Mouthpieces that work well for American Vintage Tenors

I want to share quick and “in a nutshell” answer to a question I

get a lot at Saxquest. The following is a question from a customer seeking

mouthpiece advice for a good match up on American vintage tenor

saxophones.
 

Question:

Recently I have been looking into getting a vintage Conn tenor and am

curious if my Otto Link hard rubber is going to be a good fit or if I

should look into other things.  I have heard that it can be more difficult

to find a mouthpiece that will play in tune on these older horns.  Do you

have any insight or recommendations for what to use on the American

vintage sax's?

Answer:

Thank you for your message. An Otto Link is usually a strong choice on a

vintage Conn, as well as a Buescher or a Martin. The pieces I have found

to play the best are hard rubber pieces with slightly bigger chambers and

not a ton of baffle. I personally have more trouble with pieces where the

baffle is more extreme. There have also been a ton of players who have

used vintage Conn's with metal Otto Links and Dukoffs as well. Keep in

mind that in comparison to many of the newer pro saxophones out there, the

vintage Conn's tend to be less precise in the intonation department. That

being said, the sound on those saxophones is absolutely world class.  This

is what continues to draw players to still use the horn today even when

there is a huge abundance of choices.

 

Some modern pieces that work well on the older horns are the Vandoren V16,

MacSax D Jazz, Aura, and Bob Sheppard Signature. The Saxquest Core and

Bridge pieces also work well.  I am particularly found of the match up

with the Core.  It seems to highly enrich the deep free blowing sound

already present on a vintage tenor. Those are just a few of the pieces out

there that work well.  The best advice I can give is to be weary of the

big dollar high baffle metal pieces that are out there.  They look great

and are often very well advertised but do not always agree with the older

vintage horns.
 

This information is based on my personal experience and as such might not

be the rule for every individual.

 

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