[dusan]

Hello, guys!

I was researching this forum, but couldn't find an answer. I just bought P Mauriat 76 2nd ed UL soprano sax. I love the horn and I'm searching for perfectly matching mouthpiece. I read on the forum that people select mostly among these types: Bari, Vandoren V16, Selmer C*, Yamaha 5C/6C, Drake - Son of Slant, Missing Link. Or these seems to be most popular. I had opportunity to try Selmer C*. It was nice easy blowing and beautifully sounding mouthpiece with this sax. By the way I'm using 2.5 reeds. Then I tried Yani HR moutpiece 6 that was even easier to blow but sound wasn't that pleasant as of the Selmer.

Can you recommend which one would be the best or closest to get that nice warm tone with easy blowing and good intonation?

Thanks a lot,

Dusan

P.S.: Normally I play Yamaha tenor with OttoLink ToneEdge 5, Eddie Daniels Ligature and 2.5 plasticover reeds.

 

[Tin Man]

Honestly, with my Soprano System 76 2nd Ed. I went to the biggest music store I could find nearby and try as many different mouthpieces as I could play. I suggest you do the same. Everyone is different with mouthpiece preferences and opinions. You can get a good(warm) tone with any mouthpiece and good reed combination to go with and a ton of practice.

If you wanna know, I decided on a Tone Edge 6* and a 3 reed. It works well for me. The Theo Wanne Gaia was a nice mouthpiece, but way too expensive and unnecessary.

 

[dusan]

Hi, Tin!

That was my first objective, but unfortunatelly Long & McQuade here in GTA (Toronto and area), which is the biggest store doesn't carry many soprano mouthpieces. Even their website is very limited. I went to their Burlington store and they had only 2 (Selmer C* and Yani HR 6) even those 2 they could barely find.

 

[Tin Man]

Well since you are in that situation, you can press your luck and buy a mass produced piece that hopefully plays well or you end up with a squeaky one with a bad facing. Then you can ship it to a refacer to have it perfected.

Or you can go for an expensive one that has personally been faced by great technician like a Drake or a Missing Link and see how it fairs well. Your probably gonna have to do trial and error for both routes.

As far as a few popular soprano mouthpieces from what I've read online are Selmer Super Sessions, Yamaha 4C's, and Selmer Soloists.

 

[dusan]

Hi, Tin!

I know I will end up doing trial and error, I just wanted to get some guidance since I read a lot about matching sax with mouthpiece.
On a little side note here: One thing that I'm experiencing is that rubber mouthpiece that came with the sax plays better and easier on curved neck, vs my Everton Kseries7 that plays much better on straight neck.

 

[dextor]

Morgan Vintage is a great piece.

 

[Dr G]

One thing that I'm experiencing is that rubber mouthpiece that came with the sax plays better and easier on curved neck, vs my Everton Kseries7 that plays much better on straight neck.

If you are not changing the angle of how you hold the horn, the difference may be due to the angle that the mouthpiece enters your mouth when you switch bent/straight necks. This underscores the reason that mouthpieces play differently for various players - especially on sop.

 

[ramcast]

I had opportunity to try Selmer C*. It was nice easy blowing and beautifully sounding mouthpiece with this sax. By the way I'm using 2.5 reeds. Then I tried Yani HR moutpiece 6 that was even easier to blow but sound wasn't that pleasant as of the Selmer.
/QUOTE]

I have the same sax in DK lacquer. I use a Yani HR 5 (.052 tip) with Vandoren 2.5 ZZ's . At first, the sound was not " as pleasant" but after I got used to the setup, I now like this combination. I am new to the soprano sax and I decided to stick to this for now. The Selmer C* (.047 tip) and the Yani HR 6 (.055 tip) and your tenor Otto link are relatively smaller tips, so maybe you can try a harder reed or maybe a similar mouthpiece with narrow to medium tip opening? I tried the Rico Metalite 5 (.06 tip, different baffle and chamber design) but that didn't work well for me.
I also find the HR mouthpiece that came with this sax works better with the curve rather than the straight neck, and l attribute it to the angle of the mouthpiece as it enters the mouth ( slight difference in embouchure) and reed pressure.

 

[dusan]

So after lots of trials, I ended up with Theo Wanne Gaia 6 mouthpiece and Vandoren V16 #3 as the best setup for me and it plays slightly better on straight neck vs curved neck. It has nice fat and warm sound.

Right after that as backup i have Selmer C* with vandoren optimum ligature and the same reed.

In the meantime I came across one vintage Yanagisawa S-6 soprano and I was completely blown away by almost perfect intonation and easy response thru entire range. There is one Selmer 80 super action that they have at LM on sell as used fo $2450 that is pretty close intonation wise to that S6.

Now Mike Filice is tweaking my P. Mauriat soprano and I will let you know the results once I get it back.