[Richard901]

Yamaha 5C
Rico Graftonite B7
Rico Metalite M7
Yanagisawa Refaced
Otto Link Tone Edge 8
Meyer 9

 

[turf3]

I would not call a Yanagisawa, Otto Link, or Meyer a cheap baritone mouthpiece. I think they all run colose to $200. To me, those makes are what I would call "standard": standard in playing characteristics and design, and standard in price.

Yamaha 5C, Rico, those are what I would call cheap - of course the Yamaha though not hard rubber has the reputation of being way better than you would expect.

And then you have the sky's the limit pricing on pieces like Jody Jazz, Theo Wanne, etc., etc.

 

[vries1]

Thanks a lot for posting! I do agree with turf3 that a $200 mouthpiece can hardly be considered cheap.

Anyway, I recently tested a bunch of baritone mouthpieces to do intonation tests on my Couesnon bari. Of the mouthpieces I tested, 2 are featured in the Jay's video, and my experience was rather in sync with Jay's.

- The Yamaha 5C was a pleasant surprise to me. Easy to play, good tone (maybe a bit "middle of the road"), inexpensive, easy to replace - what's not to like?
- I found the Graftonite B7 an unpleasant blow: harsh tone, difficult response on certain notes like C#2. Didn't work for me. (Also didn't work for the bari buddy who lent me the piece.)

 

[LostConn]

T- The Yamaha 5C was a pleasant surprise to me. Easy to play, good tone (maybe a bit "middle of the road")

Feature, not a bug! If you could describe a good, reliable student mouthpiece in one phrase, it might be "middle of the road."

 

[1saxman]

The Link was the best for you by far. All the other ones were pretty much the same. Is this what you really sound like on bari? !sllab oN

 

[KeithL]

The Link was the best for you by far. All the other ones were pretty much the same. Is this what you really sound like on bari? !sllab oN

Yeah - I like Jay's videos and generally find them to be well done and informative. His bari sound is just not particularly well developed as his alto and tenor sounds are.

My biggest criticism of this video would be what LostConn is poking a bit of fun at above - he should have explained that the tip openings on these pieces are significantly different and they are aimed at different players and in many ways different types of music. The tip openings on the Meyer and Link are much larger than the others and so they make it easier to get a bigger, fuller, louder sound assuming you have the air support and technique to take advantage of that. A 13 year old (or parent of a 13 year old) who's been playing for two years and has been asked to play bari in 8th grade concert band is liable to view this video and decide to order a Link TE 8 or Meyer 9 because that what Jay sounds the best on not realizing the Yamaha is probably the piece they should be ordering.