[Dixielandjazz] More on Saxophones and mouthpieces

Tue Aug 30 10:00:06 PDT 2005

By the way Russ.  Except for some military Conns issued in WWII the Half nude seems to be the best of the lot.  I played on an Air Force silver Conn 10 M for 15 years or so from 1958.  It was a wonderful horn.  The AF band then went to the standard brass and we had to turn them in.  I'm sure they ended up as door knobs or something but there was no way we could keep one.  That horn was an old friend by that time.  It was a little better on the low end than my 10M.  As I said there has been a shift over the years to favor the high end of the horn and to brighten them up.   The new horns they issued were also Conn 10M's but they just weren't the same.  They got a couple of Selmer's too.  The Selmer Tenor is still a great horn and in some ways, especially projection, beats the 10M.  I think the Selmer also requires less adjustment and requires fewer trips to the shop.

I also played on a Selmer Mark 6 alto for a long time.  It was a very nice horn but not all what they are cracked up to be.  The Selmer with the exception of better projection which seems to be a trait of all Selmer's was almost identical to my Buescher.  both horns were flat from G on the staff down.  Especially around G everything else being equal.  The Buescher almost never needs repair or adjustment and the Selmer in the 30 years I played it never was in the shop except for three times it got damaged.  I dropped it once and it was damaged in the case (too soft) twice.  That's pretty good for a set of pads.  I replaced some of the palm key pads over the years but nothing major.  Not so on my 10M......It just loves repair shops.  I have an appointment to take it in this week. AGAIN.  My bbuescher alto is pretty forgiving on repairs also and has a good low end but a little flat.

My Baritone is a Yamaha Custom.  They are incredible horns.  The fingering is so smooth it's just like an alto and unlike the Selmer I can see around the neck crook and I can rest the weight on my leg and not on my neck.  I'm kind of short so that works for me if I turn the neck pipe.  I don't play it much since I no longer play with a couple of the big bands here that used me quite often on Bari.  It's a sweet horn.  I use a very common mouthpiece on it.  I use a Rico royal Jazz mouthpiece.  They cost about $30 and have an extremely high baffle.  The grooves that run down along side of the reed are a pain but it's a bright one and has fantastic projection and you can really blow on that mouthpiece.  Don't take it anywhere near a smooth band or concert band though.

You might try a Rico Royal #3 Jazz (gray) mouthpiece on your alto.  They are cheap and will give you an idea what a high baffle sounds like also then you go to the mouthpiece chart in the print catalog www.wwbw.com (call them and they will send you a catalog).  You can then pick something either above the same or below.  This way you can try it out for a couple of months.  It's difficult to get a really good feel for a mouthpiece until you've had a chance to play on it for awhile.  They are like shoes, some just don't ever break in right.  They also give really good specs. on line for everything they sell plus reviews, even of reeds. The Rico Royal Jazz isn't a fine mouthpiece and was designed to be almost indestructible. Stay away from the Rico standard mouthpieces because they really suck. They are absolutely no good even for a student.  The company sent me one free and I tossed it into the trash after playing it a couple of times.  

I also never cared for any of the Runion or Dukoff mouthpieces.  A rule of thumb if it has a horn manufacturers name on it don't bother.  I really don't like Selmer (all), Yamaha, Bundy or Conn mouthpieces.  It's hard to believe the junk they put in $3000-5000 horns.  The Yamaha mouthpiece that I got with my Bari won't even play the horn's range.  Figure that one out.  The mouthpiece in my Yamaha Soprano was absolutely no better.  Just trash almost unplayable.  I guess they figure that if you are buying a pro horn you have a mouthpiece so they just throw something in.  For those prices they could do better.

Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Russ Guarino 
  To: Larry Walton Entertainment 
  Cc: Charlie Hooks ; Jon Seiger ; Dixieland Jazz 
  Sent: Monday, August 29, 2005 5:04 PM
  Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: More information about my wonderful cheap soprano

  Experts, 
  My Conn alto is a "naked lady", 1/2 body.  The tone is a bit dark.  Is there a way to get a more modern bright sound? 

  Russ Guarino 

  Larry Walton Entertainment wrote: 

    The old Bueschers have a low end to kill for and that's true but the high end is a little weak.  New horns are made with a more powerful high end because modern music demands the ability to scream. Older music features the low end more. Rock changed everything. I have not been able to play the horn since the kid that sold it to me committed suicide.  He had been hurt in the back in an industrial accident and as a result he had become addicted to morphine patches. His doctor decided that he didn't need the drug and the kid was in constant pain.  I guess he's cured now! I called him a kid because he was my son's age and friend but he was in his mid 30's. He made money by buying things in garage sales.  He bought the tenor for $50 and I gave him $300.  It cost another 600 to be put back into mint condition.  For a good sounding horn this is a bargain but  I think it will be awhile before I play it again.  I've been using my conn 10 M.  Speaking of the Conn 10 M there are several versions.  The full nude the half nude and everything else.  Newer 10's have a wild tone that isn't quite as easy to control but they are hotter in the upper end than my 10 M.  If you look on the bell you can see the nude or half nude woman in the engraving.  I have been told they took them off so they could sell to schools. LarrySt. Louis 
      ----- Original Message -----
      From: Charlie Hooks
      To: Larry Walton Entertainment
      Cc: Jon Seiger ; Russ Guarino ; Dixieland Jazz
      Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 4:32 PM
      Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: More information about my wonderful cheap soprano
       On Saturday, August 27, 2005, at 06:07 PM, Larry Walton Entertainment wrote: 

        I also have a Buescher silver 
        tenor made in 1923 that has a low range to kill for. These horns play as 
        well as the day they were made.

      So do I from 1927 and you're dead right: that old Buescher is a jewel and I wouldn't trade it. 
      Charlie 

      ___________________________________________ 
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