[simso]

Hey folks, new to the sax game and I love it. We have a few altos a tenor and a soprano plus a couple of clarinets and Its amazing how many mouthpieces you end up having laying around when you remove them for cleaning. Got cranky yesterday because theres nothing Ive found that You can buy of the shelf, so I made up a quick mouthpiece holder. It works fantastic, so I hope this may give other people some ideas. This piece will hold 9 Moutpieces and I made a holder for the cork grease as well. Its simply a piece of rectangular hollw section with 10 rivnuts inserted into the holes and plastic posts lathed up with a thread so they can screw in . The first item on the right is the cork grease holder, then Ive removed a mouthpiece so you can see the post and then theres two altos 2 clarinets and 1 soprano mouthpiece, I need to get a bit more plastic for the final posts.
Steve

 

[Sigmund451]

Nice. I hope your reeds are only on there for show and your not letting them dry on the mouthpiece. Warp, warp, bend, bend, twist!

 

[Martinman]

My friend has something kind of like this made to hold his 4 recorders, flute, and clarinet. It looks like some kind of sick torture device.

 

[simso]

Actually we dry ours a little bit differently. I play my sax and leave the reed on during the day as I play it, but at night I Remove my reed wash the reed and the mouthpiece, store the reed into a holder and let it dry and then I install a fresh reed on for the next day of playing, and sit it in the rack ready for the next day's playing. We remove our mouthpieces during the day to help allow the condensation get out of the instrument, put the mouthpieces on as we play the units. I find that if we store the mouthpieces with no reeds fitted ect, the kids dont play the instruments as much, laziness on there part. But I want them to learn and play so this is one way of making it easier for them.

 

[speyman]

What a system you have. Where do you find time to do that stuff? I'm so busy working stuff out on my horn I don't have time to do that king of stuff. My teacher handed me a double hand full of mouthpieces today for me to sell on Ebay. He didn't have a rack like that.

 

[simso]

Doesnt take long at all, you just got to think outside the square. The mouthpiece storage unit took about 15 minutes to make. But it took me about 30 minutes to make the pegs that go in there. But that being said each peg was custom sized for the mouthpiece that was going onto it, so thereoretically you could make a set of 10 pegs in 15 minutes as well if they were to be a standard size. On top of that I have a mig ,tig, oxy, lathe and mill at home so realistically anything can be made. Ive still got to modify the sax stand as my yanmy is getting repadded and I have a tenor on its way so I need to accomodate another 2 saxes into that unit and then maybe if the wifes not looking a baritone unit as well. For thirty years I loved the sound of saxes but never tried and never bothered learning, but after getting a sax for a birthday prezzy from the family, Ive fallen for these mystical devices. Damn they can become an obsession
Steve

 

[hakukani]

My gosh, it took me 25 years to have more than two saxes.

Steve, you may have GAS. (Ain't it great)

You also sound like a mighty handy fella (as in handyman). Got any business ideas that include like ummm, sax accessories?

 

[simso]

Hakukani, whats going on mate, slowing down a bit, the last post was a 3 minute response time, but this time its about an hour, no commitment or dedication thats what it is. Okay getting of the main topic here a little bit but ahh well.I make quite a lot of odds and sods and custom one offs for friends. What are you chasing or in the need of. And yes Ive become obsessed with these instruments "healthy obsession" well thats what I keep telling everyone. Im lucky in the sense that I have created a complete steel and wood workshop at home. There hasnt been a car in my garage for at least 10 years now. If you can draw it I can make it. The last custom thing I made was a cnc router, because I got sick of hand crafting little fiddly bits, so I made one big bit to do all that little tricky stuff.
Heres a pic to wet your whistle, the second photo is 26 routed pieces assembled together

 

[Chu-Jerry]

Steve, when you leave mouthpieces so close together like that they begin to multiply.
Soon it will end up looking like this:

 

[simso]

Holy **** batman. There having sex with each other, evreytime I relook at the photo there seems to be more than last time. Nice and simply laid out. Good pic, Why so many units and ps even with my limited experience you got some nice pieces there mate. Also teeth marks are very close to the end, I was under the assumption that you put alot more mouthpiece in then that. I am a newbie, so take it easy
Steve

 

[Chu-Jerry]

I've gained a lot of these pieces through my buying of vintage horns and restoring them for re-sale, (or to keep). Sometimes a horn will come in with a surprise of an interesting mouthpiece, which I naturally keep . If it's an original vintage mouthpiece that came with the horn from the factory, then I usually keep it together with the horn when I sell it.

I've only bought a few pieces new. 3 tenor, 2 alto, and 2 soprano.

The bite marks are nearer the tips for a couple of reasons, one: I've only been playing for a few years and my skill has progressed during that time. Many of those marks are old. Two: I tend to play with more pressure near the tip when playing the highest notes so that tends to leave more marks. When playing in the low ranges I have a more relaxed embouchure with just lip pressure, which doesn't leave marks. The lips of course seal much further along on the beak than where the top teeth rest.

I don't play most of these pieces, but many of them are different designs and have different tonal qualities so I like to switch once in a while for a different playing style, or just to remind myself of why my favorites are my favorites.