Sax on the Web Forum banner

Inexpensive mouthpiece patch material - works for me

6K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  ErikJon 
#1 ·
I recently bought a couple of rolls of polyurethane protective tape (aka "helicopter tape") to use as mouthpiece patches. The rolls I bought had no brand name, but I've seen others made by 3M (product number 8671). To me, the patches I've made feel about as tough and thick as the Yamaha patches I have used.

A 1-meter roll can make over 50 patches if you use a single layer. A bargain at around $7 a roll. I haven't got much mileage on them yet, about 20 hours of play time on alto, tenor and double that on soprano. So far, they've held up very well.

I do a lot of refacing work, and over the years, I've always looked to an inexpensive way to protect mouthpieces from teeth marks. Up until now, I've tried different types of patch materials without the best results, but these look promising so far.

Credit for this find goes to Morgan Fry, who brought it up on MojoBari's mouthpiece refacing Yahoo group. Thanks Morgan!

- Jorns
 
Discussion starter · #2 ·
Almost 4 months of playing and I haven't had to replace one yet. I've got fairly even, smooth front teeth but I still can't believe that this stuff has held up as well as expensive patches I've used before.

Anyone else tried it?
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Having just spent good money on a pack of mouthpiece patches I'm annoyed that I didn't think of this! Down to the hardware store tomorrow to get a roll of tape.

Thanks! :)
I've tried a few different types of tape from the hardware store, but nothing off the shelf was tough enough. I've only found "helicopter tape" on-line.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
"Inexpensive mpc patch material."

I've never seen any expensive patch material. About 2 years ago, I bought a packet of 4 patches for maybe $4, I put one on my mpc, and it's still on there. I still have the other 3 patches. Maybe in about 10 or 15 years I'll have to get some more...
JL, obviously you do not have a need for this sort of thing, but some folks besides myself just might.

As I stated in the original post, I do a lot of refacing work and testing of mouthpieces. I usually need 10 or more patches every month. And, I don't have just one mouthpiece. I play on around 12 mouthpieces between all my horns (nino, C-sop, soprano, alto, C-mel, tenor, bari, bass with separate setups for classical/jazz/rock on some of them). Also, I have a modest collection of vintage pieces, and they all need to be protected.

For the cost of one package of four Yamaha patches, I can buy enough material for 50 patches. Plus, I like the material better than any of the patches I've tried over the years.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top