[maestroelite]

I have 2 Fibracells for bari and 2 mouthpieces - a Rico Metalite M9 and a HR Otto Link Erik Greiffenhagen opened up to .110 and maximized the baffle on. I had been using the medium hard on the Link and the medium on the Metalite, but neither is QUITE the right strength so I'm looking for something in the middle. The metalite plays easy but gets closed up when I start to really blow, and the Link is too hard to play softly although it really gets some volume.

According to the chart on the Fibracell site, I should probably go for 3.5-4. Has anyone already gone through this? WWBW only stocks a 4, but I just don't want it to be too hard.

 

[dirty]

I played a Fibracell MH on my M9 for awhile, but eventually my local shop stopped stocking the MH and switched over to the numbered ones. I think I ended up with a 4, which was the right strength, but, to my ear, was too bright, crisp and brittle sounding. I've since switched over to Rico Royal #4, which are a little harder to play, but, for me, yield a thicker, fuller tone.

I actually may be moving away from my Metalite ( :shock: ), just because I've been playing a Link on tenor lately and am finding that I now tend to blow too bright for this one, so I compensate by using hard reeds. The last period of time when I played bari a lot was back when I used a Berg on tenor.

 

[maestroelite]

I think I'm going to be using the Link for my audition and hopefully playing. There will be 3 spots open in the top big band at my university and I'm shooting for the bari part. The Metalite is more of a "just in case I need to wail extra loud" kind of thing. I may just try the 4 and see how it goes. I hope its not too much of a tonal difference, I really like where I am on the Link, its just a little too much stiffness right now.

 

[Martinman]

Where did you end up going to school?