a bit better but that Bari is solid! I've been curious about some of their other pieces from time to time, they're certainly affordable. One of my favorite Dallas tenor players, Shelley Carrol, used a Bari hard rubber for a while and sounded phenomenal on it.

But yeah... the Google factor for that poor company is pretty rough. They couldn't have predicted that the Internet would be a thing when they opened, I guess.

I have the older .068 as well, plays beautifully

 

[JohnMarkPainter]

Glad to hear I didn't screw up completely.
I semi randomly bought .068 because it was in the middle range of what they offered.

I have the older .068 as well, plays beautifully

 

[Lambros]

Glad to hear I didn't screw up completely.
I semi randomly bought .068 because it was in the middle range of what they offered.

How long have you've been playing it? I'd consider that tip opening to be medium-open as far as soprano goes.

 

[JohnMarkPainter]

Only a few days. There were a few Bari pieces for sale on eBay from .062-.074 so I went with the .068

I've got a Yamaha 4C and a Selmer S80 C* coming in the mail.
That should give me a few drastic comparisons.
The 'scoopability' of this .068 is pretty drastic.

How long have you've been playing it? I'd consider that tip opening to be medium-open as far as soprano goes.

 

[J-Moen]

I just picked up a Bari WTII for cheap, figured I'll give it a play test and see if I like it, haven't had the chance yet. Might come up for sale here in a couple days lol.

 

[mmichel]

BARI soprano mouthpiece are very good mouthpieces. You're fortunate to be playing on one. (It was my first soprano mouthpiece for the same reason HeavyWeather articulates but also because Tony Dagradi was playing one as well.)
Kind regards,
Ben

+1

It was my first soprano mouthpiece too, and is what I usually recommend as a "best value", along with the Morgan Vintage. I still have it and it still plays very well for me.

My only problem with it is that it has a relatively small circumference and thin beak for a HR mouthpiece and so finding a good ligature (i.e., one that fits well and doesn't cost more than the mouthpiece) is difficult. I've now owned quite a few soprano mouthpieces and the Bari plays much better than many mouthpieces that cost several times as much.

I haven't tried them on the other horns, but I know that Max Ionata has been playing one on tenor for a while.

 

[MojoBari]

The same Bari HR blank was used to make (now vintage) Ponzol and Barone sop sax mouthpieces and a few others. Except they did not have the metal sleeve over the shank like seen on the Bari mouthpiece.

 

[vbluesman]

When I worked for Bob Black at the Saxophone Shop we sold quite a bit of the HR Baris under the Accousticut name. We had a special model with a Selmer C* facing for the classical players. All of our rental saxes and clarinets had plastic mouthpieces from Bari and they played really well. Bob and Wolfe went way back with each other and when Wolfe had a new model or idea for something he'd very often send us a prototype. When he was playin around with the WT model which was supposed to have the facing he put on some Link mouthpieces he sent us one. I play tested the WT for a few days and got back to him. I told him the WT had more of a Berg vibe to it than a metal Link. He seemed a little disappointed to hear that. The mouthpiece had nothing in common with a metal Link mouthpiece other than his facing. I've never seen a WT Link model, they're very rare and desirable. Wolfe was a fun guy to talk to with his high pitched voice, in his later years he was still interested in innovating and experimenting which is something I admired.

 

[Lambros]

The same Bari HR blank was used to make (now vintage) Ponzol and Barone sop sax mouthpieces and a few others. Except they did not have the metal sleeve over the shank like seen on the Bari mouthpiece.

You're right; my old.068 and Barone NY look like virtually the same blank with the only meaningful difference is the shape of the window area (and the metal sleeve of course).

 

[HeavyWeather77]

I read years ago that one of my favorite players, Gary Thomas, was using Bari mouthpieces and reeds. Anybody know if this were ever true? In this (extremely awesome) video of him playing in John McLaughlin's group, he seems pretty clearly to be using a Strathon.

If any members lurking around here ever studied with Gary at Peabody, I'd love your insight! Not just about the mouthpieces...

 

[Lambros]

I don’t know if Gary played them and you would figure that he would be a featured promoter/artist of Bari if he did. In the old advertisements in Downbeat, I remember James Moody and Pharoah Sanders as featured Bari artists.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

I think Gary was a featured artist of Bari's for a while, right around the time I started getting obsessed with him (about twenty years ago... how time flies...) but I've only ever seen footage of him with a Strathon. At any rate, I ended up getting a Bari "hard" synthetic reed, and I actually kind of liked it! Still keep it in my case in case of emergencies. I'm generally not a fan of synthetics.

 

[Lambros]

I think Gary was a featured artist of Bari's for a while, right around the time I started getting obsessed with him (about twenty years ago... how time flies...) but I've only ever seen footage of him with a Strathon. At any rate, I ended up getting a Bari "hard" synthetic reed, and I actually kind of liked it! Still keep it in my case in case of emergencies. I'm generally not a fan of synthetics.

I'm going tp look into this, Gary is such a great player and in the early 90s I was getting into what he was doing along with Steve Coleman and Rick Magritza. Gary is playing a black lacquered T990 or T990u un the video as well.

 

[bakkiemetkoekie]

I like my clarinet Buddy deFranco Mouthpiece made by Bari very much.