To get a dark tone with a bright toned Japanese horn ? I guess you'll want to stick with hard rubber. How about sending an e-mail to Patrick Springer and ask him which of his models might suit you? He got right back to me on a question. He makes fine hand finished pieces at reasonable prices. Go to : www.springermpc.com - - You might also check out Fred Rast at www.rastmusic.com and Ralph Morgan at www.junkdude.com (and elsewhere). Jody Espina at Jody Jazz might be of some help too. Good Luck.

I play a Yamaha 82 Z tenor with a Vandoren Java mthpc. and have plenty of dark tone. (Several other players with various horns have said the same.) I don't know how much of the tone is the horn and how much is the 'piece, as I bought them together and haven't tried other combinations. I've actually been thinking about trying some different 'pieces in an effort to get a little brighter tone for some situations.