[JackLi]

okay I think he title really says it all, but if you didn't read it for some reason... this thread is about what modern Soprano mouthpiece refaced or slightly customized is most like a Vintage Selmer Soloist.

 

[10mfan]

I have an exact copy of a selmer soloist g soprano mpc by aizen.

Its a resin copy of a real soloist soprano. The material is unbreakable and the piece really sings.

Mine is new with the box and pouch. Selling for $250.

This is the best i have tried.

 

[birdlives1955]

I think the Yanagisawas can be made into really great pieces... I have tried them both out-of-the-box as well as refaced, and although they aren't that great when they're stock (run of the mill), with a slightly longer facing than stock and a standard reface they can be really great playing pieces. They have small chambers like the Soloists.
Honestly, although the details of the core of the design might be a bit different from one mouthpiece manufacturer to the next, a whole lot of the hard rubber soprano mouthpieces out there nowadays are just rollover-baffle squeeze chamber designs, much like the Soloists were. What I'm saying is that I really don't think you have to get a Soloist, or spend over a hundred bucks, to get a really nice blank to work with. When set-up with a good facing curve and tip opening for whatever strength jazz cut reeds you prefer, the HR Otto Links are great playing pieces, I think the Meyers are really good too, the Yanagisawas are really good, and the Bari HR's are really good. The Yanis can be a little more expensive new, but you can find them used for good prices.
I've found that with a flat table, a medium-to-long facing length, a moderate to medium-open tip opening somewhere between .060"-.070", and a radial curve, these types of pieces can be made into really nice, easy to play, warm sounding players. Sometimes, the windows might need to be moved backwards a little bit too to better match up with the length of a vamp of a reed, I found this to really help on a Yani I was working on recently.

 

[unbalancedaction]

Vandoren S15/25/35... Costs just under $100 I think, and they are as close as it gets (with good rubber, and a perfectly fine facing out of the box).

The S35 is about a 72 tip I think

 

[mike_s]

i have an ed pillinger copy, if you contact him you need to ask for the soloist copy and not the selmer looking piece on his website. its an exact copy and it was i think 200.

 

[Atonal]

Selmer S-80

 

[Benny]

I asked Brian Powell this question and he directed me to a Riffault blank that he has ($150 with facing) that was basically the same blank as the original Morgan jazz model.
You can buy the blanks from the mouthpieceguys website.

 

[MyMartinTenor]

I've read that Bari brand pieces are modeled on soloists. They do have a similar squeeze / smallish chamber

 

[runzoff]

I have a Bilger/Morgan J6 that plays VERY much like my Soloist- better than any of the Morgan J's I've had. Good rubber compound as well.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150599294139&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT