Klarinet Archive - Posting 000290.txt from 2006/10

From: "Rob Pratt" <rpratt@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Kinda OT: Saxophone Mouthpieces?
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:45:10 -0400

Hello.

I'm with George Galway. Assuming the horn's free of leaks, the problem
is certainly the reed strength. Even if the horn does leak, you should
definitely go with softer reeds once you fix the leaks. 3 1/2 is pretty
insane, IMHO. Lately (like in the past three weeks), I've been quizzing
area classical sax players about their setups. Here's what I've found:

Bill Trimble: Selmer D* mouthpiece with Vandoren trad #3s
Dale Wolfson: Selmer S80 C* mouthpiece with Gonzales #2 1/2s

Both the Selmer D* and the S80 C* are overall quite close to what your
student has (the D* obviously a little more open and the S80 probably
with a bit of a different chamber but likely a roughly equivalent
opening). My own tenor setup is a Morgan 8EL with Vandoren Java #2s. I'm
mostly a jazz player, however, hence the "open/soft" mouthpiece/reed
combo. When I was in high school, I used an Otto Link Tone Edge 6*

I've played tenor for about 25 years, and I doubt I'd be able to produce
anything but a very stuffy sounding tone below low E on your student's
setup. Your student's mouthpiece and horn setup is excellent--the kind
of rig many, many pros would call optimal--except for the reeds. Only
thing I would change is the reeds. Otherwise, your student has gear that
has potential to last for a lifetime of playing.

Regards,
Rob Pratt
rpratt@-----.com

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