has anyone used yanagisawa metal for tenor?
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
They're pretty bright. I have three of them and all of them have had the throat completely scooped out. It really fattens the sound, but keeps that killer high note response.
They are well made mouthpieces, but I think they are better for commercial/pop/rock than straight ahead jazz.
They are well made mouthpieces, but I think they are better for commercial/pop/rock than straight ahead jazz.
Yeah removing the throat material to the point that it's close to even with the straight side walls really fattens the sound, the baffle remains untouched so you get the easy high notes and the fat bottom notes. Lots of punch with a warm sound. A stock Yani however isn't my cup of tea. I found the stock pieces with the square throat to sound brittle and hard.
I found an early Yani 9 that had the throat and a little bit of the chamber scooped out and also the facing appeared to be more hand worked and this is where I got the idea to start doing this. I snatched up a used 7 and 9 metal tenor piece on Ebay and did the work myself to make them resemble the old 9 I started with. Maybe I should take some pictures of the pieces. It takes a lot of hand work to remove the brass with an assortment of files. I've thought about selling them, but they're kind of unique, so I doubt I'll let them go.
I found an early Yani 9 that had the throat and a little bit of the chamber scooped out and also the facing appeared to be more hand worked and this is where I got the idea to start doing this. I snatched up a used 7 and 9 metal tenor piece on Ebay and did the work myself to make them resemble the old 9 I started with. Maybe I should take some pictures of the pieces. It takes a lot of hand work to remove the brass with an assortment of files. I've thought about selling them, but they're kind of unique, so I doubt I'll let them go.
These are some photos of the first Yani I bought off of ebay. It was the model that I used to modify my two other newer yani 7 and 9's. As far as I know this is an older Yani and hasn't been touched by a mouthpiece tech. I wouldn't call it clean work by any stretch of the imagination, but you can clearly see if you have a stock Yani on hand it doesn't have the square throat that the current Yani's have. I basically replicated this with the two other pieces using files and sand paper wrapped around various round objects. You can see the the chamber takes a dip right after the baffle ends as well, this isn't the case with the current yani's as they have a gradual slope until they get to the end of the chamber and into the square throat where it would normally make a sharp drop off into the bore. Other than that the bore is the same size as the current pieces. The facing is a hair longer than the current pieces and as such the low notes just fall out of this older Yani 9. It's not hard to blow at all.
I tried to take more pictures of the new Yani's that I worked on but my camera needs new batteries and the quality of the pictures were pretty crappy.
It's my personal opinion that if Yani made pieces like this old one again they'd have a much more popular piece on their hands.
Photo album of the older yani 9: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1914090
I tried to take more pictures of the new Yani's that I worked on but my camera needs new batteries and the quality of the pictures were pretty crappy.
It's my personal opinion that if Yani made pieces like this old one again they'd have a much more popular piece on their hands.
Photo album of the older yani 9: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1914090
Joined
·
5,920 Posts
They're actually not bad. Philmjs10 said:
That's because there's more quality in the production of the yani pieces. They aren't perfect, but they're hardly the mess that a lot of other off the shelf pieces are. Of course a new Yani tenor sells for $200 or more.
It's higher than an STM, but for some reason once you scoop the throat it's really not all that bright. It doesn't have a high enough baffle that it causes control problems and it can be played at a softer volume without thinning out too much. Of course you're not going to be playing classical music with this piece. It would work well in a situation where blend wasn't so important. A rock gig would suit this piece well. So would a quartet where you're playing balls to the wall ala Booker Ervin.
The baffle is medium-ish, if I remember correctly, and the chamber is pretty small. This gives the sound a nice focus, similar to my Berg, but it's smooth where the Berg is gritty. My impression was that it was nice. Maybe a little too nice.
Joined
·
1,517 Posts
I played on one for about two years. In retrospect I think it was very bright but I was playing mostly pop gigs in those days. It really cuts through a lot of guitar noise. I agree with the other posts about it being much better after you scoop the throat. I don't remember it being Bergish at all. More Dukoffish. For full disclosure I was using a 9 with a #4 Hemke. Your millage may vary.
Joined
·
1,327 Posts
I spent some time on a metal yani 9. It's VERY easy to play. It's easy to play in tune at any dynamic. And it's very focused but not necessarily bright. In fact, I consider it a very focused medium dark/bright sound. But focused enough to get a smooth jazz sound. It's easier to sound like a dark Boney James on the Yani than it it is to sound like Bob Mintzer It's a poor man's guardala that's safe enough for all types of playing.
But most of all...it's generally safe, sterile, and cold compared to other middle of the road mouthpieces available.
But most of all...it's generally safe, sterile, and cold compared to other middle of the road mouthpieces available.
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
