[Cassady]

I just found a deal on a super clean, first-generation YTS-62 that was too good for me to resist. I sort of wish it was one of the earlier "purple logo" horns, but I was quite happy to find a "Mk I" YTS-62 for less than $2,000.

It didn't come with the original mouthpiece although I wasn't terribly disappointed to see that it came with a Selmer S90. I would like to have a stock mouthpiece with the sax.

Can somebody tell me what mouthpiece a YTS-62 from, I believe, the late-80s or early-90s would have come with. The new ones come with a 4C. Is that the case for the older horns, too, or would they have come with a 4CM or something else? My slightly older YAS-62 came with a Yamaha-branded, but otherwise unmarked, mouthpiece.

One additional question. The sax is in wonderful shape, but not so the case. There are a few scuffs and cuts in the vinyl that can be cleaned up, but the wrapping on the handle is split. Has anyone ever replaced a handle on a Yamaha sax case and, if so, how tough was it?

Thanks!

 

[blaine hoopes]

Mine came with a plastic 4C ... if I got a S90 instead of the original 4C I would be very happy. The old plastic 4C that came with it wasn't anything to be excited about. I don't know how different the 1979 4C was from the 4C you can buy on Amazon now for $28.

I bought mine in 1979 or 1980 purple logo and I also have as a backup horn a first gen that isn't purple but is otherwise identical --- they play the same. I cannot find anything (other than nostalgia as it was a major purchase for me at the time) special about the purple logo over the same series that isn't purple.

 

[Cassady]

Mine came with a plastic 4C ... if I got a S90 instead of the original 4C I would be doing cartwheels of joy. The old plastic 4C that came with it wasn't anything to be overjoyed about. I don't know how different the 1979 4C was from the 4C you can buy on Amazon now for $28 - probably the same.

Thanks!

Yes indeed, I was pretty happy when I got the sax, which was an online purchase, and found the Selmer mouthpiece instead of the expected Yamaha. When I looked at the pictures online they didn't show the mouthpiece separately, just sitting in its spot in the case. I was assuming that I'd get the same sort of mouthpiece as came with my purple logo alto, but when I opened the case I realized that I had a surprise bonus.

I'd still like to have a "stock" mouthpiece with the horn, just because I'm a little goofy about keeping things as close to original as I can. I've even got a plastic 4C around here that I can put in with the tenor, but I wanted to ask and see if these nicer horns came with nicer mouthpieces. My alto seems like it's a nicer mouthpiece than the standard 4C, it looks like hard rubber and has a nice metal cap and ligature; it was a Japanese domestic market horn and that may make a difference to what mouthpieces they come with.

 

[blaine hoopes]

I could be wrong about it being plastic ... it has been 50 years or so since I bought it and I haven't seen that mouthpiece in 40 years. But it did come with the nice, brass ligature and cap that you don't get with them for $28 these days. It looked just like the cheap plastic ones (not the Customs that cost more)
Yanagisawa did include very nice (but very dark and classical narrow tip) rubber mouthpieces and so did Herb Couf and probably others (those are ones I have experience with) but my memory of the Yamaha pieces was that they were brittle plastic and went immediately into a drawer or box-o-stuff to be forgotten and lost and never played on.

I have a very old Yamaha soprano mouthpiece that has the center ridge on top (required a special ligature I've lost but I use a rovner now) --- I've had this for ages and no memory of where it came from. I've refaced it and it plays great but it is plastic:

EDIT: This guy is asking $$$ for one and claims it is rubber but I think he's wrong about that. You can see on mine where I had to file the back so it could slide on far enough without hitting the octave pip --- totally behaves like hard plastic in my book. I just hit the filed area on the shank with sandpaper and it smells like plastic - absolutely doesn't smell at all like hard rubber.
https://worldwidesax.com/mouthpieces/yamaha-yss-l1-soprano-1970s-0-045/
Saw a completed auction on ebay where one went for $4.95 and that is about what I probably paid for mine 50 years ago

 

[jolind]

I once owned a YAS62 that I bought new in 1997 or 1998 and it came with a 4c custom. It wasn't plastic but high quality hard rubber. Don't know when they changed their 4c model to plastic.

 

[Reet McVouty]

I have 4C's from both my Yamaha tenor and alto, and other than trying them once when I first bought my horns they have been in a drawer ever since. I'm not sure what your mindset is as to having this original piece of equipment unless you're going to play it? Do you play classical? The 4C may well be suited for a classical sound but not much for jazz or pop. Anyway, you bought a great horn and now's the time to match it to a mouthpiece that will give you your sound. Good luck.

 

[funbuffalo24]

Mine came with a plastic 4C ... if I got a S90 instead of the original 4C I would be very happy. The old plastic 4C that came with it wasn't anything to be excited about. I don't know how different the 1979 4C was from the 4C you can buy on Amazon now for $28.

When I had bought a 62, it came with "the original" plastic 4c that one of the (known)3 previous owners probably never used a mouthpiece patch on, and a rather nice solid brass cap and ligature. I didn't really like the sound on it or the look of it and I had someone offer me more than I paid for it, so I bought a brand new 4c to put in the case and away it went. The brass cap & lig stayed behind though. I still have one for my other tenors and actually far prefer the sound of the 4c to my s80 c*on a 23 or a 52, weird right?

 

[Sigmund451]

No its not weird. While I cant get excited about a 4c id take it any day over an s80 which has to be about the most boring piece on the planet, yes, I know its a classical piece buyt still...yuk