Just received a nice-n-shiny silver plated L.A. Sax soprano 
mouthpiece with a #10 opening. Out of the box it plays much like a 
Dukoff D9. It had its problems: a bump on the right corner of the tip 
rail, a overly-concave table, a tip rail that was not very well 
defined, rough side rails. Since it played pretty well, I didn't want 
to get real drastic with it, so I just flattened the table a bit, 
smoothed the side rails and fixed the tip rail. It seems to play with 
a little less resistance, but the difference is hardly noticable.

One question: there are a couple of very small spots with bronze 
showing through the silver. Any reason why I should replate these 
spots? I'm also thinking about opening up its square chamber just a 
bit since it plays flat from high C on up. This will leave quite a 
bit of bronze exposed.

Although I like the way this mouthpiece plays, it was not made very 
well. There were deep machining marks across the entire table and 
facing in addition to the problems mentioned above. It appears that 
they might be discontinued since they are absent from the L.A. Sax 
websight. Anybody know who actually manufactured these mouthpieces?

Thanks,
Jon

        The deep machining marks across the table and rails reminds me about the worst mouthpiece I have ever seen,
        a Wolfe Tayne baritone mouthpiece.  This mouthpiece also had a very short facing meeting the table
        with a sharp angle.  I had to remove a lot off metal to remove the machining marks. Afterwards I had it plated in silver,
        20 microns thick , at a lower than normal current density which leaves a harder layer of silver to last longer.
 
        

-----Original Message-----
From: stencilmann [mailto:jg_lloyd@...]
Sent: 08 October 2003 21:56
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Fixing L.A. Sax silver pated soprano mouthpiece


Just received a nice-n-shiny silver plated L.A. Sax soprano 
mouthpiece with a #10 opening. Out of the box it plays much like a 
Dukoff D9. It had its problems: a bump on the right corner of the tip 
rail, a overly-concave table, a tip rail that was not very well 
defined, rough side rails. Since it played pretty well, I didn't want 
to get real drastic with it, so I just flattened the table a bit, 
smoothed the side rails and fixed the tip rail. It seems to play with 
a little less resistance, but the difference is hardly noticable.

One question: there are a couple of very small spots with bronze 
showing through the silver. Any reason why I should replate these 
spots? I'm also thinking about opening up its square chamber just a 
bit since it plays flat from high C on up. This will leave quite a 
bit of bronze exposed.

Although I like the way this mouthpiece plays, it was not made very 
well. There were deep machining marks across the entire table and 
facing in addition to the problems mentioned above. It appears that 
they might be discontinued since they are absent from the L.A. Sax 
websight. Anybody know who actually manufactured these mouthpieces?

Thanks,
Jon



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I once refaced a plated Otto Link for myself. It appeared to be brass underneath and the brass continuously "verdigized", leaving ugly green stains on the reed. Replating is a good bet.

Toby
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Alf Reid (AST VDB) 
  To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 3:53 PM
  Subject: RE: [MouthpieceWork] Fixing L.A. Sax silver pated soprano mouthpiece


          The deep machining marks across the table and rails reminds me about the worst mouthpiece I have ever seen,
          a Wolfe Tayne baritone mouthpiece.  This mouthpiece also had a very short facing meeting the table
          with a sharp angle.  I had to remove a lot off metal to remove the machining marks. Afterwards I had it plated in silver,
          20 microns thick , at a lower than normal current density which leaves a harder layer of silver to last longer.

          
    -----Original Message-----
    From: stencilmann [mailto:jg_lloyd@...]
    Sent: 08 October 2003 21:56
    To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Fixing L.A. Sax silver pated soprano mouthpiece


    Just received a nice-n-shiny silver plated L.A. Sax soprano 
    mouthpiece with a #10 opening. Out of the box it plays much like a 
    Dukoff D9. It had its problems: a bump on the right corner of the tip 
    rail, a overly-concave table, a tip rail that was not very well 
    defined, rough side rails. Since it played pretty well, I didn't want 
    to get real drastic with it, so I just flattened the table a bit, 
    smoothed the side rails and fixed the tip rail. It seems to play with 
    a little less resistance, but the difference is hardly noticable.

    One question: there are a couple of very small spots with bronze 
    showing through the silver. Any reason why I should replate these 
    spots? I'm also thinking about opening up its square chamber just a 
    bit since it plays flat from high C on up. This will leave quite a 
    bit of bronze exposed.

    Although I like the way this mouthpiece plays, it was not made very 
    well. There were deep machining marks across the entire table and 
    facing in addition to the problems mentioned above. It appears that 
    they might be discontinued since they are absent from the L.A. Sax 
    websight. Anybody know who actually manufactured these mouthpieces?

    Thanks,
    Jon



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may contain private, confidential, proprietary and/or privileged material and may be subject
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in this communication, any delay in its receipt or that the mail is virus-free"
 

Thanks, Toby. That's what I was afraid of. Can these
little areas be spot-plated or do I need to take the
silver off the entire table and facing? I'd surely
ruin the mouthpiece if I attempted that. I've not had
great success at refacing recently.

Jon

You can spot plate by using the Brush Plating Process (see the Photos 
Section on the MP Work site).  But the plating is very thin and it 
does not hold up the the high wear of a reed beating on the rails.  
At least that's been my experiance.  But 80% or more will stay plated 
and this is usually enough to seal off the taste of brass.  

After re-plating, I have not had any green discoloration either, but 
to me that is not a major problem anyhow.  Green is a cool color. ;-)

The brass taste was a problem for me only after a 3-4 hr gig.  I 
could taste it for 2 days later.  It appears to not be a problem for 
most players playing on exposed brass pieces.  I hear virtually no 
complaints.

Jon, if you want, go on and do your cleanup work, then send it to me to 
have the silver touched up.   Contact me at tenorman1952@... 
<mailto:tenorman1952@...> or tenorman@... 
<mailto:tenorman@...> and we will work out details.

 

I think the LA Sax mouthpieces were copper, not bronze.  Pure copper is 
a fad now, mouthpieces, necks, bodies.  But copper is quite soft as 
compared to brass and bronze, which is why these alloys are used for 
saxes.  Still, some people seem to like what they hear or think they 
hear in copper products.

 

I don't know who made them for LA Sax.  LA Sax is sort of in a 
transitional state now.  Last year they were sold to Orpheus Music in 
San Antonio.  Former CEO Pete Lapaca is no longer involved, as far as I 
know.  Orpheus is Pearl Flutes, Vespro Saxes (the other colorful 
saxophones), and formerly imported B&S.   LASax inventory was being 
shipped to San Antonio from Barrington, IL, where LA Sax was located.   
So, exactly what will become of the LASax line, the accessories, and 
such, we will just have to wait and see.

 

Paul Coats



stencilmann wrote:

> Just received a nice-n-shiny silver plated L.A. Sax soprano
> mouthpiece with a #10 opening. Out of the box it plays much like a
> Dukoff D9. It had its problems: a bump on the right corner of the tip
> rail, a overly-concave table, a tip rail that was not very well
> defined, rough side rails. Since it played pretty well, I didn't want
> to get real drastic with it, so I just flattened the table a bit,
> smoothed the side rails and fixed the tip rail. It seems to play with
> a little less resistance, but the difference is hardly noticable.
>
> One question: there are a couple of very small spots with bronze
> showing through the silver. Any reason why I should replate these
> spots? I'm also thinking about opening up its square chamber just a
> bit since it plays flat from high C on up. This will leave quite a
> bit of bronze exposed.
>
> Although I like the way this mouthpiece plays, it was not made very
> well. There were deep machining marks across the entire table and
> facing in addition to the problems mentioned above. It appears that
> they might be discontinued since they are absent from the L.A. Sax
> websight. Anybody know who actually manufactured these mouthpieces?
>
> Thanks,
> Jon
>
>
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>
>
>
> Got a Mouthpiece Work question?  Send it to MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>
> Visit the site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MouthpieceWork to see 
> the Files, Photos and Bookmarks relating to Mouthpiece Work.
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> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.

The mouthpieces were made for them in Taiwan. I’ve got the name of the
company somewhere, but it really doesn’t matter. They were a pretty
soft alloy, maybe all copper. Pete in not involved with LA Sax in any
way. They are still importing the B & S horns (now assembled in Mexico,
I’ve seen the boxes!) and selling them as the LA Sax Chicago series.
The other LA Sax horns are still made in Taiwan, and are finished in San
Antonio.
 
 
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Steve uses and endorses UNISON SAXOPHONES,
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-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Coats [mailto:tenorman@...] 
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 12:31 PM
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Fixing L.A. Sax silver pated soprano
mouthpiece
 
Jon, if you want, go on and do your cleanup work, then send it to me to
have the silver touched up.   Contact me at tenorman1952@... or
tenorman@... and we will work out details.
I think the LA Sax mouthpieces were copper, not bronze.  Pure copper is
a fad now, mouthpieces, necks, bodies.  But copper is quite soft as
compared to brass and bronze, which is why these alloys are used for
saxes.  Still, some people seem to like what they hear or think they
hear in copper products.
I don’t know who made them for LA Sax.  LA Sax is sort of in a
transitional state now.  Last year they were sold to Orpheus Music in
San Antonio.  Former CEO Pete Lapaca is no longer involved, as far as I
know.  Orpheus is Pearl Flutes, Vespro Saxes (the other colorful
saxophones), and formerly imported B&S.   LASax inventory was being
shipped to San Antonio from Barrington, IL, where LA Sax was located.
So, exactly what will become of the LASax line, the accessories, and
such, we will just have to wait and see.
Paul Coats


stencilmann wrote:


Just received a nice-n-shiny silver plated L.A. Sax soprano 
mouthpiece with a #10 opening. Out of the box it plays much like a 
Dukoff D9. It had its problems: a bump on the right corner of the tip 
rail, a overly-concave table, a tip rail that was not very well 
defined, rough side rails. Since it played pretty well, I didn't want 
to get real drastic with it, so I just flattened the table a bit, 
smoothed the side rails and fixed the tip rail. It seems to play with 
a little less resistance, but the difference is hardly noticable.

One question: there are a couple of very small spots with bronze 
showing through the silver. Any reason why I should replate these 
spots? I'm also thinking about opening up its square chamber just a 
bit since it plays flat from high C on up. This will leave quite a 
bit of bronze exposed.

Although I like the way this mouthpiece plays, it was not made very 
well. There were deep machining marks across the entire table and 
facing in addition to the problems mentioned above. It appears that 
they might be discontinued since they are absent from the L.A. Sax 
websight. Anybody know who actually manufactured these mouthpieces?

Thanks,
Jon



Got a Mouthpiece Work question?  Send it to
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> Jon, if you want, go on and do your cleanup work, then send
> it to me to have the silver touched up.

Paul, thanks for the offer but I think I'm going to leave it alone 
for now and see what happens. With the fixes I've done, it plays 
great - just what I need to get around my Dukoff problems on soprano. 
If I have trouble down the road I'll consider replating it - I do 
have a plating kit but have never tried to plate a mouthpiece.

The box states that it is a bronze/silver mouthpiece so that's what I 
assumed it to be. It has a small, square chamber that I may enlarge a 
bit due to tuning problems. Too bad they so poorly finished.

To my knowledge, Pete LaPlaca has no relationship with
the "Chicago" series of the B&S, Dave Guardalla(?),
what ever you want to call them this week.  Orphius
bought the rights to all those names.  Pete and that
group are attempting to bring out a line of
instruments under MGB(?) name.

The LA Sax mouthpieces were made to my specs.  I could
never get them to put a "fine finish" on them.  I have
several in my collection that I hand finished.  Very
proud of those.

David Schottle

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David Schottle wrote:
> The LA Sax mouthpieces were made to my specs. I could
> never get them to put a "fine finish" on them. I have
> several in my collection that I hand finished. Very
> proud of those.

David, thanks for jumping in here. After fixing the manufacturing 
defects on this piece, I can't put it down. A very nice design. I'd 
love to try it in alto and tenor, but I'm reluctant to drop that kind 
of money on them to the problems I had to fix with the soprano piece. 
I got the soprano piece for almost nothing because it squeeked so bad 
for the previous owner.

Any chance you will have more pieces with this design produced?

Thanks,
Jon

          I would only use spot plating on the table area , when the object is to prevent oxidation.   If areas on the rails lacks
          plating it is best to get the facing curve up to specification and replate.   I would not remove any silverplating  before
          replating if the curve is correct.  After applying about 20 microns of silver the Mouthpiece and curve can be lightly polished 
          by hand. Then the curve should be  checked.
          Make the plating company understand that NO BUFFING should be done at any stage.
          If the plating was done without buffing , at normal (or low) current density , with the correct size anode , the facing curve
          should need no work.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Lloyd [mailto:jg_lloyd@...]
Sent: 09 October 2003 16:19
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Fixing L.A. Sax silver plated soprano mouthpiece


Thanks, Toby. That's what I was afraid of. Can these
little areas be spot-plated or do I need to take the
silver off the entire table and facing? I'd surely
ruin the mouthpiece if I attempted that. I've not had
great success at refacing recently.

Jon


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______________________________________________

"This information is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and 
may contain private, confidential, proprietary and/or privileged material and may be subject
to confidentiality agreements.

Any review, retransmission, dissemination, or any other use of or taking of any action in
reliance upon this information, by persons or entities other than the intended recipient,
is prohibited. 

If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all 
storage media.

The company is neither liable for proper, complete transmission of the information contained
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Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you
look at it, I'm not in the manufacturing end any
longer.
I left LA about 4 years ago.  Any mouthpieces I make
from here out will be for instruments I make.

David

--- stencilmann <jg_lloyd@...> wrote:
> David Schottle wrote:
> > The LA Sax mouthpieces were made to my specs. I
> could
> > never get them to put a "fine finish" on them. I
> have
> > several in my collection that I hand finished.
> Very
> > proud of those.
> 
> David, thanks for jumping in here. After fixing the
> manufacturing 
> defects on this piece, I can't put it down. A very
> nice design. I'd 
> love to try it in alto and tenor, but I'm reluctant
> to drop that kind 
> of money on them to the problems I had to fix with
> the soprano piece. 
> I got the soprano piece for almost nothing because
> it squeeked so bad 
> for the previous owner.
> 
> Any chance you will have more pieces with this
> design produced?
> 
> Thanks,
> Jon
> 
> 


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I picked up one of these for soprano a couple months ago, on 
clearance from ww&bw.  Mine is also a #10, is nicely finished, and 
plays very well.

Mike

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, david schottle 
<saxcat2001@y...> wrote:
> Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you
> look at it, I'm not in the manufacturing end any
> longer.
> I left LA about 4 years ago.  Any mouthpieces I make
> from here out will be for instruments I make.
> 
> David
> 
> --- stencilmann <jg_lloyd@s...> wrote:
> > David Schottle wrote:
> > > The LA Sax mouthpieces were made to my specs. I
> > could
> > > never get them to put a "fine finish" on them. I
> > have
> > > several in my collection that I hand finished.
> > Very
> > > proud of those.
> > 
> > David, thanks for jumping in here. After fixing the
> > manufacturing 
> > defects on this piece, I can't put it down. A very
> > nice design. I'd 
> > love to try it in alto and tenor, but I'm reluctant
> > to drop that kind 
> > of money on them to the problems I had to fix with
> > the soprano piece. 
> > I got the soprano piece for almost nothing because
> > it squeeked so bad 
> > for the previous owner.
> > 
> > Any chance you will have more pieces with this
> > design produced?
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Jon
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> __________________________________
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