[JohnMartin]

I am playing a vintage Martin tenor.
What mouthpiece is the way to go with such an old sax?

JohnMartin

 

[bruce bailey]

Almost anything. Otto Link, Brilhart, and one of my favorites....Meyer.

 

[JohnMartin]

Almost anything. Otto Link, Brilhart, and one of my favorites....Meyer.

Thank you Bruce for your answer. why do you like Meyer? I remember that most people find a HR Meyer not interesting for tenorsax

 

[bruce bailey]

Strange that for years I liked the alto Meyers and had never even seen one for tenor. One came up on ebay (6M) for under $100 so I gave it a shot. On any of my Martin tenors, it just has a nice full sound and responds very well in all registers. It appears to be an older one so maybe that helps but would be one to try. I am selling off most of my tenor mouthpieces and one to consider would be the Rico Graftonite or Metalite. They are quite cheap but work better than some costing hundreds. I use a .095" facing thus the A5 (large chamber) B5 (medium chamber) and M5 ( high baffle) which has the best edge. These are low priced at $60 for all three, which gives 3 different sounds without a change of chops. Some people like the M7 but at .105" it is just too open for me. I go for a mellow sound (thus the Martin tenors) and still like to have an edge when needed.
I have used these on a 20s Handcraft, 30s Imperial, 40s Comm II and 50s Comm III. I sold the HC, II and am selling the III as the Imperial seems to be the best for me. I played a lot of tenor in the 60s but now I am mainly an alto player. Back then, for tenor I had 3 Mark VIs, a Zephyr, SBA, etc. but the Martins are clearly the best tenor for me.