Michael

Hi John–Which Sax are you thinking about purchasing? Your post doesn’t say which one. Have you checked out Johnny’s blog post on buying a Saxophone? https://www.howtoplaysaxophone.org/buying-a-saxophone/

Right on William! I’m originally from Santa Fe, was out there a few years ago helping family. There’s a lot of fun things to do in New Mexico–awesome hiking trails in the fall. We’re planning on a visit back over there to visit family in a year or so–would love to visit with you and play some Saxophone 🙂

Lots of great points being made here by everyone, pretty cool 🙂 The one thing we need to realize is that we each have our own individual sound. Each sound is unique–and it’s all good. Changing a mouthpiece isn’t always the solution. A change of reed can make a huge difference too. It’s funny how sometimes mouthpieces will respond better to a…[Read more]

@Ridge Nice! Thanks for sharing 🙂

I think Berg Larsens are awesome, love the sound you get out of a Berg Larsen 🙂 What kept me away from them is the shape of the beak. They have a really sharp beak. I have to use something that sits more flush in my mouth like a Claude Lakey, Jody Jazz, Otto Link, etc.

@Johnny Oh wow, didn’t know you used to play Berg Larsens, pretty cool :)…[Read more]

@ Simon For sure–like you said, it takes quite a bit of practice to readjust to a different MP.
@ John One other thing to remember is that, even with an MP set up like Johnny has, we’re not going to sound exactly like Johnny. Our internal anatomy affects the way we sound.

Hi John,

Really cool to hear Johnny’s sound has turned you on to the Sax, don’t blame you at all 🙂 Johnny’s sound is unique to say the least and it’s very distinct. Even if we didn’t see a video of him playing, we could still recognize his playing simply by the sound. That’s really cool you’ve discovered your sound and you know how you wanna…[Read more]

@ Johnny–Thanks Johnny 🙂 My Clarinet-playing friend gave me a good deal on it. His main concern was that it was going to get played. He gave me some cool history of the Winston Soprano, have been around for a while. I love the Soprano, I think the Soprano is a blast to play 🙂

I called Massullo Music about 3 weeks ago to ask them about a…[Read more]

@ Saxomonica Thanks for the encouragement 🙂 I Love Winter Shade of Pale, especially the way played it with Tenor and Soprano. It’s definitely on my to-do list. I’m thinking about just doing it Soprano all the way through, we’ll see.
@ Sxpoet In time soon to come, stay tuned. Thanks for those blues backing tracks you sent me, good stuff 🙂

Cool, looking forward to working on those lessons 🙂 Before I had to stop playing, I learned Junior Walker’s song’ How Sweet It is’ and had a custom backing track made for it through the folks I use. I’ll email it to you so you can check it out. Junior Walker and King Curtis are the 2 Sax players whose sound I hear in my head most of the…[Read more]

I’ve never heard any pro sax player say it’s okay to take the top teeth off the MP–that’s just insane. That’s one of the most basic, fundamental things in all of Sax playing and it should be something we do automatically. In Saxophone playing, taking the teeth off of the top of the MP is something we simply DON’T do. My local Sax instructor has…[Read more]

Nice to have you here RRBirdman 🙂 Keep having fun with it, fun is what it’s all about! 🙂

Go for it Johnny! Your sound, your Sax Set up–you could really tear it up with this one 🙂 I loved your Led Zepplin Sax cover, definitely plan on doing it in time to come.

Trevor James is starting to become more popular here in the US, but there are still lots of players who’ve never heard of them. At the annual NAMM show that’s held in California each year, both Trevor James Saxophones and their US dealer have been at the show and gotten great feedback. They’ve conducted ‘blindfold’ tests where players tested a…[Read more]