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Strathon Mouthpiece/Ligature

January 18, 2008 in Articles

Hello, I recently purchased a strathon mouthpiece on ebay and unfortunately for me it did not come with a ligature, if you have seen the mouthpiece it has an adjustable baffle, which makes putting a regular lig on it almost impossible, does anyone know where I can find one of these ligatures or what type of ligature i could use or something i could use as a ligature? For now I have been using scotch tape which works well but is a pain to have to put the reed on every time, I also tried velcro strips which work decently but the reed seems too loose.  This is a great mouthpiece, I really like the sound I get from it.  Am I out of luck, stuck with using scotch tape as a ligature? Thanks

E: “Looking at my Strathon, it seems that one could construct some sort of ligature for it. The one that comes with it is sort of semi-circular, with ‘wings’ that point inwards and that would go into the grooves on the mouthpiece. The actual ligature plate seems to be nothing special, but there is a screw adjust on it. I would say a little trip to Home Depot could solve some of this. I’ll upload some pictures of that would help. I don’t think anything sold today would really work, unless maybe you want to get an Otto Link ligature and tweak that to work with the Strathon. It sorta looks like it would, if you give it a little persuading with a pair of pliers ;-) ”

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Oboe Mouthpiece?!?!?

October 19, 2007 in Articles

I almost won this item on ebay. A Chedeville Oboe Mouthpiece.

Oboe Mouthpiece Picture 8

Wow. It got to pricey for me. Plus I just had to shell out a lot of money to the IRS. :-( Interesting discussion about it here. Seems it isn’t so great. Looks kind of cool though. Probably would help out some poor doubler out there than wanted to add oboe to his weaponry.

Here are some pictures taken off the auction

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Ralph Morgan Dies

August 28, 2007 in News

I saw this on the Klarinet list

“I just received a note from a repairman friend which said that Ralph Morgan passed away on August 23rd. Ralph worked at Selmer for many decades and was brilliant at mouthpiece design and instrument acoustics. He retired many years ago and concentrated on just mouthpieces.

As a maker, I just wish folks like him left behind research notes for the rest of us to learn from!

Dave

Dr. David McClune
University Professor of Music
Director of Bands/Woodwinds
Union University-1862
1050 Union University Drive
Jackson, TN 38305

Office-731-661-5294
dmcclune@uu.edu
www.mcclunemouthpiece.com

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Ingredients of the Earl Bostic sound

February 15, 2005 in Articles

Anonymous Coward writes “I want to cultivate an Earl Bostic sound on the Alto–big and blowsy. (Right now it’s small and lousy.) What equipment did he use to get that unmistakeable Bostic sound?”

Thinking that strickly equipment will help you is a flaw. He could have probably used anything and still sounded like Earl Bostic.

That being sad, a quick search on the net has yielded no information on what he used.

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Olegatures

October 31, 2004 in Reviews

I have to admit, I have never been one to try out “gear” on sax or any instrument. Partly due to the satisfaction of what I already own, and partly due to not knowing if there is something better out there. Namely, I remember how I ended up with my Selmer Alto was because I tried it and found it better than what I had. Yeah…..anyways.

So, for years I’ve been using a Meyer mouthpiece on Alto with some no name generic POS ligature. I’ve been happy with it, but wasn’t happy with my alto sound on recordings (always sounded wimpy to me). So, in like March I tried a Harrison ligature, and noticed a HUGE difference in sound compared to the old ligature. I had been using the Harrison until I noticed a lot of guys using the Olegature, namely Jim Snidero using it on his Joe Henderson Tribute album. So, I decided to try it…..

First thing is that it looks cool. Seriously, it’s all gold and whatnot. But trying it, it plays great. I would never have thought it would be different than the Harrison one, but it is. I would call it “more consistent” or “more responsive” through out the horn. I didn’t believe it, and I did a little recording test, and I could hear the difference.

Ok, so, I kept it. But then I noticed it would fit on my Rubber Berg on Tenor. So, tried it on my Tenor. Whoa. Similar results, except I noticed that the low end of the horn was a lot easier to hit and sounded better compared to the standard Berg Larsen ligature.

So, needless to say I’m using these ligatures for a while. There is another ligature that is supposed to be good too, the Francois Louis ligature, and perhaps you’ll see a review of that soon, but I’m not promising anything ;-)

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What To Use On An Old Buescher

September 14, 2004 in Articles

“I’m an old guy getting back to playing after 45 years of “silence”. I’ve found my eye’s aren’t seeing the charts like they used to but, my fingers have an amazing amount of “memory” left in them (thanx to the great old Englishman I had as a teacher all those years ago and the foundation he gave me). I’ve been getting a lot of compliments, to my surprise, on my technique and sound on my old tenor (a Buescher purchased in 1954) and the original mouthpiece / lit. setup. Now I’m trying to educate myself on mpc’s and I’m looking for resources that will explain the differences in chamber, baffle, tip………etc. I would like to find info for both the tenor as well as clarinet (clarinet was always my primary instrument)………can you advise me in this matter? Thanx for any help you can offer.”

The best place to start on this journey would be Mouthpieceheaven.com. I’d recommend spending time at a store with a bunch of mouthpieces and trying them out. Something about a 105 tip opening (Berg Larsen opening type) or about a 5 or 6 start Link/Meyer opening. Chamber size will depend on what kind of sound you want. Good luck!

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E. Rousseau Jazz or Studio Jazz Mouthpieces?

June 27, 2004 in Articles

Master Asia writes “My teacher lended me a E.Rousseau Jazz mouthpiece to test whether I like that one or the Studio Jazz model. The only obvious difference between the two is that the Jazz model has a huge baffle, and the Studio Jazz doesn’t. I was thinking about sticking to the Jazz model but I think that since the baffle makes the sound bigger, it didn’t allow the sax to produce a real rich sound. Please give me any opinions on the E.Rousseau Jazz and Studio Jazz mouthpieces, what you like about them, hate about them, and/or which one out of the two I should stick with.”

I used to have a Rousseau Jazz model a long time ago. I don’t know what happened to it. Did I lend it out? Break it? I dunno. Have you tried some other mouthpieces as well? Meyer? Bergs? Links? Etc. Etc.You should stick with whatever mouthpiece YOU like the sound of and one YOU play in tune with.

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Vintage Saxes/Setups

May 22, 2004 in Articles

Vintage Sax?

Jazz Future Prospect writes “I was wondering what’s the hipe about vintage. Doe sit have a better sound? Quality? Price? I admit to being a relitive newbie to the fine world of jazz and sax’s in general so I’m not to read in the subject. Also (to save the time of making a new post) how about new stuff? Is the new any better than the old? Or is it personal?”

Importance of Set-ups

Jazz Future Prospect writes “I’ve heard of set up’s for better playing, but I was wondering what is the point? I know that people get picky, but how do you find out what would work best? Where do you buy the peices (I, living in the middle of nowhere, have no music stores nearby).”To vintage a sax or not to vintage is a good question. It might be compared to people who like old, classic cars to new cars. Some might argue, with good reason, that the metallurgy from decades before might be the key to these vintage horns sound. Some old Selmer horns are supposedly made out of dense “bomb shell” type material. I had a friend in High School who owned an alto that we thought might be one of these. It was very heavy, and had a very unique sound.

It might also be the craftmanship from these times as well. I think the world of string instruments has yet to see the likes of Stradivari instruments being produced. They are valued for their craftmanship, and tone qualities. I think the same goes in the world of other instruments. Some people really gravitate towards a certain kind of sound that a vintage horn can offer (be it Selmer Balanced Actions, Mark VI, or old Conn horns, etc).

To move on to your question, or rather comment as you seem to already dismiss it, about setups. As you develop as a musician, you will try to find that “voice” that you hear in your head. What you think a saxophone should sound like. A different mouthpiece/reed/ligature setup helps one towards that goal.

Though that is not the only thing that will allow you to achieve the sound you want. Most of it is how you blow into the horn, and how your embouchure develops. For instance, I saw Don Menza (saxophonist with Buddy Rich) do a mouthpiece demo where he took 3 different mouthpieces and made them sound the same. The mouthpiece setup will make it easier for you to achieve the results.

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Roland Caravan mouthpiece

March 4, 2004 in Articles

jazzeux writes “Hi,
I recently read in your post that you are using a “Roland Caravan” clarinet mouthpiece that you love. I tried to find info on the internet but I didn’t find anything. Can you give us more info about it (what compagnies made it, why do you like it, how much does it cost, etc) Thank you very much.”

I do not think a “company” is making these mouthpieces. I believe they are hand made from Ronald Caravan or his shop. Weiner Music carries them, and Musicm.com has them as well as the whole line. I like it so much cause it resonates, and I can do both jazz and classical music with it (clarinet mouthpiece).

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Do Different Ligatures Matter?

February 22, 2004 in Articles

SirSaxAlot writes “Do different ligatures make different sounds/tones? Do they really make a difference? I’m really looking to find my own sound and any help would be very helpfull. thanx!”

Yes they do make a difference. You can spend a LONG TIME messing around with reed/ligature combinations. That is of course assuming you’ve settled on a mouthpiece. A mouthpiece piece hunt could take forever sometimes. Perhaps that hunt never really ends for sum…..

Right now I’m using a “vintage” Meyer brothers Alto mouthpiece with some no name metal ligature (for jazz) and a Selmer S-80 C* with a Rovner (with a little square in the middle…dark one?) ligature. On tenor I’m using a 4 year old or so rubber Berg Larsen with the ligature it came with. On soprano it’s a Berg with, I think, the ligature it came with. On clarinet I use a Roland Caravan mouthpiece with an original Rovner ligature. The clarinet setup I love to death!

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Guardala Mouthpieces

October 1, 2003 in Articles

orvillethegreat writes “I’ve been playing sax for about 5 years now, and for the past few months, i have been really trying to search for the mouthpiece that will give me MY sound…I play on a otto link 7* right now, and have tried various hard rubber mouthpieces…and i have stumbeled over the realm of guardala mouthpieces. I was just wondering if anyone out there really thinks that they are worth the extra 300-400 dollars.”

I’d say no, but read this. If you think you sound good on it, then cost should not matter….

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Charlie Parker’s Mouthpiece – as described by Mingus

September 3, 2003 in Articles

Bopfanatic writes “Can anyone help me decipher this? In his autobiography, ‘Beneath the Underdog’, Mingus recalls a conversation with Lucky Thompson, who tells him that Bird used a “number 30 open lay mouthpiece”. Does anyone know what the “number 30″ means, like what brand used that numbering system, or what the equivalent tip opening or chamber size (in standard terms) it stands for? Cheers!”

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Coleman Hawkins – how did he get that tone?

May 19, 2003 in Articles

Bopfanatic writes “Hello! I’m a huge fan of vintage sax styles, and I love the huge sound of people like Coleman Hawkins and Lucky Thompson. The problem is that there are very few resources about what setups these players used (everybody seems to be into Mike Brecker and all that malarkey), and since I’m only 17, most people assume I’m into funk and stuff, not 1940′s bop. If anyone has dredged up some stuff about Hawk and the like, or happens to play with that kind of tone, can they give me a few pointers? Ta!”

Well, Michael Brecker and Malarkey should never be in the same sentance together. As for getting a Coleman Hawkins type sound, part of it has to do with his mouthpiece setup (which makes it easier to get his type of sound), the other part is his general sound concept and how he played. You can get a Hawkins sound out of any horn/mouthpiece combination. I saw Don Menza do it at a clinic years ago….

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Leaking Lip

April 4, 2003 in Articles

kia writes “I’ve recently changed over to a Royal Rico Jazz select reeds, same metal mouthpiece opening of 7 open and started with 2 m but went to 3s and 3 m . The problem is now after about 45 minutes of playing Ive developed a leaky bottom left corner of my lip. Don’t know why, posture, position am baffled! Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rick”

Sounds like fatigue. Does this happen when you go back down to softer reeds? Why the need to be playing on a stiff reed? I’d recommend moving up slowly to a stiffer reed. Going from a 2m to 3m is a leap, and your lips sound like they aren’t strong enough yet for those reeds.

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Jon Van Wie Dies

April 1, 2003 in News

Update: 04/03 21:15 GMT by E :The aggressive bone cancer has taken Jon Van Wie’s life. Very sad.

In a follow up to this article I posted, it seems that Jon Van Wie’s condition might have taken a turn for the worst.

Subject: JVW update
From: wawawe@bigfoot.com
Date: 9:03 PM 04/01/03
Newsgroups: alt.music.saxophone


I thought I would share an excerpt from a sad letter I received on Monday (3/31/03) from Jon Van Wie's wife, that accompanied a returned mouthpiece that never got to see Jon's great work:


"March 28, 2003


Dear Sir or Madam:


Jon is now unable to work. Jon has cancer and by the time you receive this package he will have passed away. Jon loved his work and enjoyed improving the saxophone mouthpiece for your enjoyment...Enclosed herewith is your mouthpiece.


Sincerely,


Rosanne Van Wie
Jon's Loving Wife"


May we all remember Jon's great work, his dedication, and his spirit. God bless he and his family.

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