[Nefertiti]

Guys, I have to say, I go through these feelings every time I sell mouthpieces and then sometimes immediately see them up for sale. Usually the For Sale ad says something about how the player bought the mouthpiece and played it for 15-30 minutes and it doesn't work for them or isn't their thing. I have said this before but many of my favorite mouthpieces I have kept all these years I absolutely hated while playing them for the first 15-30 minutes. It usually takes 3 days of playing a piece like 2-4 hours a day and then something magical happens. I'm afraid that you guys that are just trying a mouthpiece with one reed for 15 minutes and then selling it are really missing out here. I could go down my list of pieces. My Lamberson J7 I hated when I first got it and thought I had been ripped off, a day or two later with the right reed I was in heaven. I bought a Florida Link once that the seller said was the best Florida Link he ever played. I was underwhelmed for 3 days and about to send it back and then something happened and it played incredibly. Still one of my favorites. Someone sent me a Navarro Bebop Special to review. I honestly hated it and told him I couldn't review it. Gave it another day or two and then was begging him to sell it to me. One of my favorite mouthpieces. I have many more stories like this. In fact many of the mouthpieces I have reviewed, I haven't liked at first but I know if I play them for a few days with a bunch of different reeds and stick with it then a connection is made.

I guess I feel sad when someone hears a clip of me reviewing a piece and they love the sound of the clip. They then buy the mouthpiece, play it for 15 minutes and give up. The truth is that I probably played that same mouthpiece for a week straight 2-3 hours a day before I felt ready to try to record a clip for that review. Spend some time on a new mouthpiece and see where it takes you. You never know what you are missing out on if you just pass it on immediately. Trust me! Those mouthpieces I listed above, I absolutely hated and now they are some of my favorites. Whenever I record a video lesson with the Lamberson J7 I invariably get emails asking what mouthpiece I was using for that lesson. It sounds killer! Guess what! I took it out of the drawer a few days ago to play it and hated it again! Why? Because I haven't played it in a long time so I have to play it for a few days and get used to it again until that connection is made again. Once the connection is there then it is there as long as I play the mouthpiece.

Every time I bring this up in the past I get people that argue with me. "I know within a minute whether a mouthpiece is good or bad!" Man, it sometimes takes me just an hour or two and like 6-10 reeds just to hone in on the reeds a mouthpiece needs. I have no idea how you can tell in one minute with one brand and size of reed. This is my public service announcement for the day............

 

[Arundo Donax]

That's what I've read before from various people: a person has to play with that mouthpiece and various reeds for a significant time before assessing it.

So how does a person go about shopping for one?

After 12 years, I have 3 mouthpieces - not a lot by comparison to others, but I don't want to have a mouthpiece collection.

I'm in the market for one and can't afford to buy very many for testing trials. The only reason I'm looking for one is that my three are mediocre at best and I don't like my tone.

My plans were to go to my local store, which has quite a few mouthpieces, and spend about an hour in one of their small rooms trying each mouthpiece with my sax and also making a recording (I'd bring my own favorite mouthpiece for comparison).

But is a 5, 10, or 15 minute test actually going to reveal anything that would lead me to make a good decision?

 

[ving]

The more mpcs I try the worse I think I am at being subjective about if I’d like playing on it! Serious. I am so used to the pieces I’ve had for a long time in spite of their shortcomings I have a hard time telling if a different piece will ultimately end up being better.

 

[ving]

(I think I need a service to choose my next mpc/reed set up for me...!)

 

[buddy lee]

Especially if you bought online, just spent $500 on a mouthpiece, why not give it 3-4 reeds and a week to make up your mind before just ditching it after 10 minutes?

 

[DarrellMass]

I don't understand how so many manufacturers sell so many pcs and stay in business??? I have a feeling, if ppl do as you suggest, sales would drop significantly! Some days, 3/4 of the posts on here are for mpc sales. Makes me wonder if that's the purpose for the SOTW's existance?

 

[Dr G]

My Lamberson J7 I hated when I first got it and thought I had been ripped off...

If that's the one you got from me, I'm pretty sure that I told you to send it back if you didn't like it. :bluewink:
Regardless, they do blow differently than a lot of mouthpieces, and definitely reward time well spent.

Whenever I record a video lesson with the Lamberson J7 I invariably get emails asking what mouthpiece I was using for that lesson. It sounds killer! Guess what! I took it out of the drawer a few days ago to play it and hated it again! Why? Because I haven't played it in a long time so I have to play it for a few days and get used to it again until that connection is made again. Once the connection is there then it is there as long as I play the mouthpiece.

Nah, it ain't you, Steve, it's the mouthpiece. My parents had a dog like that, a Kerry Blue Terrier named Fred. If you left him home alone for a long day, rather than express his utter delight when you came home, he'd pout for the first half hour, then he'd forgive and forget. True story - except his name was really Damon. :twisted:

I love your story, Steve, and appreciate all the things you share at SotW. I just wish more people would get it.

All the best to you and yours,

George

 

[whaler]

I can tell within a few minutes if I’m willing to give a mouthpiece a chance or if it’s worth it.
I’ll say it over and over again but if it’s in the 6, or .90 range I can play almost anything and be ok with it.

 

[KeithL]

The difference is that you have no expectations when you get a piece to try. You just try to find a way to make it play it's best and accept whatever it gives you and then write a review stating what that is. This what makes your reviews popular, interesting, and valuable data points. The folks buying these pieces from you ( or just lots of new pieces in general) have some sort of preconceived expectation as to how it's going to change their sound and when it doesn't deliver that in short order they just move it along.

 

[ving]

I’ve been paying more attention to the sound of the mpc rather than just instant compatibility. I think at times in the past I’ve been more interested in mpcs that gave an instant response but when I heard them recorded back I wasn’t so crazy about them. Not to go too far off the deep end, but I find you need to be interested in the sound you’re getting for there to be any chance.

 

[Reet McVouty]

From what I glean from a lot of posts here on SOTW is that a lot of people don't have a clue concerning what attributes each mouthpiece has and what about them creates a certain sound. People inquire about pieces on here all the time and most of the responses they get are from individuals telling them to play what they play. I always direct people to the resources section of Theo Wanne's site so they see how and what produces a certain sound. A little knowledge can go a long way to at least getting somewhere in the ball park.

I've stopped selling mouthpieces that have gone stale for me. Sometimes you can go back to them after a couple years and be thrilled about them all over again.

 

[1saxman]

There are a ton of great thoughts in this thread. First, Steve is totally right about how it takes time to adapt to a mouthpiece and be able to get your sound again. It doesn't usually just happen but its not impossible. Its also common to try a mouthpiece that is so far out of your zone that you know there's no way. My thinking on this is life's too short and there are too many great mouthpieces to obsess on forcing one to work for you that really should be disposed-of.
Since most of us try mouthpieces that are similar in many ways to what we are using, and we have no interest in changing our sound, what we are after is really more of the same but with a little something new, maybe. Therefore you can see that when this does not happen, there is no point in pursuing it. But when you get one that does blow for you but for example has more edge than you like, this is probably because you need to adapt to it so you can get your tone again. You see, we don't know how to play any new mouthpiece - we have to learn. Steve is saying the same thing about that one he doesn't like that he gets out and plays for a few days to 're-acclimate' to it and be able to get his sound out of it.
I might like a piece around the house but once I hit the gig, it will usually not survive the first few numbers. Sometimes I know right away I will never use a piece. I guess for those who are looking for a new sound, the field is really wide open, but still you should trust your initial feelings more than the idea that 'I can make it work'. I mean, it has to be kind of in the ballpark - if it is, then you can think about reeds, ligatures, whatever and also feel justified in spending weeks on it.
Your sound is a fragile thing and you need to take care of it, not just on a whim decide that you're going to play a certain mouthpiece because somebody else sounds great on it. If you like how you sound it doesn't matter who doesn't approve of it - what kind of world would it be if all sax players sounded alike? I mean, more than they do now?

 

[LateNiteSax]

Its a massive can of worms for most people, but particularly bad for people who don't have decent control over their reeds, meaning they don't know how to quickly and easily adjust/dial-in their reeds to the perfect strength and resistance and depend on some reed manufacturer to create the ideal reed for them, which is seldom if ever has worked for me. I always start with very hard reeds and quickly and effortlessly work them down to my perfect strength and resistance balance typically in about 5 min. I typically use 90% of the reeds in a box. They are mostly 1980s La Voz and Rico Royals. But I love new Gonzales and Riggottis too.

I remember the first time I had tried an aggressive super high baffle metal tenor mouthpiece in a bunch of years after playing darker low baffle hard rubber pieces for many years. I had a couple of reeds on my table and felt uncomfortable with both, just worked them down a drop with my 220 wet or dry sandpaper and BOOM! That mouthpiece was totally fine and easy to play. No head games, no psychological torture, neurotic fits of doubt and frustration etc.

I need to maintain a sort of macho attitude when trying mouthpieces. I will play that mouthpiece, the mouthpiece won't play me... I pretty much know if a mouthpiece is a viable candidate within 10 minutes. Then I know if its a mouthpiece I could actually live within about 20 min of putting it through all necessary paces, with slightly softer and slightly harder reeds, and maybe a couple of different ligs.

 

[mrpeebee]

I normally know within a very short time (15 minutes or so) if a mouthpiece can mean something for me, but it takes a longer time (at least 2 or 3 month) to really learn the ins and outs of a mouthpiece. Trying out different reeds and playing under several conditions is a part of that.

I have a huge (mainly vintage tenor) mouthpiece collection ranging from 4 to 12* tip openings and from no to high baffle piecess and can actually get a decent sound out of most of them, but for playing outside (band rehearsals, gigs, jam sessions) I've mainly used only two mouthpieces (for about 20 years an EB STM 8* and in the last 10 years a Florida no USA 10*).

 

[BigBen23]

I usually will buy 3 mouthpieces at a time and test them at home because after 3-4 days I know for which one is better and recording myself is part of that process.

I would highly recommend the Reed Geek, it helped me a lot and now I can actually use the whole box of reeds. They also have an easy return policy if you don't like but it a pretty inexpensive piece of equipment to ensure you reeds perform like they should.

 

[JimD]

Some you know aren't worth the effort after 10 minutes, some you need to spend time with before loving or putting in the maybe someday drawer. Testing in shops is ok but you can only get so far. I bought a Robusto recently after trying in a shop and all I could really ascertain was that it played well and had potential. It took me a couple of days before I really started to like it and after a couple of weeks I still think I can get more from it. I tend to stick with one mouthpiece although at the moment I'm alternating between an RPC and the Robusto, both HR, but I have a drawer full of metal pieces I've known and loved. They take a bit of getting reacquainted with after the HR, I have two old metal Lawtons that I don't really want to play now but don't want to part with either as their time may come again.

 

[jlima]

To make things even worse, most people try a new mouthpiece with a reed that they played on a different piece for a while. Big mistake. The reed takes the shape of the previous piece and usually responds very awkwardly to the new geometric configuration.

 

[mrpeebee]

To make things even worse, most people try a new mouthpiece with a reed that they played on a different piece for a while. Big mistake. The reed takes the shape of the previous piece and usually responds very awkwardly to the new geometric configuration.

That's especially an issue if the facing lengths of the old and new mouthpiece differ a lot, otherwise it's not a big issue.

When you would try a new mouthpiece in a shop (before buying) it can be an issue to use a new reed, because you will never know if any issue during play testing is linked to the new mouthpiece or to the not yet broken in reed. So in that case best is to play test with a broken in reed and have a fresh reed 'standby' in case the old one sounds like crap. If it still sounds like crap it's most probably the mouthpiece (only judge after giving it some time of course).

 

[pontius]

I have found that certain designs just work better for me. Usually any piece with a decent facing that has a large chamber and smaller baffle gives me what I like. Brilharts and Link-like designs work well for me. I have spent time with high baffle pieces and just can't break through with a sound or comfort level that I like. I also have really wanted to like vintage Soloists pieces but just can't make them sound like I want. I think I blow bright so I like a piece that really likes to be pushed hard without getting harsh.

I'm kinda at the point where I just want to give up on the kind of pieces that have never worked for me.

 

[MojoBari]

If the facing curve is so different that it won’t work with your broken in reed, it probably needs a new reed strength or cut to play well anyhow.