[Peter B]

It's a Meyer 6M for my sop and a Selmer S80 C* for my alto, no problems there, but I've never settled comfortably on a piece for my tenor. I've been through Otto Link, Selmer S80 and Soloist, Meyer, Vintage Brillhart, the Mauriat piece the tenor came with, (which is pretty awful frankly), and a few other fringe pieces from the likes of Rico and others, but none really felt 'right'.

I was moaning about this to another tenor player at a concert band festival a few months ago and he said to me..."Anyone who puts anything else but Berg Larsen on a tenor sax is wasting their time and money. Berg Larsen and tenor sax are peaches and cream, they exist for each other". This was a pretty bold statement I guess but it did set me thinking, so I went to eBay and bought a Berg Larsen ebonite 100/2/SMS for £68 and..............he was right. It didn't take long to realize that this was the mouthpiece for me. It just feels right somehow, and sounds great across the whole range.

So what is it about Berg Larsen and tenor saxes. Is there really some kind of natural affinity there?

 

[RootyTootoot]

Prediction: You are about to get a load of Americans telling you that ..."Anyone who puts anything else but Berg Larsen on a tenor sax is wasting their time and money. Berg Larsen and tenor sax are peaches and cream, they exist for each other". is total and utter bull and that the only thing for a real man to use on tenor is an Otto Link (pref a metal one).

Note: they will be wrong but they will be very loud and insistent.

:bluewink::mrgreen:

 

[Peter B]

Oh dear, I hope they come gunning for the message and not the messenger!! I know plenty of people who would have bridled at that statement, but since it was one mouthpiece I hadn't tried on tenor it kind of nudged me into getting hold of one and as it happened it worked....for me anyway.

 

[sasin]

Brecker wasted a lot of time and money....

 

[bari_sax_diva]

They work for some people. They don't work for others.

Anyone who insists that a particular mouthpiece is the *only* one to use is probably not thinking too hard about the subject.

 

[curly]

I tend to agree with the OP. Get yourself a good one and its bliss. Mines a slant sig bought from 10m and it does everything I ask it too......

 

[ericdano]

Yeah, because the concert band tenor player knows.....right? I mean, all the concert band tenors play it....

It's a good all around mouthpiece. I have used one for over a decade now a 110/2 as my go to mouthpiece. Though I recently switched back over to an original MB1 Guardala which I'm finding is a lot more flexible than the berg was. Dunno why I switched away from the guardala....

 

[mrpeebee]

So what is it about Berg Larsen and tenor saxes. Is there really some kind of natural affinity there?

I guess it's all about personal opinions here and highly depending on what kind of sound you're looking for. I have played a lot of Link's and some Berg's on my tenor and I prefer a Link by far. Berg's are fine, normally easier to play and louder then a Link, but I miss some flexibility and complexity in the Berg sound (probably because of the smaller chamber and different construction of the baffle). That's how it is for me, I'm sure others will have different opinions. I did a soundclip comparison between a metal Berg 150/2/SMS and an Otto Link Florida no USA 10* some time ago, you can find it >here< in case you're interested.

They work for some people. They don't work for others.

Anyone who insists that a particular mouthpiece is the *only* one to use is probably not thinking too hard about the subject.

Fully agree!

 

[RootyTootoot]

Hey Peter B! You seem to have had all the reasonable, sane people reply so far (against my prediction).

That is good.

 

[Isle of Jazz]

I used to play a lot more rock music and the first time I slid a reed on an HR 110-0-M I recognized it as the sound I was looking for. After reading some of the notorious anti-Berg diatribes on SOTW I found myself in danger of becoming a Berg partisan. But now that I'm playing more jazz standards and ballads I've come to prefer using an STM — it just seems more appropriate to the style. Though I really wonder sometimes if anyone else can tell the difference.

 

[RootyTootoot]

Actually, just going back to the first post, the OP is referring to a 100/2/SMS HR which I think is not the kind of thing people tend to mean when they say "I like Bergs on tenor". Rightly or wrongly.

 

[Isle of Jazz]

Actually, just going back to the first post, the OP is referring to a 100/2/SMS HR which I think is not the kind of thing people tend to mean when they say "I like Bergs on tenor". Rightly or wrongly.

Hey, you're right, Rooty - I've only played 0's on tenor and a 1 on baritone and really don't know how well a 2 - or a 3, which are harder to find - would work for me. Maybe I'll check one out sometime.

 

[RootyTootoot]

Hey, you're right, Rooty - I've only played 0's on tenor and a 1 on baritone and really don't know how well a 2 - or a 3, which are harder to find - would work for me. Maybe I'll check one out sometime.

Hi shotgun. I only mentioned it because I'm the same: i've played 0's on tenor quite a bit and I'll often talk about "Bergs" when honestly I think the other chamber shapes (especially with smallish tips??) probably play very very differently.

I'm back on a Ted Klum florida type link after a spell where I was evangelising about "Bergs". I think overall (in my experience) the 0 chamber with a largeish tip has two main sound tendencies : 1. loud, direct, quite edgy 2. subtone, diffuse, quiet.

But I'm digressing, I honestly doubt that is the kind of sound the OP is talking about in his Berg.

 

[Peter B]

But I'm digressing, I honestly doubt that is the kind of sound the OP is talking about in his Berg

You're absolutely right. I'm not a gigging player and couldn't improvise to save my life, but I've got a pretty good ear and I'm not a bad reader. I play lead tenor in a 20+ piece concert band and four of us from the band also form a sax quartet for local gigs every now and then - wedding receptions, garden parties and the like.

Even though I'm playing in ensembles, one big and one small, my individual sound and tone are still very important to me, and as I mentioned, I've never really been comfortable with my tenor sound. The Selmer Soloist came closest I suppose, especially in the quartet, but sometimes in the concert band if we're doing a big swing thing the Soloist just felt a bit inadequate somehow. I find with the Berg I can both blend very nicely with the quartet where most of our playing is between p and mf I guess, rarely louder, but also punch it out in the concert band when there's ff called for and with a very satisying, slightly edgy tone across the range. This Berg Larsen just seems to be more flexible in that way than other pieces I've played with.

PS....thanks for not shooting the messenger - for what it's worth I thought at the time it was a pretty silly thing to say!!

 

[Honeyboy]

Well, I will chime in as well. I have a 130/2 Stainless Berg which has had work done on it by Mojo. I also have a 115/0, also worked on by Mojo. I prefer the flexibility of the 130/2. I can do all the Rock and blues stuff as well as getting a fuller jazzier tone. I prefer it over my STM link for all types of playing. They are quite suitable for jazz- Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, Pete Christlieb, Plas Johnson, et al. An experienced player can get all types of tones and play many styles of music with a Berg. There is no single best mouthpiece for a saxophone, only personal preferences.

 

[stormott77]

I think a Berg is a good piece for a horn that doesn't have a very strong core. The Bergs tend to have that built in core sound to them. I think that is why I have seen a lot of guys that play Yamahas on Bergs. I know there are plenty of VI guys playing Bergs as well but I'm not the biggest fan of that sound.

I lean towards the Link style of pieces on tenor. I also play a horn with a strong core. I have played some Bergs on my horn and the tend to be to harsh for me. I think it might be because I have learned to blow a really focused and centered airstream on a large chamber piece. Mix my airstream with a berg and it is just to compact sounding.

 

[artstove]

I like the Bergs on tenor, too. I tried a bunch of other pieces, and I like how the Berg has some edge/bite to it while still having a rich sound. I am using primarily a 110/1 (refaced by Ed Zentera) for edgier/louder stuff, and secondarily a 100/2 (refaced by Eric Drake) for mellower stuff. I found the "0" baffle/chamber too bright for my tastes.

 

[Rittmeister]

I have a 105/2/M stainless (offset), and a 105/3/M bronze (modern). Both were refaced to a true .108 by Brian Powell, and they're awesome. They were my main pieces for quite a long time, and only recently have I gone to a Link. Truthfully for me the sounds aren't that different, and the bronze Berg still travels with me regularly.