[brianincairo]

Hey, everyone.
My regular tenor piece is a Brilhart 5* metal job from the 1970's, but I've been looking for a different setup.

Meanwhile, going through a drawer at the house, I tried an old stock piece (plastic) that I had lying around and I really like it! It's marked "4C", but i'm not really certain what that means....

I'm going to assume the 4 is the opening, but it anyone familiar with that particular "marking?"

I'm thinking if the 4C is a measurement, I may want to look into a hard rubber Berg or something with the same specs.

I have owned and played only 3 tenor pieces in the last ten years:
Steel Berg Larsen 115/2
Otto Link STM 7*
and, finally, the Brilhart 5*...

Am I trending toward "closer" mouthpieces at the end of a decade?

Thanks for any replies, advice.
PS: I play a Rico Royal 2.5

Brian

 

[DanSax64]

Sounds very much a Yamaha to me. My 2 yamaha tenor saxes came with Yamaha 4C stock pieces, and they played beautiful (nice, even tone). I've later on obtained the 7C and it played louder (more aggressive).

My other no name Taiwanese made soprano saxes also came with stock 4C pieces (no Yamaha name marked) which looked identical to the Yam pieces.

Not sure if there are other mouthpieces marked 4C

 

[brianincairo]

Thanks, that's a good start. If we're talking about the same Yamaha stock piece, I was impressed! Nice full tone through my entire range....I think I never tried the piece beacsue I just ASSUMED it was going to be terrible....anyway, the experience this week has got me thinking about moving away from steel/metal and perhaps moving to hard rubber....

Thanks again.

 

[Tully]

The stock 4C's never did much for me, but I recall liking a different Yamaha--either 6C or 7C--for classical playing. It was higher quality material than the pieces that ship with horns (my mind's going blank, but I'm thinking it was called "Artist Series" or "Custom Series" or something along those lines).

And to answer your question, yes, you're tending toward closer mouthpieces. Off the top of my head, I believe the 4C is considerably closer than the Brilhart 5* you've been using, so you might also try a harder reed if you find that 2.5's just don't feel...substantial.

 

[Shortyman801]

Does having a bigger baffle/opening (such as a 4V vs. 6C) make it harder to play?

 

[Ken]

That brings back some memories. 4c was the first tenor mpc I used. Next was a 7c. My teacher thought my sound was a bit sad so he got some soft putty and made a baffle for it.

18 months later I went to an audition for the NZ Youth Jazz Big Band and the nationally known tenor player who conducted the audition asked me what mpc I used. When I told him he said with a somewhat perplexed expression "Good mouthpieces those" My teacher got a kick out of that.

I still have these today with the same old baffle.