I agree with jromain. Raschers/Buescher mouthpieces are quite niche as they appeal to chamber and small ensemble players for mostly classical work. They also tend to be very closed for use with quite hard reeds. I have a Buescher for alto (which are similar or identical to the Raschers) and it plays very small and stuffy with a lot of resistance. Also, these mouthpieces were designed to work on horns who's bore is quite different from a modern horn's, so tuning could suffer while using them. What made you come to the decision to use the Rascher, knmusic? I'd personally take the student somewhere that carries a number of mouthpieces and let them try any of the suggested ones allready given.

Well, actually two things made me decide on Rascher's. My professor from college was big on them and two of my friends that are band directors in the state are sax players and both play on Raschers and suggested them. One of them is a high school band director and the other is a middle school band director. They both swear by the Rascher mouthpieces, but I have been taught the german school of thought on playing the sax. I really like the warm dark sound instead of the bright sound, except in jazz I like them to be a little brighter which is why I went with the Meyer 6 for the jazz players. May friends have been very outspoken against the 80 series C* mouthpiece, but I haven't tried Vandoren's yet for sax, just for the clarinet and they work great for them. The reason I am asking is because the music company that works with my school is getting ready to do a mouthpiece clinic where the kids can try out a few mouthpieces and we can together decide on which one is best for them. They are going to send the mouthpieces that I request and I wanted a few options for mouthpieces and ligatures.

I'm a middle school student, and it really isn't the equipment that makes you better either. However, if they're talented, some nice mouthpieces and ligatures are definitely a plus. My band teacher doesn't really care what we use, it's more of a choice for us, but it probably could make us better. A lot of really talented players still use their standard setup, but I know a few players who are really really good, and they have their own really unique setup that they go by. That mouthpiece clinic sounds awesome, because usually there's nowhere to try them in the area. Let your students go on their own to websites like this and they can find what mouthpieces interest them most, and try them for themselves. The C*'s aren't that bad, my teacher likes them a lot, and I agree with jromain about the Rascher thing. Good Luck with it. -tenor562

How could anyone not like the Selmer S-80? It's one of the best mouthpieces for alto I have found, and i might even add that I am NOT a Selmer fan! I use the S-80 C* with a Rovner dark ligature and a 2 1/2 reed. It's a great combination.

-------------------------------------------------------------- How could anyone not like the Selmer S-80? It's one of the best mouthpieces for alto I have found, and i might even add that I am NOT a Selmer fan! I use the S-80 C* with a Rovner dark ligature and a 2 1/2 reed. It's a great combination. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mouthpieces are always a matter of preference, but there are a few technical points against the S-80, the most famous of which is the Square Chamber that lead to Ralph Morgan leaving Selmer to forward his own company and designs. According to him and others, the square chamber causes problematic intonation and is intuitive against the design of the saxophone. I like the S-80, but I personally notice something else wrong with it: the rails are quite thick and the window is small. IIRC, this ends up causing loss of projection

"The square chamber causes problematic intonation and is intuitive against the design of the saxophone." "The rails are quite thick and the window is small. IIRC, this ends up causing loss of projection." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hmm interesting. I tried an S-80 C* recently because I had heard from a friend that they were a great mouthpiece. I really like the vintage Selmer soloist mouthpiece I have. The S-80 sounded so good on my 6M I had to buy it! (I only have about 30 mouthpieces laying around) The S-80 has a really nice tone that is well suited for just about any kind of music. It's just the sound I was looking for; not too bright, not too mellow. I haven't experienced any intonation problems with the piece at all, in fact, the intonation is better with the Selmer s 80 than some of the other pieces. I have noticed that the horn doesn't project like it does with my old Steelay mouthpiece or the Otto Link Super Tone Master, which is a little too much for some applications, but I mic my sax anyway. My band-mates agree that the S-80 sounds the best on the alto. Aside from the sound, this mouthpiece is very comfortable and very easy to play. I like the C* because sometimes I do prefer a harder reed. I must say, I REALLY like this mouthpiece!

All of this talk about equpiment is great, but equipment doesn't make the player. Practice and a good lesson teacher are what make the player. If your kids are in middle school, they need to worry about how they sound and how to master the horn. Not what mouthpiece they should play on. I personally don't think that jazz bands should be in the middle schools because jazz is much more complex than legit and takes a much greater understanding of the horn to be able to play it. However, my view on whether or not jazz should be in middle schools isn't the point. The point is that you should be worrying about their abilities on the saxophone before you go and have them buy all this equipment that they probably won't use when they do create a quality jazz tone.