Hi guys. I bought an 82ZU earlier and the year, and I obviously love it. Unfortunatley, I'm still on that seeming never ending quest for the perfect piece to fit it and match what tone I'm going for. I currently have a LINK STM 7*, which I loved for years, and the dark tone and large chamber really seems to balance out the Z's edgy, overlight bright tone, however I can't hit altissimo to save my life on it, and it just doesnt have that chainsaw bite I'm looking for when I need it. Currently I've been trying a Runyon Quantum .120, and while I like edge and bite I get on it, the .120 facing is just far too wide for me and too difficult to control intonation, not to mention its lower register isnt as full and fat sounding as the link.
I talked to a couple of pros around the New Orleans area I live (no, NOT steve goodson, for obvious reasons), and the pieces that seem to shout out to me from them are the SR Fusion, SR Pro, and the Guardala MBII. The Fusion and Pro come in .108 and .115 options (with the Fusion having a high baffle, large chamber and the Pro having a medium baffle, medium chamber), and from my experience thinking .120 is just too open for me, I think something in that ballpark of .108 to .115 would be perfect for me. Unfortunately, I spent hours researching the MBII, and while the general consensus I'm finding on the boards here is that the Guardala is superior across most aspects when compared to the SR's (and for the same price range), I can not for the life of me find the tip opening for the current run of laser trimmed MBII's if I were to buy one from WWBW or Music123. I need to know this bc if it's only offered in .120 I'm obviously not going to go with it. What do you guys think or know? Im just looking for something that will beefen up that thinner, unique tone that my Z offers, while having altissimo's pop no problem with a versatile piece in that price range. Will I notice a huge difference in the problems I'm having by going from .120 to .115, or is the .108 a better option from what I described? I play on the RJS 3S reeds, but I've been having such inconsistences with those things coming out the box I'm thinking of just switching back to the green box Java's.
Thanks so much guys!!
I talked to a couple of pros around the New Orleans area I live (no, NOT steve goodson, for obvious reasons), and the pieces that seem to shout out to me from them are the SR Fusion, SR Pro, and the Guardala MBII. The Fusion and Pro come in .108 and .115 options (with the Fusion having a high baffle, large chamber and the Pro having a medium baffle, medium chamber), and from my experience thinking .120 is just too open for me, I think something in that ballpark of .108 to .115 would be perfect for me. Unfortunately, I spent hours researching the MBII, and while the general consensus I'm finding on the boards here is that the Guardala is superior across most aspects when compared to the SR's (and for the same price range), I can not for the life of me find the tip opening for the current run of laser trimmed MBII's if I were to buy one from WWBW or Music123. I need to know this bc if it's only offered in .120 I'm obviously not going to go with it. What do you guys think or know? Im just looking for something that will beefen up that thinner, unique tone that my Z offers, while having altissimo's pop no problem with a versatile piece in that price range. Will I notice a huge difference in the problems I'm having by going from .120 to .115, or is the .108 a better option from what I described? I play on the RJS 3S reeds, but I've been having such inconsistences with those things coming out the box I'm thinking of just switching back to the green box Java's.
Thanks so much guys!!
