[Ronnie Niles]

Wow….those 2 guys together we’re killing it on the Saxophone! Talking about Red Prysock, I really love his song ‘Charleston Twist’, put it below. Red Prysock had so many great hits! I think right away about Purple Wail and Hand Clappin’….had no idea him and Sil Austin did some Tenor Sax battles; great stuff–thanks for the heads up!

[Ronnie Niles]

@Saxmonica Ha, Ha; That’s a funny joke 🙂
That model of Yamaha you’re looking at is a good Saxophone. We can, usually, never go wrong with reputable manufacturers like Yamaha, Selmer, and so on. I’ve heard stories (I don’t know how true this is-maybe someone can verify if this is true/not true) of Pro Sax Players who played Yamahas and when the time came for recording in the studio, they ditched the Yamaha and recorded with a Selmer Mark 6.
I’m not sure what Johnny’s take is on the modern Chinese Horns that are popular with folks these days, but I would never buy one. I’ve heard horror stories about Chinese Horns. A few years back, I spoke with our repair man–he replaced the pads on my Saxophone–and he said he refuses to work on Chinese horns. Oddly enough, here’s a post John has that I found looking at his blog and it’s on buying a Saxophone:

Tips For Buying a Saxophone in 2022 – Play It Safe With These Top Brands

Oh wait…..I went to the bottom of this blog post and found the subtitle ‘Saxophone Brands to Avoid’ and it says to stay away from Chinese Saxophones. Well, that answers my question.

[Ronnie Niles]

@Johnny We’ll do=I’ll get on that ASAP=2.0 and 2.5 Coppers and Onyx. If the 2.5 are too thick for me, I have a friend who plays Jody Jazz Hard Rubber MP on Alto and Tenor and I can send the 2.5 to him=he’ll gladly take it from me–he has a really good sound. He uses a Yamaha YAS-23 Alto and a Vito Tenor from Japan–the Vito Tenor it’s pretty much the same thing as a Yamaha Tenor. In fact, he had someone put a Yamaha YAS-23 Neck on the Vito=it fit perfectly and it made a big difference in the sound. He’s told me I don’t have to spend a lot of $ on expensive Saxophones to sound good=a good/modest set-up in good working order + the player himself who has a good tone=can sound really good. I was going to create a Soundcloud or youtube account or something to start sharing some Saxophone playing/recording=feedback from anyone here on your website is appreciated.
@Saxmonica I heard Legere is making some good Synthetic reeds these days, but I don’t know. I’ve checked out some reviews on youtube and, to my ears, the Legeres lack the ‘warm, round’ sound that I prefer, hope that makes sense. Most of the demos I’ve seen from Legere Reeds sounded ‘contemporary’–I guess it just depends how we each hear the sound=we all different ‘ears’ for sound on the Saxophone? To my ears, the Fiber Reeds sound very close to a cane reed. The Legere Reeds I tried in the past felt very ‘fake’ in my mouth too, let alone the ‘fake’ sound I got out of them; very ‘stuffy’ and ‘nasal’ sounding–to me/my ears, the Legere Sounded like that anyway, but others do well with them=I’m not blasting Legere as bad reeds, just didn’t work for me.

[Ronnie Niles]

@Johnny I saw on the ‘Reeds’ page a notice about shipping/delay with shipping-has that been worked out or should I wait? The Rico Cane Reed I play on is 2.5, so I’m thinking a size 2/Medium Soft will be the way to go–I read your post there under the reed strength about the chart was a little off for you=you played a size 3 Cane reed and went with 2.5 Medium Reed on the chart? I would be looking at the Carbon Reed and the Onyx.

[Ronnie Niles]

@Bob Premecz Thanks for the feedback, nice to hear it’s working for you! What you’re saying about the Dukoff is the exact impression I got of it when I looked at it=I would probably have a hard time controlling it over the entire range of the Saxophone. Yes, I’m really curious about these line of reeds. In the past, I’ve stayed away from synthetic reeds because the sound I got out of them felt ‘thin’ and ‘phony’ Seems like there’s been lots of advances in making these reeds? They sound so much better/closer to cane=I’m really curious about them. I love my Rico Cane Reeds that I’ve been using and cane reeds sound great; but it takes a lot of time for me to find a good reed in the box, treating it, caring for it, etc. and, being limited on time, it’s getting hard to have consistent practice with them. The cane reed can play good one day and bad the next=back to the drawing board.

[Ronnie Niles]

@John Yes, I’ve been looking at other MP options and came across the Dukeoff, but I was concerned it was ‘too much’ for me. I was on your Mouthpiece/Reed section of your website and looking at the Guardalas-thinking about upgrading to the FiberCarbon MP, I should be okay with that one. I don’t think I’m ready for Metal at this time=another reason why I didn’t get the Dukeoff at the Pawn Shop. In terms of the reeds you have, I’m thinking about getting 1 of the Carbon Onyx and 1 Copper brand. You’re 100% right about Cane reeds and I love the Rico Reeds I’ve been using, but it takes time out of my practice/playing=looking for a good reed, taking care of it, and so on.
@Saxmonica I have a friend who lives a few states away from me and he plays Jody Jazz Hard Rubber and he loves it=he sounds great too. From what he said in the past, models like the DVNY are high-caliber models that Jody makes. He has told me they’re designed for intermediate-and-above players; those who are well-established/can controls the entire range of the Saxophone, and have your chops underneath you before buying it.

[Ronnie Niles]

@Saxmonica Very nice, thanks you for sharing.

[Ronnie Niles]

@Saxmonica I can’t tell what key a song is by ear and I have a hard time with that. All the references I found said the song is in the key of Bb flat. The chorify link you shared shows Bb also.

[Ronnie Niles]

Very cool-I dig the shades your wearing too.

[Ronnie Niles]

Thanks for sharing Johnny. I was tempted to buy the Dukeoff, but it looked like I would have a hard time controlling it. Right now, I’m on an Otto Link Tone Edge Hard Rubber, little bit more round/easier for me to control throughout the range of the Saxophone. I’ve been using Rico Cane Reeds, but I’m curious about the synthetic reeds–seems like lots of Sax players are switching over to them? With some proper care, the Rico reeds have been good to me, but it does take a chunk out of my practice time= I was thinking about looking at synthetic reeds.

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