[Tom Walsh]

hey guys

will be buying a new mouthpiece sometime very soon. whenever i want actually. i have the money just don't know what to buy.

very seriously contemplating the new drake mouthpiece coming out next month (his "stubbie" model). http://www.drakemouthpieces.com/Drake_Metal_Mouthpieces.html

after something that definitely plays on the darker side, sorta dexterish vibe. scooped sidewalls, large chamber, roll over baffle. i've played a few mouthpieces lately and finding that i really work well on that sort of setup. i have a current production tone edge 7* now which i like but i really get quite a bright contempory sound on it (the sort of typical NY modern jazz sound. if you know what i mean...). also i don't know why people complain about lack of volume on links... i must've played about 20 when i bought mine and there were some dogs (the one i bought has a super dodgy facing but i loved the sound) but regardless i could get LOUD on all of them.

i think the drake mouthpiece could work quite well for me but i'm just wondering about others suggestions/experiences. theres always stuff out there i haven't seen/heard of.

 

[Tom Walsh]

oh and if i end up getting the drake im thinking about a bigger tip opening (like a 9). hopefully that may darken the sound a bit...

 

[SeanZ123]

Have you played on a big opening before on Hard Rubber?

Those Drake pieces are phenomenal but I've seemed to notice they are "hit or miss".
Regardless they are great pieces! I've also noticed Drake pieces have a better quality in sound when at a larger opening for tenor and alto.

 

[gwd1]

Tom,

Check out the Sakshama "Shorty". It may be exactly what you're looking for...

They are killer!

Best,

Greg

 

[Thomas]

if you want a darker tone why not try a harder reed on your Tone Edge before buying another mpc...those TE can play quite dark.

 

[Tom Walsh]

Have you played on a big opening before on Hard Rubber?

Those Drake pieces are phenomenal but I've seemed to notice they are "hit or miss".
Regardless they are great pieces! I've also noticed Drake pieces have a better quality in sound when at a larger opening for tenor and alto.

yeah i've played a friends HR EB 9* for a few 3hr band rehearsals really liked it and wasn't getting fatigued

 

[SeanZ123]

Then sounds like you've made up your mind.
Worst case is you get it, don't like it, and refund it.

 

[Mike Cesati]

Can't help on the Drake I have not tried one. Klum Resotone is dark . I favor dark but there are times I wish I could be louder . I always wanted a loud dark mp but I haven't found it but I have had luck with Saxscape and the Klum and I had a Link TE for years that did just fine for a dark jazz tone .

I agree with Thomas that a change in reed both strength and type might be all you need before you pull the trigger on getting another mp. Advice I wish I had taken myself many times over

 

[Tom Walsh]

and thomas. i did give harder reeds a go. sound was darker but it still didn't really me what im after...

 

[Reedscraper]

I'd recommend the Drake. Aaron will tweak it for you if it is too bright or dark or whatever. I've bought two. Very responsive.

 

[Tom Walsh]

Then sounds like you've made up your mind.
Worst case is you get it, don't like it, and refund it.

yeah i pretty much have. was just interested in others thoughts and whether there were other alternatives i hadn't looked at

 

[Buck Laughlin]

There's a lot of good mouthpiece advice (281 posts worth) in this thread from just last summer: http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?161343-mouthpiece-search-coming-to-a-close.-YAY!

 

[florian]

Try mouthpieces in shops again and again and again, each time you have the chance. Buying blindly can result in burning a lot of cash (i know what i'm talking about). Everybody sounds different on a mpc, the one someone sounds dark with someone esle may will sound brighter with. So you have to check it for yourself. Also no 2 mpcs are the same even if brand and model and tip opening are the same (you know this from your Link search yourself).
Sean thinks more open tips are better if you take Drakes, i have some mpcs of Aaron in smaller and more open tips and my NY Alto 5 for example is much darker and better sounding than my 7.
Different pelayers, different opinions, different results.
Only you can decide. The trick really is to regularly try some at shops and than buy a mpc that you like because of the sound you actually produce with it. But if you are rich, than go ahead and burn the cash blindly. But don't expect us to know what you will sound good with.

 

[jlima]

The problem with trying mouthpieces in shops is that first impressions are usually very misleading. In my experience, a mouthpiece's full potential will only emerge after you've been playing it for at least 3-5 days, several hours a day. When you try a mouthpiece, (or even a saxophone), you usually don't like it because you're so used to the previous one that you have, although sometimes the new mouthpiece IS actually much better. Our body needs time to adjust. And them sometimes you love a mouthpiece the first time you play it but after a week or two you get tired of it because it's not flexible enough. Or sometimes you love a mpc (or hate it) but, although you don't know it, the secret is in the reed, not the mouthpiece. So many people quickly discard a mouthpiece just because the reed that they're using at the time doesn't work well, but a different reed would do wonders. However, they're not aware of that, so they look elsewhere. This can go on for months or even years. So what I'm trying to say is that you need to spend time with a mouthpiece and try many different reeds on it. That's the slow, hard way, but in my view it's the right way.

 

[Tom Walsh]

yeah ill just bite the bullet and order that drake mouthpiece. just need to decide on a tip opening... debating between 8 and 9, with his sizes its only 0.05 difference but still...

 

[SeanZ123]

I know more people who have gone with the 9, but for trying a piece go with the measurements you're used to.

 

[Nefertiti]

Tom, What happened to the Barone piece you got last summer? Did that not work out? I know you said you were going to get it but I never hear anything about it....................

 

[Tom Walsh]

I ended up picking up a used jazz 8 but I didn't like the beak profile so I passed it onto a friend. Great piece though. Just not for me

 

[Benny]

I'll be the guy to throw the spanner in the works here......

If you want to really change your sound, change your record collection and your concept.
A lot of guys get a new mpc, wanting a new sound, and they get it.....for a while. After that, they just start to sound like themselves again. So what do they do.....they get a new mouthpiece....and so it goes on.

Now, maybe this won't happen to you
But, my best teacher at college once said....

Get a horn that works
Get a concept of how you want to sound
Get a mouthpiece in the BALLPARK of that sound
Go away and practice for a few years and stop complaining.

Now I would say a modern link 7* is in the ballpark of a Dexter type sound.....what you do next is obviously up to you.

We live in a time where saxophone players want too many decimal places......


FWIW- I recently decided to give the 'change my record collection' advise a go......low and behold.......

 

[florian]

The problem with trying mouthpieces in shops is that first impressions are usually very misleading. In my experience, a mouthpiece's full potential will only emerge after you've been playing it for at least 3-5 days, several hours a day. When you try a mouthpiece, (or even a saxophone), you usually don't like it because you're so used to the previous one that you have, although sometimes the new mouthpiece IS actually much better. Our body needs time to adjust. And them sometimes you love a mouthpiece the first time you play it but after a week or two you get tired of it because it's not flexible enough. Or sometimes you love a mpc (or hate it) but, although you don't know it, the secret is in the reed, not the mouthpiece. So many people quickly discard a mouthpiece just because the reed that they're using at the time doesn't work well, but a different reed would do wonders. However, they're not aware of that, so they look elsewhere. This can go on for months or even years. So what I'm trying to say is that you need to spend time with a mouthpiece and try many different reeds on it. That's the slow, hard way, but in my view it's the right way.

And do you think this will not happen if you buy one blindly? I mean, having played it even once gives you at last a slight idea of its sound. I personally saved much money this way because i wouldn't have liked several i played in a shop which wouldn't have sounded better after 3 months. But you are right, you should check a mpc with many different reeds, maybe even different tip sizes and i personally also do recordings with them and play them in different rooms and (if the shop let me do it) take them home for some days to check them further.