[gstaats]

Hi all! New member here. I've had this mouthpiece for about 25 years, but do not know much about it. It was given to me by a bass instructor, that also played sax. I can tell the obvious it is a soloist D - but can anyone give me more info on it? Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Hassles]

I ain't a Selmer nerd but I'd say a long Scroll Shank soloist

 

[gstaats]

Thanks! I've never really researched mouthpieces. I played it, and liked it a lot. Someone asked a while back what mouthpiece I was using, but I didn't have a good answer. My default answer is a Selmer D... But then I read they were made in short shank, long shank, different years & styles... No clue what 'vintage' it is, or even if it is vintage. I don't think the face of it has been touched. It is really versatile - just surprised how many variants of a Selmer Soloist D there are!!

 

[KMR]

Yes, it’s a long shank soloist.
Dating from approx the 60s.

So, after the “ short shank” dating from the mid 50s up to this.
And before the change to the “ soloist style” which looked similar, but lost the word soloist and the lay written on the table.
This later ( non soloist ) version simply had the lay written on top of the body.

 

[bruce bailey]

As I recall, these long shanks started around 1965 and the short shanks were gone after that. I got a short shank new in late 1964 and remember the long shanks by early 1966. I have used a Selmer D since 1967 and today I have the same S-80 D I got around 1979. Perfect all around alto mouthpiece. Use it!

 

[Bari Sax Guy]

I have acquired several Selmer soloists after receiving one SS as "case candy" with a Vito Alto, and became a fan. Yours is a long shank, which AFAIK is less desirable,
although more desirable as an original "D" facing. It seems that C , C* etc. pieces were included with newly purchased MKVI Saxes, thus the availability of these pieces.

I think a "D" would indicate that it was purchased on it's own, not a factory included piece,

I don't have any LS Alto's, but I have long and short shank Tenors, and I like the long shank Tenor better than the SS.
I have a LS Bari, and am still interested in experiencing the elusive SS Bari, but would not pay big $$ for it.

There must be some reason that Selmer changed from SS to LS.

 

[gstaats]

Thanks for all the information. Really interesting to hear about the history/evolution of selmer's mouthpieces. It is a great mouthpiece - I definitely never appreciated how nice of a piece it was until now!