Saxophone Questions

[Jonathan Hurst]

Hey everyone, it’s been a while since I have been on the forum. I recently acquired a Saxophone, looks like a Conn, but cannot tell for sure because it has no name inscribed on it, as well as no serial number. If anyone can tell me what brand it is, I would appreciate it.

Next, I need a good Tenor mouthpiece, but very inexpensive, as my budget is very tight. I understand there is a mouthpiece brand that goes based on the design of the Selmer C Star, but I forgot the name. Any brands that are cheap are well for me.

Finally, onto the actual saxophone. I wish to shine it up, as it has a lot of tarnish on it. Everyone around me has a new shiny sax. I love my sax, just want it shinier. Any ideas? Thanks!

[Jonathan Hurst]

Anyones input is greatly appreciated! 😀

[john]

No way to tell about your saxophone. Personally, I tend to go for the old worn out looking ones as they look funkier. I have never shined up my sax but you can get it re-laquered by a repair shop. It will cost you though.
What mouthpiece are you using now, a C star? If you are very limited for money then stick with the main companies who make quality ones: Selmer, Yamaha. Vandoren Also you didn’t mention how long you’ve been playing and if you’re looking for a hard rubber or metal mp and what kind of tone etc.
For the blues and rock sound you will lean towards a metal mp. Hard rubber can work but from my experience they are more suited for a more classical sound. That’s the general advise. I don’t know too much about hard rubber mp’s but I went thru metal ones over the years in this order: Berg Larsen, Otto link, Guardala.
I wrote an article about them here:

Saxophone Mouthpieces

[Dazza]

Hi Johnny,
I just bought a Yamaha 62 and it arrives this week. Can’t wait as it is going to be a great step up from the 25 student model. I have a Berg Larsen HR mp coming that I bought on a whim for $120 from a well renound rock n roll player in my home state in Oz. It comes with a “don’t like it, return it” policy so that’s cool. He said he uses a SR Technolgies metal MP and loves it. I have done some research but cant find too much on them though. Do you or any others know of them and maybe played them.

[john]

sounds good. I played a Berg for a while and loved it at the time…not familiar with the other one sorry.

[Jonathan Hurst]

Thanks Johnny. This is my 4th year of playing my tenor sax, Im in the marching band, and need a rubber mouthpiece. What I meant was I was looking at a brand that was based off the C star design. But I’m using a Jupiter mouthpiece at the moment. I need to get mine fixed, the octave spring broke off, making me resort to a rubber band on the octave as a temporary fix. Thanks.

Jonathan.

[john]

oh, the old rubber band fix…I know it well.
hard rubber mp’s, check out the Selmer’s, Yamaha/s and Vandoren’s. these are quality manufacturers. if you’re 4 years in maybe go for something a little more open that you been using. it might feel a bit big for a while but once you can fill it with air your sound will improve. you can always adjust the reed size too as you go on it.

[Jonathan Hurst]

This is the crazy part. I’ve had to use a alto sax mouthpiece on my tenor to this day. No problems, I just want to switch to a tenor mouthpiece for my tenor. Is Yamaha the cheapest mouthpieces? Thanks

[john]

no, yamaha is a fine manufacturer of mp’s. I wouldn’t be shoppijng for a cheap mp, it’s the most important part you can get for your playing.
cheap mp=cheap tone.

[Jonathan Hurst]

Alrighty. I meant, out of Selmer, Yamaha, and Vandoren. Sorry for the misunderstanding!

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