The Jody Jazz pieces are great and are relatively in expensive. For now, get some softer reeds, maybe jazz select 3s would be a good place to start

 

The Jody Jazz pieces are great and are relatively in expensive. For now, get some softer reeds, maybe jazz select 3s would be a good place to start

Um...relative to what? A new car?

The Woodwind Co. is a known mouthpiece maker, mostly student models for sax/clarinet from what I gather. If you don't need the volume then I say forfeit it for intonation. You know what your school ensembles sound like better than anyone on here, so that's really a call you'll have to make. Sight unseen, I would say for concert band definitely play on the more in-tune piece.

 

That old Woodwind Co. is probably one of the hard rubber (greenish brown) ones that were very good mouthpieces. What is the facing number?

 

Where can I find that? I didn't see any additional numbers or markings.

 

Woodwind Co. Size is on the bottom of the table unless it been refaced off, or under the word Steel Ebonite on the logo side.
A member here treated me to an Alto B4 which I adore on my New Era, Martin Troubadour stencil:must use a hard reed. I purchased a B4* on the web and love it too. I keep a alto Pan Am Alto in my locker where I teach and use a G5 on it and that's brighter and still dark.My Selmer S80C* is far Brighter and louder ,easier to play on softer reed,but lacks something on my old horns. Also my neighbors like the more muted mouthpieces!

 

Well this seems to be a predicament. I really love the volume and sound of the metalite, but I can't play it in tune. The steel ebonite is much easier to play in tune, but I'm missing the volume and "rock" sound that I get from the metalite. Should I work towards playing in tune on the metalite or getting volume on the steel ebonite?

 

Neither seem right for you, I would just look for another mouthpiece.

 

That's a tough question to answer here. Which sounds better - A, or B?

I don't think the Woodwind Co can be made to sound like a Metalite (a point in its favor, I'd say), but I'm guessing you have a fairly close facing there (the same question bruce bailey had) ... so you could probably ramp up the reed strength a notch or two, compared to reed you use on the Metalite, which I expect will give you more volume. I used to use Bari plastic reeds on a Woodwind mouthpiece, or you could also consider Plasticover, to get a clearer sound. (But that wasn't on tenor, and I have no idea how Bari plastic does on the upper end of the range.)

 

I bought the Rico Metalite 7 for my Tenor as many players rave about it. I can't play on it yet, I just don't have the control I have with the Woodwind. That "in tune " you mention may be you , embouchure, teeth, breathing.

Both my Brillhardt Special( plastic) and the Olympian that came with my Pan Am are very bright and in tune. I still prefer the Selmer S80C* if I need the volume and control:and each take a different reed for me to get the same results. These are all in the $50 or less price range so maybe try some others. Of course I'm a beginner still and playing long notes all the time. I learned the most from using the s80C* as a base.

 

A Metalite M7 is a .105" whereas the old Woodwind is probably a .065" or smaller. You will need a reed about 2 whole numbers softer to get the M7 to work.

 

I've actually got an M5, how much does that change? I'm using 2.5s now.

 

That is my combo for that mouthpiece and should work for most people.

 

But people really don't all use the same reed strengths - you can develop the ability to use a harder or softer reed with the same mouthpiece, depends on how you play. From what you've said about how the Woodwind is working for you, a harder reed might be worth a try.

 

The facing number is B4. I think I'm going to stay with the woodwind until I can find another mouthpiece, hopefully before our winter concert. I really need some more volume, but I can't sacrifice myI'll look around and see if I can try some out at my local music store when I take my alto in to get some much-needed maintenance.

 

Just now, out of curiosity and boredom, I put on the woodwind along with some plasticover 2.5s that I had sitting in my case after they didn't work too well on my metalite. I LOVE it. The notes come out 100x easier, I have more volume, need less air, and the notes are much more in tune. After I tried the plasticovers on the metalite and needed so much air, I was ready to toss them. Then I put them on the woodwind and I get the ease and volume of the metalite with the tune and sound of the woodwind! I would post a quick recording but the rockband mic I've been using doesn't do it justice, guess I'll just have to wait for Christmas to start recording.

 

For what it's worth, I find Plasticovers noticeably softer after they've broken in.

For current "Woodwind Co" Educator models (LeBlanc), tenor B5 is supposed to be 0.63. You should be able to see the difference quite clearly - put the two on a nice flat surface, beak to beak. Also compare the facing curves, that has an influence on how they play.

 

Before Leblanc bought them, "The Woodwind Company of New York" did not make "student" mouthpieces, per se; though they did make mouthpieces they described as being suitable for students - the "B" facings, which is what you've got.

Otherwise they were made of good quality hard rubber and generally had well-applied facings. But they were old-school, in that most of their mouthpieces tended to have narrow tip openings compared to modern standards. Glad the Plasticovers work on it; but you may also find, paradoxically, that on narrow-tip opening mouthpieces like your Woodwind Co. you can not only play much harder reeds than you are used to, they will play easier than softer reeds and get a lot more volume.

I'm not sure, but I don't think Leblanc continued to use the "Steel Ebonite" motto for very long after it bought the company, so I would guess you've either got a pre-Leblanc Woodwind Co. mouthpiece or one made not very long after the buyout.

 

Hornlip is right, an Educator Woodwind [France] is not the same thing as the N.Y. Woodwind , Steel Ebonite. Even when it says B4, French
tables are different and inside the French one I have it is not nicely scouped out by hand like the N.Y. pieces. See if you can find a N.Y. B4* or a B5, B5* , tough in Tenor . I see lots round in Alto. I had better playing with a stiffer reed ; 3 & 3.5 on them.

BTW: Thanks Bruce for the tip on the Metalite, I'll try softer reeds there an see what happens.