Hello. I have been playing sax for about three and a half years. I currently play on a C double star mouth peice, and I am ready to move on to something better. I want a mouth peice that is as open or a little more open than the C double star, so I will not have to make a huge switch. I also want a mouth peice that performs better as well. I also would like a mouthpeice that is suitable for jazz and classical playing. I have a meyer five for jazz, but I don`t like it that much(besides my friend stole my ligature.) Anyway, I was thinking along the lines of an A7 vandoren mouthpeice. How are those? Any other suggestions? I am looking for a top notch mouth peice that is open. I don`t care what the brand is, but please reply to me and tell me what you think. Either that or e~mail me at ryan7blag@yahoo.com
Thank you

I Have Been Playing Since Jr. High
School and Im 43 Now, So I have Tried a lot of Different Mouth Pieces. I am Using a "Dukoff D7" Metal Mouth Piece. I love the Sound and I find it easier to play then all the rest that I have Tried. Go to the Music Store and Try One on your Sax. SD SaxMan

i`m not as versed as the "saxman" about mouthpieces, but i have been playing 5 years and have gone a tested several mouthpieces.

At the moment I am playing a Yamaha Custom, and I find it excellent. I have tried the Vandoren mouthpieces, and they just didn`t feel right to me. and I did not enjoy the sound.

But rememeber, mouthpieces are like reeds. Its all about personal preference. Make sure you TRY OUT a bunch before you make a purchase, and don`t but them until you have.

Ya, I have tried a few vandorens and they seem pretty good to me.

For me, I don`t like yamaha professional horns, yet I love there beginner horns.

metal mouthpieces are the best for jazz. I have a dukoff d8 for soprano and a yanagisawa for alto. Both of these are metal. Metal mouthpiece just give the sax a louder and overall better sound. Try one before buying another plastic. They may be expensive but what you might want to do is try to buy a otto link or something similar off ebay. you can get one for about 60-80 dollars of there. I hope i was a help.

Look into the Claude lakey Brass plated mouthpieces, i use a 9 for an ultra dark tone, they are about 400.00 but you can usually haggle the down to about 218.00.

Ryan! Please remember...i before e except after c or when sounded like a as in neighbor or weigh; and except seize and seizure and also leisure, weird, height, and either, forfeit, and neither.

I find that for jazz a hard rubber mouthpiece works best. Metal mouthpieces usually amplify the tuning tendencies of saxophones (b in the staff and below flat, g above the staff and up sharp). With some practice, a metal mouthpiece can work well on tenor, but they usually sound like crap on an alto. Plus, if you`re playing lead in a big band, tuning is extremely important, so in my opinion metal mouthpieces on an alto is not the way to go. Also, you shouldn`t even try playing classical music on a metal mouthpiece.

I`ve tried Lakeys on alto, and I don`t really care for them either. You get a lot of volume, but tone and intonation suffer.

I currently use a New York Meyer. The tip opening is a 5, but it`s an older mouthpiece so the tip opening isn`t the same as the newer Meyers. I find that Meyers work well for jazz and can work decently for classical music. If you`re unsatisfied with your 5 try a 6 or 7 tip opening. However, a more open tip may make sensitive classical playing more difficult. Why not just use two different mouthpieces? That`s what most professionals do.

I forgot to mention, if you can find an old selmer soloist mouthpiece, they work well for jazz and classical music. I`m pretty sure that`s what Kenny Garrett plays on, and his tone isn`t too shabby.

Well, guys im A 10 year professional sax player i pratically played every style out there. I think whe it comes to mouthpieces and reeds it jus nowing and feeling what you like because not evryone likes the same mouthpieces out there. most common mouthpieces that are out there are the meye very good mouthpeice I fing it to be a nice dark sound not bad if you into playing straight up jazz. Vandoren for me of my favorites but its a specific kind I use if you like a nice bright sound on the upper resgister a mid muffle but yet clear middle range and a poweful bright low range that mouthpiece is for you. I like using the Vanduren Jumbo T 75 has a very open sound when it comes to reeds try vandurens.

how does tip opening affect the sound

Hi guys,
I have only been playing alto sax for 2 months,I wasn,t happy with the tone of the original cheap and nasty plastic mouthpiece ,so went and bought a Selmer super session ! I have tried playing with 1.5 and 2 & 3 reeds but I am finding it really hard to blow,and can only struggle to get a sound out with 1.5 reed .It is of a better tone but jeez ,it shouldn,t be this hard to blow.Wot am I possibly doing wrong ,any ideas and positive ideas welcome.

Steviec