EQUIPMENT

No doubt a contentious and passionate subject amongst saxophone players. Here is my two cents worth and remember its only my view and some may agree many may not. It might help when you are thinking about buying a new horn.

As most saxophone players my age I have played/owned a lot of different horns and mouthpieces. Here are my thoughts:

My first saxophone was an Encore Alto saxophone. A good beginners horn but the left hand pinky keys fell off one day! The post became unglued. I then got a Yamaha YTS 21. Yamaha make great saxophones and you can't go wrong. I then had a YTS 61 with the purple logo which had a great big sound, excellent ergonomics and fantastic intonation. As most serious sax players do at some point I thought I had to play a selmer to be a great player.

1933 Selmer cigar cutter tenor saxophone - I still regret selling this horn. A fantastic big sound, great intonation and a real joy to play. What was I thinking...

1957 Mark 6 selmer tenor saxohone - the "holy grail" of saxophones. I bought one of these just to be cool I think. It was terrible...really difficult intonation and I just didnt enjoy playing it. I'm sure that will raise a discussion. I remember playing a 1964 model for a few days when mine was being overhauled. This horn was great! I just couldnt get the repairer to part with it. Its been interesting to watch the price of these horns soar in recent years with one (in mint condition) I recall seeing for $20K USD. Personally I don't think they are worth it but there are many far better players than me out there who will disagree.

Selmer Super Action 80 series II tenor saxophone - what a piece of junk this particular horn was. The action was fine but there was something going on with the fork high E which no one seemed to be able to figure out (it was playing a semitone sharp). I had the same model Alto which was an absolute joy to play.

1924 Beuscher gold plated True Tone alto saxophone - a real pretty/lyrical sound. They seem undervalued to me. This was the first American horn I played and the first thought that popped in to my head was that this is exactly what a saxophone should sound like. I had it completely overhauled retaining the snap in resonators, roo pads etc. They have nice ergonomical keywork, altissimo and intonation was effortless. I was looking for a different sound which led me to try the Conn 6M.

Conn 6M Alto saxophone - my favourite alto saxophone. A big sound with easy intonation and fast keywork. I really liked the design of the left hand pinky keys. A very easy horn to get around on. A real jazz horn.

Mouthpieces - Ive never really struggled with this decision. On alto it's always been a Meyer 5M and on tenor its always been an Otto Link (metal). Twenty five years ago it was a 9* with a rico #4 reed. Although this changed after chatting with Johnny Griffin when I swapped to rico #1 1/2 or 2 and had the link modified to a 10*. This setup worked really well for me and helped me get closer to the sound I was after. The links seem to get a raw deal on google with many people talking about the quality not being consistent and older links needing to have the table corrected. I might be lucky but I have never had a problem with any link I have played. Again, its a personal choice and I think they may suit my mouth physically for whatever reason. I've tried a few otto link rubber mouthpieces but never really liked the sound - they sound stuffy to me.

On the mouthpiece discussion I should point out that I have next to no knowledge about the technical aspects of a mouthpiece. I can show you the tip and rails but that's about it. Baffles and all that sort of talk go over my head and there are a number of people on the web with incredible knowledge in this space so if you have a question regarding mouthpieces its kind of wasted on me. I know the sound I like to produce and which mouthpiece best allows me to get that sound.

As for alto reeds I always liked the LaVoz medium but found they didnt last very long. I swapped to 3 1/2 rico reeds which I liked and found to be very reliable and durable.

Since coming back Ive gone to an Otto Link NY 7 tenor mouthpiece and Vandoren ZZ reeds which I am still experimenting with the strength. I havent had a bad reed yet so I'll stick with them. Check out my mouthpiece exercise videos.

As for saxophones I've got my eye on a Conn "Chu Berry" tenor (yes I know its not really a Chu Berry) or a Conn 10M (post rolled tone holes). I'll keep you posted.

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