Sax on the Web Forum banner

Selmer, Vandoren, Yanigasawa

2546 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  namenotfound06
I am home from school for the summer with a broken ankle, a little extra money combined with frustration/wanting to experiment a little I've decided that its time to do a little futsing with my mouthpiece setup.

I currently play a yanigasawa 5 with a fibercell 3 and even though I dig the sound coming out of it I want something bigger and thicker. I'm still thinking of experimenting with reeds and ligatures but mainly I want something a little bit more open.

My original plan was to take my mouthpiece to a refacer and have him open it up a little bit but after trying out a friends soloist and s80 on my alto, I was blown away. So I'm wondering how do the Selmer and Vandoren mouthpieces play on bari? And is it worth getting one of those mouthpieces or just open up my Yani.
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
personally, i think the yanigasawa rubber mouthpieces are good mouthpices but i prefer the selmer soloist and C* over them. I play an vintage soloist C* and absolutely love it! however, its my set up on alto. i think you might want to experience with maybe a C**, D, or E facings first. Also, find a good refacer and reface it afterwards. On the other hand, Vandorens are nice too but personally i think the sound is only suitable for classical, so it's not an all around mouthpiece. I'd get a good soloist if u can acquire one! sorry it's hard to follow my train of thought cuz i broke my pinky days ago and i'm on pain killer pills..

-Nathan
Big, thick sound? Try a Link HR.
Ive tried a couple of hard rubber links. Both were slant sigs. I didn't really care for the way they felt or played, but then again it could always be the reeds I tried with them.

By the way, doesn't Scott Robinson use a vandoren mouthpiece on bari?
namenotfound06 said:
Ive tried a couple of hard rubber links. Both were slant sigs. I didn't really care for the way they felt or played, but then again it could always be the reeds I tried with them.

By the way, doesn't Scott Robinson use a vandoren mouthpiece on bari?
So, what do you use instead?
hakukani said:
So, what do you use instead?
At the moment I'm using a Yani, and it's great but I want it a little bit more open. And I've recently tried an s80 and soloist on alto and Im curious how they are on bari as well as the vandoren mouthpices, which is the main question of the thread.
I can sell you a C* or a JJ Classic 7. Pm me if you are interested. The are both in great condition.
refacers can do great, GREAT, work. I had a couple of other refacers work on pieces that I was happy with, then I had EZ do some work and I was REALLY happy. However, if you're already happy with how a piece plays, don't send it to a refacer...keep it as your piece until you find a refaced piece you like more. You don't ever want to ruin what is at that time your favorite piece...only reface to try to trump your main piece, not to try to improve it, IMO.
I've tried the bigger Selmer S80:s and I did not really like them. They were a little too... polite for me. (I'm assuming you will use it in a big band or jazz band setting.) The Vandoren B75 is tried and true for those settings, given you can take on the larger opening. Another very nice, funky, mouthpiece is the Rosseau JDX. There you can have smaller openings if you find the B75 too large.
The metal Yanagisawas are also very nice for such applications.

Personally I play either a Pillinger or a Berg Larsen. I also have a Rosseau classic lying around, but I have not had the opportunity to use for the last... ten odd years. Good stuff nonetheless.
I've tried the bigger Selmer S80:s and I did not really like them. They were a little too... polite for me. (I'm assuming you will use it in a big band or jazz band setting.)

I play a vintage Selmer Soloist F mouthpiece. You're right. This is not a buzzsaw kind of sound. Yes, I can get great volume from it, and good projection, but it doesn't have the over-the-top buzz of some others.

namenotfound06,
Hope this helps.
Thank you all for your responses. As it happens, I've decided to go back to an old set up I played for a couple of years in high school which is my old Myer that has been opend up from a 5 to about a 6/6* (about 100) with Alexander DC 2.5's. Well the Alexanders are new.
Meyers are very nice. I played a 9 (arond .110) that was very tempting, but I felt the Berg was more to my liking.
Yeah, the only problem I have with my Myer is that sometimes it can be a little harsh and it can go flat if I don't pay enough attention to it.

I played a berg for a little while, it was a really great piece... well untill I found out that the facing was about .2 mm from what I ordered. (I ordered a 110 and got a 95 or something that was marked as a 110.) But I guess thats what you get when you order a current production Berg.
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top