A quick picture would help - are you saying that the mouthpiece will not go on far enough?

If a little warmup gets in tune, isn’t that where you want to be?

It sounds like you need to sand the cork - if that’s the case you don’t need to recork. Just put masking tape on the neck beyond the cork (to prevent scratching the finish, then sand it down, making sure to maintain a cylinder, not a cone.

P.S. and OBTW: Congrats on finding the mouthpiece of your dreams so early. Many here are still looking after decades.

 

Afraid to say I just put my horn away, but I can describe it. It is as though the mouthpiece simply does not go any further towards the neck, perhaps it is being stopped as the chamber narrows? The sanding is a great idea, I will speak to a sax instructor at the camp today about that.
Thanks for your response,
Emmet Fettig

 

I dont think it is the mouthpiece if it eventually gets in tune. If the chamber was wrong it would be wrong all the time. Id it were dead winter Say maybe…and if it were a metal mouthpiece maybe. Now if your tuner says your flat you might need to modify something.

 

@Emmet Fettig If you are at jazz camp, talk to one of the sax instructors. If you came to me with this problem, I would take my lil’ fixit box out of my gig bag, and get the strip of sandpaper that is reserved just for this issue. I try to maintain my horns at home, but it wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve helped someone else at a rehearsal or at a gig.

 

Cold horns play flatter than warm horns. That's just the way it is.

 

Guess I’ll install a heater in my sax 🤣. But still, thanks for the reminder. I’ll make sure to push a lot of warm air through my horn before playing.

Thanks,

Emmet Fettig

 

if it is only a question of the cork / shank diameters and NOT embouchure, then fyou can modif the cork with a strip of fine sandpaper, or alternatively open up the inside of the mpc by wrapping the sandpaper around the cork and carefully sanding the INSIDE of the mpc - i've done this myself a few times.. However you need to be sure that it is not related to e.g. a larger tip/chamber opening and your (currently unadjusted) embouchure..

 

I would think that being sharp could be an embochure problem, but mine is quite developed. I do not want to risk pinching trying to get the pitch up.

Thanks,

Emmet

 

Yes, The quite developed embouchure coupled with not knowing how to tell whether the mouthpiece is bottomed out and still flat or just a too-tight fit on the cork to tune properly scream for in-person intervention. Have fun at band camp.

 

Ernest Ferron in "The Saxophone is my Voice" gives a chart on how temperature affects pitch which is based upon the speed of sound. He writes that the pitch changes 1 "comma" (23.46 cents) for each 10° F change in temperature which can be interpreted to mean that the pitch changes 2.35 cents for each 1° change in temperature. I found a quick way to warm up my saxophone was to finger low Bb and blow warm into the neck until the bell felt warm to the touch.

 

What does he say about adjusting the cork?

 

'My cork is already quite small, and I won't be able to get it recorked this week'

This is a problem - you have established a contradiction in terms. If the mouthpiece won't go on far enough, the cork is too thick. If the mouthpiece is too loose, the cork is too thin. You say the mouthpiece won't go on far enough and the cork is already quite small - this doesn't add up.
I would love to help you but first you have to give a better explanation of exactly what's happening.

 

There should be three photos below. Two of them are of my Selmer neck (the one that is of concern in this thread). A picture of it sideways and head on show that the cork is quite thin, on the head on view the cork really isn’t even visible. In this second neck that I have, the cork is visible from the head on view.

 

You have stated in another thread that your father is a pro musician/saxophonist/music educator.
Have you asked HIM what he thinks your problem might be?

 

You have stated in another thread that your father is a pro musician/saxophonist/music educator.
Have you asked HIM what he thinks your problem might be?

+1. Emmet, since your description is not very clear--"cork is quite small"??--It's difficult for us to advise you remotely on here without knowing exactly what the problem is, so get someone like your father to have a look. Bottom line, you need to be able to push the mpc in or out to a position where you can play in tune.

 

Sounds like a great plan. "Hey, I'm out of cork. Somebody turn up the heat in here!"

 

Hey whatever works 🤣

 

This goes back to what I asked before (See post #8): Is the problem with the neck bottoming out in the mouthpiece, or is it the cork?

Have you taken this question to any of your band camp staff?

If the neck is bottoming out in the mouthpiece, sanding the cork is the wrong answer - and so is sanding out the bore of the mouthpiece. I had a similar incompatibility on my sop several years ago. My favorite mouthpiece on my Selmer Serie III and Yanagisawa SC-992 sops, a Lamberson Fmaj7, would not tune on my Borgani Jubilee. I found a new favorite mouthpiece, a Phil-Tone Sapphire, that worked on the Borg'.

Bottom line: Don't proclaim a mouthpiece to be the "mouthpiece of my dreams" until you find out whether it is compatible with you and your horn.

 

Dr G makes a good point. I've never encountered the problem of a mpc bottoming out on the neck but if that's the case, it's an entirely different issue. Without the neck and mpc in hand, it's hard for us to diagnose the problem.

 

@Emmet A. Fettig Can you take another couple of images of the mouthpiece where you currently have the issue: one showing the remaining cork on the neck, and one shot of the interior of the mouthpiece (remove the reed) to see if the neck is bottoming out against the mouthpiece.

Or if you just look, you may not need to post any images because you'll see what's going on.

 

The next thread will be; "HELP I messed up my neck while my Dad was on a motorcycle trip!"

DO NOTHING UNTIL SOMEONE WITH MORE KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE CAN SEE WHAT THE 'PROBLEM' ACTUALLY IS.

 

At least no one has mentioned how effective a rasp can be for shaping the cork.

 

Uhhh ... well, they are pretty efficient if you know how to use them, although they leave the cork a tad tattered. 8-}

 

I have had a few clients who had me increase the back bore length in sop sax mouthpieces that were bottoming out. I don’t recall doing on alto but I may have for someone.

I do recall several instances where clients jammed their Meyer mouthpieces on to the point where the brass stiffener ring on the neck end was pulled off and left itself inside the mouthpiece throat. One mouthpiece had two rings in the throat!

I had to grind them out with a Dremmel.

 

I have had a few clients who had me increase the back bore length in sop sax mouthpieces that were bottoming out. I don’t recall doing on alto but I may have for someone.

I do recall several instances where clients jammed their Meyer mouthpieces on to the point where the brass stiffener ring on the neck end was pulled off and left itself inside the mouthpiece throat. One mouthpiece had two rings in the throat!

I had to grind them out with a Dremmel.

Did you try a rubber compression grommet? They sometimes work. You stick it in, tighten the screw to expand the rubber and then pull out the entire thing. I've used those to hang things from the ceiling. Another option might be wall anchors.

 

You can bring up the pitch by reducing the interal volume of the mpc. Best to do this in the chamber so as not to change the playing characteristics too much. You can try temporarily using some chewing gum. Put some soft gum in the back of the chamber and smooth it down so that it isn't a lump. This is only if your mpc is full on the cork and bottoming out. Otherwise you should adjust the cork so that the mpc will go on further.

 

Let me explain my position quickly. I bought the D'addario jazz select marble, and it is the mouthpiece of my dreams, the search seems to be over. However, I have a jazz camp this week, and the mouthpiece barely plays high enough. A cold start leaves my horn flat, a little warm up gets it back up to in tune. My cork is already quite small, and I won't be able to get it recorked this week (if that would even do anything?). So, is there any possible temporary fix to make my sax sharper?

Thanks,

Emmet Fettig

Hit it with cork grease everytime you take it out and then again when you put it away. Don't sand as there is no turning back

 

It's very easy and cheap to replace, so I wouldn't worry to much about that.