Mouthpiece tip-size question

2356 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Saxochist, Jun 15, 2007

pc1234

Discussion Starter · Jun 14, 2007

I have what is probably a silly question. Most mouthpieces I've seen come with measurements like .070 - .100 for alto, .090 to .105 for tenor, .100 to .125 for bari, and so on. But some manufacturers (like Yanigasawa, for one) appear to use numbers that just don't fit into this scheme. For instance, how would I translate a ".185" for baritone into the kind of tip opening size that you might normally see? This is for a classical baritone piece from a U.S. manufacturer, so I know they can't mean what I would usually associate with ".185" (or else you should be able to drive a truck through it).

Thanks.

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Dave Dolson

· #2 · Jun 14, 2007

pc: Mouthpiece makers use their own graduated designations to designate their tip openings relative to other tip openings among their own pieces. For instance, Selmer's C* is not as open as their C**, D, E, etc.

One maker's tip-designation has no relationship with another maker's tip-designations. For instance, Links use a numerical designator like 6*, 7*, etc. Selmer uses letters like C*, D, F, J, etc.

One needs a chart to identify the measurements and to compare one maker's D to another maker's 6.

WW&BW prints such charts in their quarterly catalogs. I think there are charts available on the Internet, but I don't know their addresses. DAVE

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Rick Adams

· #3 · Jun 14, 2007

I posted links to some good charts the other day on this thread. I hope they help.

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pc1234

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 14, 2007

Thanks, however I have tried looking at charts, etc., and it does seem that the way pieces are equated across manufacturers is to say what the actual tip measurement is -- whether it be in millimeters or some fraction thereof.

For instance, I know that a vintage NY Meyer 5 alto should be about a .78 or .83 (I've heard people say both), and that a Morgan Jazz 6 is a .75, while a Morgan Jazz 7 is a .80, etc. But occasionally, you get a maker like Yanigasawa who says that Yanigasawa alto 5 piece is a "170 (in 1/100 mm unit)." My question is, how do you run the conversion to get the "standard" measurement that is used by most other makers, and thereby place the Yanigasawa piece in the grand scheme?

It can't just be moving a decimal point in either direction, because that would result in a wacky number. (Note - I am only using Yanagisawa as an example. The piece in question in my particular case is a Ridenour Bari Pro classical piece, which the maker says measures "185" in the tip.)

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Rick Adams

· #5 · Jun 14, 2007

Well you could use an online conversion tool to convert between mm and thousandths of an inch and if a particular manufacturer used codes then you have to go to a chart and check what their codes relate to, that's it really!

http://www.convertunits.com/from/mm/to/inches

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pc1234

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 14, 2007

Great! That's exactly the answer I was looking for - it's just a matter of converting hundredths of a millimeter to thousandths of an inch. I knew it had to be something straightforward. Thanks.

(Also see http://www.saxophone.org/facings.html, which I found a few minutes ago).

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brianpowell

· #7 · Jun 15, 2007

One inch=25.4 mm. Yes, tip openings are expressed by some manufacturers in mm, especially clarinet facings. I use a graduated tapered tip wand in mm, and also a thousandths plug. So in the case of a piece with a tip opening of 1.85 mm: 1.85/25.4= .073"

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bruce bailey

· #8 · Jun 15, 2007

Or 1.0mm will be about .039". If a mouthpiece is metric at 2.0, it should be about a .078". 1.75 would be about a .070".Don't worry about being too exact as any mouthpiece can be off from the charts. For Alto I generally like something in the .075 range whereas on Soprano and Tenor, I can go more open or more closed. Factor in the chamber and baffle mods and it can affect the tip BUT trying mouthpieces in the general tip opening you use is a good start.

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