[ddeg10]

I am an intermediate player looking to buy a new mouthpiece. I play in a classic rock band and we cover 60s/70s rock and blues tunes. We are also working on a classic rock inspired album. I own a 48' The Martin tenor, and I am about to buy an RPC 115B. I have talked to Ron on the phone, and read some things about his work on here. He recommended the 115B for the style of music I play.

One of my favorite players (Steve Beighton) has a sound that I really enjoy, and I believe he plays on a Lamberson 7DD. Here is a clip of him:
http://www.flippermusic.com/mysite/vids/silent running.wmv

The RPC's are a bit cheaper and less wait time, and I am leaning toward one - I just want to make sure I am making the right decision and don't regret not spending the extra money and getting the 7DD.

Thoughts?

 

[Michael Ward]

Steve is a good friend of mine in my hometown and we have recorded together many times. I recommended the 7DD to him as I also use one. The RPC is also a nice piece, a bit more open than the DD. I prefer the Lamberson.
I have recordings of me playing both. If you're interested in a comparison. Both on a Mark V1.

 

[Nefertiti]

I played both of these for awhile. I found the tones of both piece to be similar. The Lamberson was brighter for me but felt more comfortable to play. The RPC played great and I really liked it but it felt too open for my tastes. If you are use to that 115 tip size the RPC will give you a sound like that I think.. I have a JVW link with a baffle that I use for that kind of stuff now. Good Luck. I have some clips on my site if you want to check them out. The live clips are more of that style I think. The video clip is with the 7DD also. Steve

 

[ddeg10]

Steve is a good friend of mine in my hometown and we have recorded together many times. I recommended the 7DD to him as I also use one. The RPC is also a nice piece, a bit more open than the DD. I prefer the Lamberson.
I have recordings of me playing both. If you're interested in a comparison. Both on a Mark V1.

I would love to hear those clips.

Derek

 

[ddeg10]

I played both of these for awhile. I found the tones of both piece to be similar. The Lamberson was brighter for me but felt more comfortable to play. The RPC played great and I really liked it but it felt too open for my tastes. If you are use to that 115 tip size the RPC will give you a sound like that I think.. I have a JVW link with a baffle that I use for that kind of stuff now. Good Luck. I have some clips on my site if you want to check them out. The live clips are more of that style I think. The video clip is with the 7DD also. Steve

I haven't tried enough mouthpieces to know what is too 'open' for me. Can you help clarify that a little more?

Thanks,
Derek

 

[bfoster64]

I also found the 115B to be too open for me, though it was a very well-finished piece and played easily. Due to the large tip opening, my tone was very spread and I could not articulate as quickly as I wanted to, such as on fast staccato passages. It also took more air to blow so my phrases would tend to be a little shorter. The alternative was to play a softer reed that would effectively make the opening smaller, but then my tone suffered, especially in the high end. The altissimo on the piece was awesome, though, and I hear some pretty incredible licks being played by folks like Pete Thomas on a high-baffled RPC with an even bigger tip, 125! I would also note that the RPC 115B plays very easily for a piece with such a large tip. The baffle makes it much more doable than playing that kind of tip on a low-baffled piece would be.

 

[Dr G]

The RPC's are a bit cheaper and less wait time, and I am leaning toward one - I just want to make sure I am making the right decision and don't regret not spending the extra money and getting the 7DD.

Why does everyone assume a long wait for Fred's stuff?

Contact Fred and ask him what he's working on next. Maybe he likes me better than everyone else or maybe I'm just lucky (probably the latter), but twice this year I have contacted him for more mouthpieces and had them within the month. It just happened that I wanted a piece that was in the batch that he was working on.

I'm still waiting for him to get around to the next batch of sop 'pieces tho'...

Once you find the mouthpiece you crave, the expense is quickly amortized by the time and money you would otherwise spend looking at and trying other mouthpieces.

 

[Michael Ward]

Derek send me your Email address and I'll send you some MP3's, Mike

[email protected]

 

[ddeg10]

After listening to some clips and talking to Ron, I took the plunge and went for an RPC 115B!

Take Care,
Derek

 

[JL]

Derek, I don't think you'll regret getting the RPC. I can't speak for the Lamberson because I've never played one. I do know they have an excellent reputation and would also probably work fine for you. But I do play a 120B RPC and it's a great mpc. I also have a 115B which is also fantastic. I never found it difficult to play. In fact it is more responsive over a wider dynamic range than any other mpc I've tried. It should work great on a Martin for rock & blues.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[Reedsplinter]

Derek, I don't think you'll regret getting the RPC. I can't speak for the Lamberson because I've never played one. I do know they have an excellent reputation and would also probably work fine for you. But I do play a 120B RPC and it's a great mpc. I also have a 115B which is also fantastic. I never found it difficult to play. In fact it is more responsive over a wider dynamic range than any other mpc I've tried. It should work great on a Martin for rock & blues.

Let us know how it works out.

Like Dave, I've never played a Lamberson, but use 115B RPC and once I got it I haven't looked back. Great piece for everything I do, from jazz to blues.

 

[Billt4mn]

RPC 115B for easier overtones?

Derek, I don't think you'll regret getting the RPC. I can't speak for the Lamberson because I've never played one. I do know they have an excellent reputation and would also probably work fine for you. But I do play a 120B RPC and it's a great mpc. I also have a 115B which is also fantastic. I never found it difficult to play. In fact it is more responsive over a wider dynamic range than any other mpc I've tried. It should work great on a Martin for rock & blues.

Only slightly off topic: Hey Derek. I'm looking for a high-baffled tenor mpc that will help me more easily extend my overtone range. Do you think a high-baffled RPC would be good?

 

[bfoster64]

Bill, there are many high baffled pieces that will help you do this but the RPC 115B is one of the better ones I have played. Others I would put in that category are the SR Tech Fusion and Jody Jazz DV. If you like the feel of hard rubber, the RPC is a good choice. The altissimo response on the 115B I had was exceptional. It was so easy to get it to jump to the high harmonics it actually made it a little hard to control. I had to be careful when going for the lower altissimo notes. If you get one, I think you'll like it a lot. You don't hear many negative comments about RPCs around here.