guardella mouthpiece

[john]

you guys are giving me flashbacks!
exactly sxpoet, I too had to suffer for a year at university at the request of my teacher to play a Larry Teal hard rubber to sound the way those folks like it. the reason it was hard for me to do it was because I had already had a taste of a wide open metal mp.

Ok Dazza, I see where you’re at…it’s still a different world there and I highly recommend a meyer, especially on alto at this early stage. when I borrowed the alto last year I had a Meyer 7 (I did a comparison with it alongside a Claude Lakey in the blog) as well and it was ok but these are very different animals… more open, louder and fuller. even if I practiced for 3 hours a day on a meyer I could never get close to the tone of a Guardala.

@ Marc, I don’t know if you read my email earlier but i mentioned my progression during my early years which went like this (very quickly): hard rubber, Berg Larson, Dukoff, Otto Link, and finally Guardala. the difference was not even close. unfortunately you won’t find an original Guardala like mine in a local shop…they occassionaly pop up on eBay for $2000 and up. but yes, being able to try a mp first is what you want to do if you have the oportunity.

anyways guys, I’ll try my best to do a video next week on several mp’s to hopefully give you a better idea cause, like Keith Richards said during his tour; Talk is cheap… but touring ain’t!

[Bengt Ostling]

Bought my GD King only after a few month of my saxophone playing eger to get the right sound. Found the opening size to be far to big for a beginner. Now after 3 years really serious playing I’m starting to be able to play on it but really can’t recomend it for everyday practising if your ears are sensitive, it really goes so much loader than a 7 opening tip MP. It is not for everybody, check it out before purchasing it would my suggestion for any intermediate player. Else, great MP.

[William Cingolani]

Glad to see all the comments about the Guardala mp’s.I looked at the list of Guardala mp’s. I’m confused as to the tip openings. I have JodyJazz mouthpieces tip opening 7* (105) and I have Theo Wanne mp’s tip opening 7* (105), and a couple of Theo Wanne tip size 8 (110). I find the 7* easier to blow. The tip openings listed for the Guardala mp’s are Crescent 5 (106), BM 7 (114), King 8* (117), MB 7 (114), Studio 8 (114). So the number for tip openings in the UK seem to be different than the number for tip openings in the USA. So if I’ve been blowing a 7* what size tip opening should I get in the Guardala line up. I prefer a lower baffle or no baffle. I hope I posted the correct mp tip openings.

[Nick]

Hey Johnny,

After much mp experimentation, my current set-up is a Yamaha Tenor, 82Z, with a Jody Jazz Chi metal mp, tip opening 8*. It is the best set-up for me so far. I was looking to get more body, and more dirtiness to my sound. I know that there are other methods to achieve this goal; such as reeds, air volume, embouchure, etc…I’ve been working on all those items as well. So, now I’m looking at mps. Of the offered Guardella mps, which one do you think would move toward my goal? To clarify, when I compare my sound to yours, your’s is more rock-like, more robust, deeper, dirtier than mine. That’s kind of what I’m looking for. If the answer will become more evident in your upcoming demo video, then I’ll wait to see at that time. Thanks again!

[john]

The tip opening is our friend, and our enemy! Because if you want a big sound you need a big tip opening.
But, the bigger the opening the harder it is to play. We can offset this a bit by moving up to a bigger opening
and coming down half a reed size. after a while you may find you can go back to your harder reed size and that opening
which seemed so big a few months ago doesn’t feel that way anymore.

Nick I haven’t tried a Chi. I tried a Jody Jazz Jet very recently and thought it was quite good especially for the price (maybe around $200 or less) but it lacked the depth of my DG.
I would lean toward a Guardala King or even the new Super King (which I haven’t tried yet but are supposed to be even brighter) as these are very robust and loud so they are my go-to for the King Curtis rock sound. still they lack the deepness of the Michael Brecker model. But later tonite I have a rehearsal and I know I won’t be using a mic so I’ll take my Guardala King cause it’s slightly louder and brighter than the MB model.

[Nick]

Thanks Johnny! I’ll also look forward to your upcoming mp demo video.

[William Cingolani]

I just tried all my mouthpieces. The one’s I prefer are: the metal JodyJazz New York 7*, the metal JodyJazz Chicago 7*, and the Theo Wanne metal Gaia 7* with a Winslow ligature. Reed size is 2 java. With the Gaia I can blow a 2 and half java. If any of the Guardala mouthpieces sound better and if I can blow them count me in.

[Anonymous]

https://www.saxquest.com/store/category/vintage-sax-mouthpieces-C17/type/33/manufacturer/83

[Anonymous]

https://www.saxquest.com/store/category/vintage-sax-mouthpieces-C17/type/4/manufacturer/83

[Anonymous]

while you are at it, why not pick up a decent selmar?
https://www.saxquest.com/store/category/vintage-saxes-C18/type/4/manufacturer/135

[Author]

Posts