Are all alto saxophone mouthpieces the same size?

Saxophone mouthpieces come in a variety of different sizes and are made of different materials. The size of each mouthpiece refers to the tip opening. Like reeds, different mouthpiece brands have different ways of referring to the size of the tip opening, usually either numerical or alphabetical.

What is mouthpiece Tip opening?

The tip-opening of the saxophone mouthpiece will impact the comfort of play, the volume and the tone-colour of the instrument. With the same reed strength, increasing the tip-opening of the saxophone mouthpiece will allow you to increase the volume and give more body and width to the sound.

Are tenor and alto mouthpieces the same?

When you fix the mouthpiece on the cork, it will add some length to the pipe. This value V* depends on the volume of the saxophone body, so it’s about the same for all mouthpieces of a given saxophone kind (alto, tenor…). But of course, different models have different geometries.

How do you pick the tip on a sax mouthpiece?

The Saxophone Mouthpiece (and Clarinet Mouthpiece) Tip Size, or Tip-Opening, is the distance between the reed and mouthpiece tip. This number is usually on the side of the mouthpiece body, or on the table. The smaller the tip size the more narrow the opening; the larger the tip size the larger the opening.

How do you pick the tip to open a saxophone mouthpiece?

How does tip opening affect sound?

The tip opening is the actual distance that the vibrating reed needs to travel back and forth in order to create your saxophone sound. The smaller the distance, the less energy needed to get that sound going. Smaller tip openings also make it easier to control the sound in terms of timbre and intonation.

What sounds better alto or tenor sax?

Since the alto sax is smaller, its notes are higher and brighter than those of the tenor sax. The tenor sax produces a mellow, rich, and deep sound.

What is the guardala Brecker mouthpiece?

This mouthpiece is a hybrid of the Studio and the original Guardala Michael Brecker model. It has the high baffle of the Studio model with the large bore of the original Brecker model. This makes it easier to get more volume and brightness in your sound. It’s great for any kind of contemporary pop, blues, rock and jazz playing.

How much is a guardala MB mouthpiece worth?

I purchased my first Guardala MB mouthpiece from Dave in 1990, the 2nd one, a Guardala King a few years later and have been using these exclusively ever since. Since Dave got away from the business these mouthpieces have been heavily sought after and selling privately and on eBay for prices reaching up to and above $2000 USD.

What kind of mouthpiece is the Brecker studio?

It’s ideal and suited for any kind of contemporary pop, blues, rock and jazz. Has a tip opening of 114”. This mouthpiece is a hybrid of the Studio and the original Guardala Michael Brecker model. It has the high baffle of the Studio model with the large bore of the original Brecker model.

Who is Dave guardala?

In the 1980’s Dave Guardala raised the bar for the saxophone mouthpiece industry. Working closely with one of our greatest jazz saxophonists Michael Brecker, Guardala took his new creative ideas to the more precise, never before used CNC (Computer Numerical Control Milling Machine) which had never been used prior to this in the industry.