I am still shopping for mouthpieces for my tenor sax. It is because I seem to sound different every time I put on a new reed. Before I quit playing years ago my sound was very consistent. It didn’t matter what reed I put on really.
I don’t know if it is because I had quit for so long or what? But I can’t seem to go from one reed to the next with any consistency. Perhaps I just haven’t found the right brand of reed. The sound I am getting is okay. I just think it should be better; smoother, more mellow, with just enough edge.
I can’t afford to try several different mouthpieces. They cost too much. There are some I would like to get my hands on though. Like the one pictured above. It is the metal V16 from Vandoren. Some of the video demonstrations I’ve heard on YouTube sound really nice, the sound I’d like to produce.
There are, of course, others that I’d also like to try; Theo Wanne, Navarro, maybe Otto Link. I had tried Otto Link early in my time with the Navy, but, I could not make it work for me.
Oh, another issue I’m having is finding the right ligature for my Guardala mouthpiece. The original ligature which came with the mouthpiece is long gone. For most of the years I’ve owned the mouthpiece I used a Rovner ligature with no problem. Eventually, it was worn out. So I bought another one recently and it has been a lot different. Not nearly as effective as the old one. At least that’s the way it seems. I think more than likely it is that I need to explore more reeds. A buddy from the Navy has given me several suggestions I plan to investigate.
I thought maybe one of the Vandoren ligatures would work, but it is just slightly too big. It does not fit snuggly enough to hold the reed. I made it work by placing a rubber mouthpiece pad on one of the 3 pressure plates that come with the mouthpiece. It makes it just snug enough, but, I don’t think it works as well as it should, though much better than the current Rovner I have.
Maybe it is the saxophone itself, but I don’t think so. Besides, my sax is gorgeous in appearance. And if it is the sax I can’t afford to get another one right now. Perhaps one day I will. For now though, I have to keep working with what I have.
tonelovette.com 