I'm a saxophone student going to school for music in CT, and need my two Selmer alto mpc's refaced before September, which is when Fall semester starts. Are there any guys who aren't completely swamped with work and backlogged that can maybe help me out?
Good refacers that aren't swamped...
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Well, all I can say is if the refacer isn't swamped then he probably isn't worth hiring. The guys that get all of the business are the guys you want. Sometimes you just gotta wait for the good things to happen, or until you become the next Brecker and the mouthpiece guys come chasing you! Good luck!Saxofiend said:
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Contact http://www.mouthpieceguys.com. I emailed Erik who told me that he has about a three week turn around as of now. He might be able to help you. I've heard nothing but great things about Erik's work in this forum. He's currently working on one of mine now.
Well that's a given. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad these guys have tons of business; more power to them. But I'm looking for a good refacer that won't need 2 months to get the job done. I contacted Mojo, but he said he was backlogged. I'm just hoping to get my pieces worked on before ensemble auditions.
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Would this be like a maintenance check, or is there a problem with your pieces? I mean, if you're not happy with how they're cut, why not buy or trade for new ones. If you are happy with them, how is taking more off them going to help? Just wondering.
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Grumps said:
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Ditto. If you have two mouthpieces just use your main for now and send the backup out to get refaced by somebody worth waiting for (Brian Powell, Mojo, Erik G, EZ). Also you might want to wait until you're studying with your college professor and he might be able to better recommend a refacer or alternatives.Grumps said:
The two pieces are vintage selmer alto mpcs, and have this great vintage selmer sound I can't find with modern selmer pieces. They just feel a litttle too resistant, and the tip and rails are warped, making them really reed picky. They have great potential, though.
Note: I have two pieces because I use one for classical work, and the other for jazz.
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Thing is, being vintage, they might be worth something; and that will cease to be as soon as they're altered. There is no guarantee you'll like them any better once refaced, and then you'd be stuck with de-valued pieces. Just a word of caution, that's all. If it were me, I'd sell 'em to the folks that overpay for such items (assuming they haven't been altered already) and use the bread to find a piece that works right for me from the get go.Saxofiend said:
I'm not worried about the value of the pieces, because I'm not selling them. I like the core sound from them, and would just like to get them reworked and take care of the specific problems I have with them. I know what I want from these pieces, and a good refacer should have no problem taking care of them once I explain everything in detail. I was asking if it was possible to get some work done within a month timeframe. I'm just trying to find a refacer to discuss that with. Thanks for all your recommendations so far, btw.
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Now you're not, but you're young and there are no guarantees they'll come back to your liking; and once they're altered, they're considered damaged goods on the trade boards. I really only chimed in on this because you said you were a student (and I assumed you were young) and I'd hate to see you make a mistake based on the hype of perfecting mouthpieces you see on this site from time to time. You say your rails are warped, but visbly so? If so, has the piece been melted or damaged? No shame in trying to repair a damaged piece, but I wouldn't be so quick to alter one that isn't visibly in need of repair. Heck, I know mouthpiece makers that swear by a bit of unevenness as giving their pieces that bit of character. If you perfect yours, you might find they'll never play the same for you. This reminds me of the stories told to me by one of my favorite techs. He'll paraphrase one of his clients who sent their favorite piece to be worked on and would complain to him about it, and in his thick English accent he'd mimic, "You ruined my mouthpiece!" You see, he never understood why someone would send their favorite mouthpiece off to get worked on when it wasn't damaged or otherwise in need of repair. This isn't an attack at all, but just something to think on. Heck, I get bent out of shape when folks send the Buescher mouthpieces off to be made into something they're not... but taking the chance on two vintage Selmer pieces... Man, I just hope it's not in response to the hype you find here, but seeing as you're willing to send them off with quickness being your main concern... well, I just hope it's enough of a problem for you that you would risk destroying what you love about these pieces in hopes of improving them.Saxofiend said:
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Anything not worth doing is worth not doing wrong.
Playing an Airflow on alto is definitely an acquired taste. Be sure that if you have it worked on that you are incredibly specific about what you want changed about how the piece plays and what you want left alone.
I believe you did contact me on this and I'm just sorry that I just can't get to it sooner for you. I don't collect very many pieces for collecting sake, but the Airflows have me charmed simply for their elegant designs if not for their almost complete unplayability.
Playing an Airflow on alto is definitely an acquired taste. Be sure that if you have it worked on that you are incredibly specific about what you want changed about how the piece plays and what you want left alone.
I believe you did contact me on this and I'm just sorry that I just can't get to it sooner for you. I don't collect very many pieces for collecting sake, but the Airflows have me charmed simply for their elegant designs if not for their almost complete unplayability.
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Grumps, funny thing, you sound exactly like... Grumps!!
EZ, someone must have forgotten to tell your local light Donald Sinta that the Airflows are unplayable.
EZ, someone must have forgotten to tell your local light Donald Sinta that the Airflows are unplayable.
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Erik only has about a month of backlog now, you could try him if you want to get the work done.
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Grumps you're saying a lot truth there, regardless of whether Saxofiend benefits from it or not, or even needs the advice, for that matter. I think there's nothing wrong in getting pieces worked on, but that the # 1 ideal would be to find a piece that plays like you want and leave it alone. I got used to taking pieces to my friend Will Grizzle and he would always say, "Man are you sure you want me to f*** with this piece? What's wrong with it?" It took me a while, lots of $ and many mouthpieces to figure that if you like it and it works for you, then you should stick with it and forget about tweaking it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it........rant over!!!........darylGrumps said:
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you might try Paul Coats, he's also a member of this forum.
Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it. More about me: I'm finishing up my bachelor's in music education and will be certified soon. Hopefully, I will be attending grad school in the near future. I'm just at the point where I've been getting really specific about my tonal concept and what setup will help produce this aesthetic.
About the pieces, I use the air flow for jazz. It was opened up to about a D and had a slight epoxy baffle added (supposedly by the late Jon Van wie, but I'm not totally sure of this). The soloist is an unaltered C* long shank that I plan to use for my classical work. It has a great vintage selmer sound core, but it's too resistant for regular playing, so I've been using my s80 for legit work, although it doesn't have the complete sound quality I'm looking for. Both pieces have warped and uneven rails that are clearly visible.
I do understand everyone's concern, but I just wanted someone to analyze my pieces and discuss the problems I have and what I want with them. Hopefully then, we'd be able to discuss the actual work to be done. Erik from mouthpieceguys has contacted me back about this. Thanks anyways Ed, and I'm glad you have a lot of business to tend to.
About the pieces, I use the air flow for jazz. It was opened up to about a D and had a slight epoxy baffle added (supposedly by the late Jon Van wie, but I'm not totally sure of this). The soloist is an unaltered C* long shank that I plan to use for my classical work. It has a great vintage selmer sound core, but it's too resistant for regular playing, so I've been using my s80 for legit work, although it doesn't have the complete sound quality I'm looking for. Both pieces have warped and uneven rails that are clearly visible.
I do understand everyone's concern, but I just wanted someone to analyze my pieces and discuss the problems I have and what I want with them. Hopefully then, we'd be able to discuss the actual work to be done. Erik from mouthpieceguys has contacted me back about this. Thanks anyways Ed, and I'm glad you have a lot of business to tend to.
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