[BOPITY FUNK]

Just received a Meyer 6M from Phil Engelman. A few weeks ago I accidently smashed my EZ Meyer which was the 'gold standard' as far as I was concerned. This caused me to experiment a little with Lawton's,Bari's,Links thinking a change might be a good thing--how mistaken was that! Apart from strange looks and comments about 'bad reeds' from the guys I just was not 'cutting it' in the tone department.
EZ seems to have gone off the radar a bit just lately so I reckoned I'd give Mr Engelman a shot and emailed him describing what I required. Nothing fancy --a Meyer that worked-- 75-76 tip,free blowing, not too dark, not too bright, suitable for 1st/2nd chair in a big band and all points in between.
The piece arrived today straight through the letter box and it is quite superb i'm knocked out to be truthful!--hence the the long winded build up!!
The best bit-- it has cost no more buying from Phil than a 'stock piece' would cost bought retail over here in UK.
Whatever he's done to this Meyer it's worth every penny (dime?)
Thanks Phil!

 

[jazzdoh]

Hi Mark

Hope you had a good xmas

Glad you are now sorted on alto.


Best

Brian

 

[Sigmund451]

Thank you for the kind words. Im really glad this worked for you. The saxophone gods can be cruel at times. I hope this holds them at bay.

 

[Dagvei]

Welcome to the club, Bopity! It's about time Europe gets to learn about Phil! I'm doing my bit for Norway!

 

[RE Miller]

I use a Phil-Tone Meyer 6 with a .078 tip that I bought from Phil a couple of years ago. I've been very happy with this piece, transitioned to it easily, and have played it daily ever since.

My 12-year-old son plays my old (but not that old) stock Meyer 5 on a YAS-23 in the community band with me. He has the usual problems with tone quality, squeeks, and insufficient practice. Compared to the Vandoren AL4 he began with, the Meyer really projects but the sound quality can be really quite harsh without some discipline.

Today I let him play my Phil-Tone -6 and what a tremendous improvement in tonal quality! No squeeks and he made a sound that was actually pleasant to listen to for a change. Now junior wants one, too. I guess I'll be shelling-out another $100 bucks this week to feed the Oregon economy!

 

[Allen Halstead]

Awaiting my Phil-tone meyer 7 ...should be here in a few days ... i have read a slew of reports regarding the 6 ... I hope the 7 is just as good .. if not better ! ... currently using a stock meyer 6 on a Buescher alto playing Rock/roll and funk (if you can believe that!! .. the Buescher is a bright horn) ... tend to over blow at times so i am hoping the 7 cures the problem ... also found that Vandoren javas work a he77 of a lot better on my stock meyer than any rico I use to use ... hoping to put up a good report on this mpc soon ..
....Phil, I haven't forgotten about posting something about the equinox ... just that I am enjoying it sooo much I barely take time to rest and peruse SOTW! That's a good start on the review!

 

[Allen Halstead]

Well it has been about 7 weeks since I received my Phil-tone Meyer 7M ... My main instrument is (was?) Tenor and I never felt comfortable with my alto playing and sound. I mainly played on a Meyer 6M and it always felt like it was backing up on me, I was always overblowing the thing. I use to mainly play rock (using mostly my tenor Mark VI) and occassionally using my Buescher Alto TT. Recently joined a true Funk band (Spin Doctors, Kravitz, Meters) where the alto comes into a lot more use. I knew my 6M wasn't going to make it so i went on the mpc hunt. When i received this this mpc I played on it for two days and emailed Phil that I didn't care for the sound ... in my opinion, it had way to much of the "buzzies".... I "liked the sound" ..but didn't love it.

Now fast forward 6 weeks or so ... 4 or 5 reed changes, 4 different ligs and what happens? The more I practiced on this mpc, the more I learned to control it and the more experimenting I did with reeds and ligs the more I have fallen in love with this sweetie! I am now going back and forth between 2.5 and 3 V16's and Red javas ... actually preferring the V16's. Also going back and forth between a Selmer 2 screw and a Vandoren master ... all good stuff happening here. (Except the Vandoren has scratched the mpc up a bit ... )

Now the reasons for my "favorable" report. I can project my sound, cut through when I have to and play a nice strong lead alto sound without it being fat, ugly or shrill. A lot more body than the Jumbo java's I tried and more open than the 6M i struggled with for years. I have found I am more able to focus the sound from the horn, cut through the guitar/bass sound when needed without being "blatty" and yet play a beautiful soft low Bb. Altissimo is effortless. Response is immediate and most importantly, the sound is sweet and even from low to high ... a very even tempered mpc for sure. Best of all the "buzzies" were cured by the v16's

Phil....bet you thought I would never write this ... it just took me a while to get use to the big difference between my old Meyer and this mpc. this is why I never review a mpc, a horn or a vacuum cleaner without weeks of testing and knowledge. The Phil-tone Meyer truly is a superb mpc and one which pairs well with my tenor Equinox

 

[Dagvei]

Allen: if you can get your hands on some Rigotti Gold reeds, try them on your Phil-Tone Meyer! It's like V16 with more core and tone!

 

[Allen Halstead]

will take you up on that advice

 

[Allen Halstead]

After my rave reviews above, I accidently left my P-T Meyer 7 home from band rehearsal and had to resort to the vintage original Meyer 6 I had played for about 35 years ... I think, because of the facing I actually preferrred this one over the 7. Was brighter, louder but buzzier ...but hey, I had to cut through guitars, basses, keys etc ... I was liking the volume and projection albeit a thin sound from the old lady ...

Very Long story short ...Phil saw my ad to sell the Meyer and offered to take my Custom Meyer back, reface it and did whatever magic he does... returned it back to me all within 5 or 6 days ...

took a bit getting use to ....by my direction, Phil had originally made this mpc a tiny bit darker than a normal Meyer, ... so when I got it back I was so use to the bright buzzy sound of the old 35 year old mpc that I didn't care for this at first ... however, i know better than to judge on first instinct. Messed around a lot with reeds and found out I had to go up a notch (to 3 red java's from 2.5) in order for this to blow easier and sound the best Played on this for 3 days and it is now my go to mpc for my rock/funk stuff ... It has a different sound than most Meyers with its slightly darker however a much fuller sound throughout most of the horn. The upper end still thins out but NOT to the extent as the stock one did ...

Sigmund did a great job, is sort of a mind reader and was ever patient with me and my descriptions, ... admonished me a bit for testing with a reed I was using on the other mpc ...blew rubber dust in my face (figuratively speaking.. since we are a continent apart)...

I sincerely believe these Meyers have their place in the alto world .... if you haven't tried a Meyer you owe it to yourself ...then have Phil do his thing with it ..it just MIGHT be your go to mpc...

 

[rsclosson]

Never tried one of his Meyers but I own and Equinox and a Solstice and have pretty much stopped looking for new mouthpieces. (Sold a bunch of my old pieces, too.)

 

[Jazzaferri]

I ended my search with the Solstice.

 

[Allen Halstead]

Someday, if Phil puts a solstice back out there for a pass around ..I will give it a try ...

What I really need to do next is "un-stuff" the top end of the horn ...was just reading a slew of old posts regarding "stuffy" and intonation issues up on top ...