[rolirebu]

I started a thread about a Vintage Otto Link vs a Modern one the other day, and the topic refacing came in question. So i thought lets start a new thread about refacing.

I like the sound and tip openning (7*) I got right now, but could the mouthpiece be improved by having it refaced/ checked over by a professional?

Any experience/ suggestions on this matter?

Regards!

 

[Isle of Jazz]

You could get it checked over and analyzed — then you could decide on either having it "perfected" or, if it checks out okay, you'd be able to play it with confidence. Mojo will do this and you'll know in a week whether refacing is a good idea. Other refacers probably offer a similar service but I've dealt with Keith and can personally recommend his work. If I were in Europe, I think I'd definitely check out Morgan Fry.

 

[jicaino]

A good link can always be perfected.

 

[Smokey613]

On the Link.... I can recommend http://www.phil-tone.com/ I purchased one of his refaced Link Tone Edge mouthpieces. Very nice work and a great guy to deal with.

 

[Phil Barone]

It's very unlikely that anything is wrong with your mouthpiece. The JJ Babbit Company has been in business almost a hundred years and they've managed to perfect the process of manufacturing their mouthpieces to the point that they don't need anything. Now, if you have a complaint about the way it plays that's a completely different story. It can be made to play a little darker or brighter or free blowing or whatever by manipulating the mouthpiece but there is nothing wrong with it contrary to people with an agenda.

I've been working on and making mouthpieces for almost thirty years and I have never seen a mouthpiece from that company that had a an actual defect in it. Furthermore, you'll get a very small result by working on the facing because the majority of the sound is determined by you, namely how you phrase, the reed, then the reed, mouthpiece, more specifically the chamber, not the facing, last is the facing, then the neck, then the sax itself. Phil Barone

I started a thread about a Vintage Otto Link vs a Modern one the other day, and the topic refacing came in question. So i thought lets start a new thread about refacing.

I like the sound and tip openning (7*) I got right now, but could the mouthpiece be improved by having it refaced/ checked over by a professional?

Any experience/ suggestions on this matter?

Regards!

 

[rolirebu]

If I were in Europe, I think I'd definitely check out Morgan Fry.

I checked it out, called him and had a nice chat. This Floridation he offers sound interessting!

 

[Smokey613]

I want to say up front that I am not in the same league as most of the members here. I can only comment on the 5 Otto Link Tone Edge tenor mouthpieces I have been through in the past 6 months. All of them except one had non flat tables. All where high at the "heel" or whatever the part of the table near the neck opening is called. The only exception was the one I ordered from Phil at Phil-Tone. It of course was perfectly flat according to my gauge. That OL was the only one that had been worked on, the rest were new. That being said, once I put the reed on and tightened the ligature the cane reed conformed to fill the void caused by that slight rise. It just seems they could correct that little issue during final machining.

 

[Grumps]

I like the sound and tip openning (7*) I got right now, but could the mouthpiece be improved by having it refaced/ checked over by a professional?

Sure, just as it might be ruined for you; and that's why you don't send out pieces you're otherwise happy with for altering.

I've been working on and making mouthpieces for almost thirty years and I have never seen a mouthpiece from that company that had a an actual defect in it.

Every new Link that I've seen over the last ten years or so, had a chink in the metal underneath the table right at the slot of the windway where the two halves of the mouthpiece meet. Some might not consider this a defect, but instead a cosmetic issue. Ferron had actually written that the spot where this chink is usually found is actually an important location for the creation of the sound... but who knows... maybe it's an improvement.

 

[rolirebu]

Every new Link that I've seen over the last ten years or so, had a chink in the metal underneath the table right at the slot of the windway where the two halves of the mouthpiece meet. Some might not consider this a defect, but instead a cosmetic issue. Ferron had actually written that the spot where this chink is usually found is actually an important location for the creation of the sound... but who knows... maybe it's an improvement.

Same as mine, and my sax tech who plays on a Otto Link Florida model thought it was a non important defect.

 

[RHP57]

Hello, Rolirebu.
Sounds like you have a good link since you have played it for several years.
Personally I don`t see any reason for refacing.

 

[ZenBen]

Hello, Rolirebu.
Sounds like you have a good link since you have played it for several years.
Personally I don`t see any reason for refacing.

+1

A good rule of thumb is to never send your main mouthpiece for refacing. Find another that you like equally or better and then send the first piece to get worked on.

 

[MartinMods]

I like the sound and tip openning (7*) I got right now, but could the mouthpiece be improved by having it refaced/ checked over by a professional?Regards!

I never bought an off-the-shelf Link that didn't play with a characteristic saxophone sound in the characteristic manner, so ++ for Babbit Co.. They make a good basic product. On the other hand, we all agree, no two mouthpieces are completely alike. While some players may be completely satisfied with anything that fulfills those general characteristic requirements, others may have a much more specific sense of what tonal and response tendencies they are looking for. For the latter, the stock mouthpiece is simply raw material to be used to make a personalized mouthpiece, customized to their particular demands.

So,

1. if your mouthpiece doesn't leave you wanting something else, tonally or response-wise, leave it alone.

2. If you are curious about what else is possible, try some other mouthpieces, particularly some that have been "perfected".

3. Then go back to #1. Your own experience will tell you what you should do.