[stevesklar]

I was curious how many mpcs ppl keep in their cases. I thought my selection was getting unduly too large as I don't actually play half of them much.

I have in my case, in a nice Cannonball accessory bag,
(tenor)
Tone Master
Selmer metal jazz
selmer metal classical
Couf J
JK J
Couf Artist
Couf streamline
Selmer S80

plus i keep others at home. i was thinking of widdling this down to only the mpcs I possibly need for a gig etc which would at most 4

 

[Jolle]

BergLarsen 115/2/SMS
BergLarsen 95/2/SMS (hardly used in fact)
Selmer GoldenTone (almost never used)
some vague unidentified mouthpiece that came along with my Raymond Dubois (almost never used)
A B&S mouthpiece that came with my Chicage Jazz series (never used)

Maybe I should just leave them at home.

 

[eddierich]

I have a Florida Link, Long Shank Soloist, and a Vandoren V16 in my tenor case. I almost always use the Soloist or the Link.

 

[milandro]

Sorry, I don't get this. Why would you want to bring all that many pieces with you in your case? OK, You have some at home, because of different styles of playing. Ok, you want to take one extra with you in case you drop or loose your piece of choice for the evening but..... 9 mouthpieces with you? Are you switching pieces during a gig?......Amazing!

 

[Dave dix]

lawton 7*b and a levelaire 7* both metal and i always use the lawton
Dave

 

[Jonathan C.]

Alto:
Runyon Custom 6
Selmer S80 C**
Tenor:
(2) Selmer S80C**
Otto Link STM 7 (hardly ever used)

 

[Isle of Jazz]

I've actually gotten to switching pieces during a gig, I know it's insane. If we're playing in a loud funk mode, I use the Reglein, it really cuts. But if we're doing some more old-fashioned R&B stuff I'm likely to put the Morgan on, or maybe the Bill Street. I keep my Yamaha 4c in my case for playing concert band, and the big link is for small jazz ensembles playing acoustically. It isn't strictly necessary, and it's possible that better musicianship would be reflected by the ability to play all styles with one set up. But I find it kind of fun and it keeps all the pcs in use rather than mouldering on a shelf someplace.

 

[milandro]

how about different horns too.....the idea isn't all that crazy when you seee what guitarists do.....but I still think that 9 mouthpieces in a case...... makes a good case to seek professional help! It is perhaps a wooden case? A NUT case! (let me tell you, this is meant in a jocular way )

 

[Reedsplinter]

Sorry, I don't get this. Why would you want to bring all that many pieces with you in your case? OK, You have some at home, because of different styles of playing. Ok, you want to take one extra with you in case you drop or loose your piece of choice for the evening but..... 9 mouthpieces with you? Are you switching pieces during a gig?......Amazing!

I tend to agree with this, though you do what makes sense to you. I never have more than 2 mouthpieces with me at a gig, and as it happens I never use more than one of them: my main piece is my RPC, and I usually have my old Berg SS as a backup (though sometimes the backup is a Link, and sometimes a Morgan, depending on the various moody kvetching I've been doing while practicing). If I were going on an extended road trip, as I used to do, I would take a gadget bag with more backup gear of all sorts.

 

[selmer]

i have 2 identical mpcs both RPCS. One in the case with the sax, one in my luggage ...just in case the first is stolen or whatever. It takes years to really get to grips with and get your own sound on a piece, so i don't know how you lot are managing with loads of different pieces!

 

[Reedsplinter]

i have 2 identical mpcs both RPCS. One in the case with the sax, one in my luggage ...just in case the first is stolen or whatever. It takes years to really get to grips with and get your own sound on a piece, so i don't know how you lot are managing with loads of different pieces!

I agree; that's another reason why I carry only 2 pieces with me. And piece #2 is always one that I'm very familiar with, even though I have moved "beyond" it. I'd have two identical RPCs as well, except I haven't quite justified the expense at this point, but what Selmer says makes complete sense to me.

 

[SOTSDO]

I used to keep only the one mouthpiece, an open Berg-Larsen stainless steel item, since it was unlikely that I would be breaking it under any conceivable circumstance. However, that was before the ebonite insert on one cracked and broke free - incisor edges on bare metal attached to a baritone sax do not a pleasant situation make.

Since that time, I've always carried two of the same mouthpiece, one to use and another one "just in case", this without any intent to "try something different for a given style of music. Unless I every decide to take up classical saxophone playing (which is not very likely, to be sure), they will continue to serve me just fine into the foreseeable future.

On clarinet and bass clarinet, I've always (since I first started playing for money) traveled with at least two soprano and two bass mouthpieces. I once (long ago and far away) lost the soprano mouthpiece I was playing at the time (crushed beneath a coaming in an elevator orchestra pit), and had to try to bum one for the rest of that evening. (it was a Sunday show, with nary a store open anywhere in blue law laden Missouri at the time.)

Since that time, I carry two identical soprano mouthpieces in the A/Bb case, and three for the bass in a carrying bag. (I do switch between C** and an extremely open G depending upon whether I am playing standard bass clarinet lines or pop/rock stuff). Even though Sunday closing laws are largely a thing of the past, trying to find a bass clarinet mouthpiece at any time can be a very trying experience...

 

[Matero]

One.

 

[CountSpatula]

Usually just my RPC 90R, why would you need so many mouthpieces...

 

[Frank D]

Jut the one I'm using. I use on or the other of my vintage pieces, and like the idea of having only one on me at a time "in case something happens", e.g. theft, loss, car accident, whatever. There have been times that I wish I had brought the other moutpiece, but that doesn't happen often enough to make me carry both around.

I have a couple of other playable pieces, but I don't feel the need to bring any of them as backup.

 

[bruce bailey]

Soprano - Super session E, S-80 D, Yamaha 5C
Alto - Super Session D, S-80 D
Tenor - Link Slant 6*, Brilhart Tonalite 4*, old Leleandais, Morgan Protone
Clarinet - Kasper 16, Vandoren Crystal A3, Selmer C* (that's right!)

 

[JL]

i have 2 identical mpcs both RPCS. One in the case with the sax, one in my luggage ...just in case the first is stolen or whatever. It takes years to really get to grips with and get your own sound on a piece, so i don't know how you lot are managing with loads of different pieces!

You just posted almost exactly what I was going say. I have one RPC that I use all the time. I keep a second mpc (a Ponzol) in a different case so if one case "walks away," I don't lose 'em both. My other RPC resides safe at home.

Interesting that most of those who use an RPC, only carry the one.

 

[Seasax]

only two

my strathon adjustatone
and my selmer s-80 D

 

[dstack79]

Just 2. I play on 2 different mpc's, but never switch mid-gig. 9 mpc's in your case?! Wow

-Dan

 

[CountSpatula]

Interesting that most of those who use an RPC, only carry the one.

What more could you ask for? Besides another RPC