Agreed. The last one I had was the newer medium chamber in a .100 tip and while it played well, tonally it was just very uninteresting.I dont know who does the design work for vd. While they have reasonable execution I have yet to play a version I enjoy tonally. For me they always miss the mark.
I don't think that's very accurate Phil. Here in NL we always had Otto Link mouthpieces available and most great (tenor) players always played them (also in the past). It might be different in France, maybe they are more Selmer oriented for horns and mouthpieces.I think this is where the myth was born that European players like bright mouthpieces. It was basically all they had access to for a long time.
Here in Poland although there is are a great many Link players I still think a lot of players go towards the brighter side of things.I don't think that's very accurate Phil. Here in NL we always had Otto Link mouthpieces available and most great (tenor) players always played them (also in the past). It might be different in France, maybe they are more Selmer oriented for horns and mouthpieces.
If you do this, I would suggest putting a putty baffle in it and messing around until you get close to the sound and response you want. Then send that to whoever you have work on it so they have an idea how you want the baffle to be. height, shape, length, etc........So, I was lucky enough to pick up a recent V16 T9 metal piece "Large Chamber" for a silly price.
- For those that don't know, the Large chamber is marketed as a 1940's style mouthpiece -
I have always wanted to see how these things play, and although a 9 is outside my comfort zone it is a surprisingly easy blow.
From a sound point of view though its really flat, grey and boring.....really uninspiring, with one caveat the upper notes do sing very nicely indeed.
As I am happy on my current pieces, one of my ideas behind getting this (if it didn't play well as is) was to experiment.
So I have thoughts about sending it to someone and getting it closed down to an 8 (better for me) making sure the table / tip / rails etc are fine and then having some sort of baffle built up to give it a bit of higher frequencies, buzz and tone.
By the way the rails are really thick on this piece.
The tip is fine and follows reed contours nicely, but I suspect the table is not truly flat.
I'm just putting this out there in case anyone has done something similar and / or has any ideas.
Good idea, thanks Steve, I'll play about with this idea using some "food safe" kids play putty !If you do this, I would suggest putting a putty baffle in it and messing around until you get close to the sound and response you want. Then send that to whoever you have work on it so they have an idea how you want the baffle to be. height, shape, length, etc........
That might be as a blank, but sound wise it's the other way around (and that's what counts)! For me a bad Link has still a more interesting sound compared to any VD mouthpiece I've tried or heard.The Vandoren metal pieces are excellent blanks and they run circles around the modern Links.
I obviously meant soundwise too so I guess we will have to disagree on that one and that's fine by me.That might be as a blank, but sound wise it's the other way around (and that's what counts)! For me a bad Link has still a more interesting sound compared to any VD mouthpiece I've tried or heard.
