How do I pick a saxophone mouthpiece?

[chaoticbear]

So, I’m in the market for an alto saxophone mouthpiece. I started out on a super old C* that came with my used horn, and I suppose that worked alright, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I no longer have it. (read: I lost it.)

So, I’d like to buy a new one, but don’t know too much about them. Wikipedia tells me that in order to get a dark, rich sound and better pitch control, I should look for a narrow-tipped mouthpiece with a low baffle. How do I gauge that when I look for a mouthpiece? (For the record, I live at least an hour away from the closest real music shop where I might be able to try them out, so I’m looking at eBay here.)

Some background on me: I’ve been playing (mostly bari) for about 8 years off and on (6 years in junior/high school) and am now in a local community band. I usually play on a Vandoren 2 1/2 or 3, or a Rico 3, if that helps at all.

Cool! Thanks!

[garygnu]

I e-mailed my brother on this, he plays bari sax and occationally gets paid for it. I’ll post his reply when it comes. (Or I might even be able to lure him onto the Dope :D)

[percussion]

@garygnu

I e-mailed my brother on this, he plays bari sax and occationally gets paid for it. I’ll post his reply when it comes. (Or I might even be able to lure him onto the Dope :D)

I also sent it to one of my best friends who happens to be an acomplished classical and jazz sax player, i hope he gives you a good reply.

[ZipperJJ]

I just stopped in to say…

“Sax-a-mo-phooooone”

That’s all.

[chaoticbear]

@ZipperJJ

I just stopped in to say…

“Sax-a-mo-phooooone”

That’s all.

Thanks? :dubious:

[wolf_meister]

And I just dropped in to say, that you can pick a guitar but you can’t pick a saxophone (mouthpiece or otherwise).

Then again, you can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish.

(Gee I’m glad I remembered all that wry, sophisticated humor from “Weekly Reader”. I’m glad I continue to renew my subscription too. )

[Dr.Love]

I’ve been out of the saxophone world longer than I would like, but I do have a couple links that might be of use to you. The site Sax on the Web is quite useful for saxophone discussions of all sorts. There’s a rather extensive forum where you can find:

Alto mouthpiece sub-forum

Classical Mouthpiece thread

The C* is still more-or-less standard for classical playing, though there are other options (the thread above mentions Vandoren AL3 or AL4 and Rousseau Classic and New Classic). Your best bet is probably to select a couple that seem to be a good fit from your readings, and order them through a store like Woodwind & Brasswind that has a trial policy and evaluate them from there.

[garygnu]

OK, I got a reply. Here:

Here’s what I can offer, but I haven’t tried too many bari mouth pieces, but the one I use is for size 4 reeds. The angle of the tip is what determines what kind of reed you should use. A shallow angle has less space for air, and there for you need a stiffer reed (3-1/2 or 4) so that air can still freely move through it. The bigger the angle the smaller reed can be used. It will be harder to play a 4 reed on a larger angle mouthpiece. Then you can consider material. Plastic is obviously the most economical, and I have gotten a great tone from the Yanagasawa mouthpiece that came with my Bari. If you are playing music that requires a brighter pop-y sound, then metal is a great upgrade. You can use jazz reeds to get an even fuller sound, but I still prefer the standard Vandorens. I play mostly funk and pop. I also have a soprano that came with a metal mouthpiece, though very old and I could not see the brand. I went out and got what my instructor at the time recommended, a Yamaha C4. Excellent playability and instant “tone fix” It was the perfect switch. I bet a C4 on Bari would sound great and at the same time ease playing a little. They are very reasonably priced

my background. I’ve been playing bari for 12 years and soprano for 7 playing primarily Vandoren size 4s on bari and 3 on soprano. The problem I’m having now is that I go through them so fast. I’m not sure if switching mouthpieces might increase the life of my reeds, but I haven’t yet tried anything else cause I like the tone so much. Let me know what differences you find if you try something else. That’s a great idea to go try them before you buy them. Also remember to bring a couple different size reeds with you to try how they sound on each mouthpiece.

[chaoticbear]

That’s helpful. I keep hearing that I need to try some, so maybe I’ll hit up the woodwind/brasswind site and try some out. Just need to wait until the beginning of next month when college christmas comes.