I recently overhauled an old Yamaha 62 tenor and after setting it up I started testing the intonation and noticed everything was at least 20 cents sharp. So I messed with my corks because the pads I used are very thick. Nothing changed. Someone told me to try a different mouthpiece that mine was too short. I play on a Vintage Dau Han 4 hard rubber mouthpiece. So I slapped my good old selmer c star on it and bam played perfectly in tune. Now I bought my little brother this same mouthpiece because he loved it so much after playing on mine and he also plays a Yamaha tenor so I asked him if it made his horn sharp and he was like yeah I just adjust because I like the control of this mouthpiece better so I just deal with it. So my question for everyone is how can I make this mouthpiece work with my Yamaha? Or how can I figure out the specs on my mouthpiece to find someone to make me a longer one that will work with my horn? I really don’t want to give up this mouthpiece because I love it.
Dau Han Mouthpiece Information
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Very old soprano mouthpieces were rather short because the horns they were meant to be used upon were rather more short and they had an octave key closer to the end of the horn.
Often, if you try a modern mouthpiece on such horns you would find that even if you push the mouthpiece to touch the octave key you are playing flat.
Conversely, if you try one of the very short mouthpieces on a modern horn and you pull them to the point where it just about won’t wobble, they really cannot be played in tune.
You MAY attempt a thicker cork and to pull the mouthpiece ( before you change the cork you could maybe try some teflon tape to thicken the cork).
My hunch is that even then you would have some different tendency.
Modern horns are different from the ones of the time when these mouthpieces may have been made (I don’t know this particular one but you identify this as a very short mouthpiece) and in my experience they are not well suited to fit each other.
Often, if you try a modern mouthpiece on such horns you would find that even if you push the mouthpiece to touch the octave key you are playing flat.
Conversely, if you try one of the very short mouthpieces on a modern horn and you pull them to the point where it just about won’t wobble, they really cannot be played in tune.
You MAY attempt a thicker cork and to pull the mouthpiece ( before you change the cork you could maybe try some teflon tape to thicken the cork).
My hunch is that even then you would have some different tendency.
Modern horns are different from the ones of the time when these mouthpieces may have been made (I don’t know this particular one but you identify this as a very short mouthpiece) and in my experience they are not well suited to fit each other.
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Every Dau-Han mouthpiece that I've seen is a Riffault "bulb shank" with a peashooter chamber. A short piece with a small chamber, like the first mouthpiece pictured in this blog. There are later Riffault mps that are slightly longer with larger pea shooter chambers, like the second mouthpiece pictured in the blog. Over the years, Riffault made something for everybody. A Riffault #4 soprano facing would be 1.44 mm.
Unfortunately, when shopping for another Riffault or a vintage larger chamber it is difficult to tell what you are getting from a picture on the internet. And few of them would be embossed Dau-Han (if that matters). It is also possible that Dau-Han got mouthpieces from other fabricators. I've never been able to track down who or what Dau-Han was. Because they are not common, some think that they are rare or special (fifth picture here). As with many old mouthpieces, it's easy to pay too much for a standard Riffault with a little known embossing.
Mark
Unfortunately, when shopping for another Riffault or a vintage larger chamber it is difficult to tell what you are getting from a picture on the internet. And few of them would be embossed Dau-Han (if that matters). It is also possible that Dau-Han got mouthpieces from other fabricators. I've never been able to track down who or what Dau-Han was. Because they are not common, some think that they are rare or special (fifth picture here). As with many old mouthpieces, it's easy to pay too much for a standard Riffault with a little known embossing.
Mark
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2,607 Posts
To make it a little more confusing, the actual distributor's trade name might have been "Dav-Han." They appear to be for distribution in the U.S. and not Eastern European as I had guessed. Maybe Dav-Han was short for Dave and Hank's marvelous mouthpieces? Made in France, oui, but of course.
Mark View attachment 229726 View attachment 229728
Mark View attachment 229726 View attachment 229728
I appreciate all the information, I honestly don’t care about the “special” Dau Han significance, I really just like the way this mouthpiece plays. I am in Southern Louisiana and I heard there were two machinists out in the boonies around Lafayette who are making experimental sax mouthpieces so I have been toying with the idea of going to visit and chat to see if they would be able to make me a new mouthpiece with the same face and opening and lengthen the chamber? Because either way I end up I’m in the market for a new mouthpiece haha
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