I've been enjoying my L.A. Sax soprano mouthpiece except that notes 
above C3 are thin and don't speak easily. I don't have this problem 
with other mouthpieces (Dukoff, Beechler, Lakey metal). I enlarged 
the square chamber a bit to get the pitch of the palm key notes up a 
bit. Thinning the tip rail only helped a little. Actually, the tip 
rail is very thin and has a slight flip up, but still the palm keys 
are still weak.

What are the factors that might contribute to weak high notes and non-
existant altissimo? The piece is a little more open than my others 
(around 80) and has a smooth, rounded facing out to the tip. I'm 
baffled!

TIA,
Jon

Being how the piece is more open, does this make you use a softer reed on
it than your other pieces?  If so, close it down and use a harder reed.

The flip in the facing curve should help with altissimo, but may not be
long enough to help with palm keys.  You can try lengthening the flip some.

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> Being how the piece is more open, does this make you use
> a softer reed on it than your other pieces?  If so, close
> it down and use a harder reed.

It happens with hard or soft reeds.

> The flip in the facing curve should help with altissimo,
> but may not be long enough to help with palm keys. You
> can try lengthening the flip some.

I may be out of luck here since in my attempt to clean out the area 
behind the tip I ended up making the tip rail extremely thin. There's 
not much to flip up anymore. Do high note problems usually indicate a 
tip rail/facing problem? Since these notes are flat as well as thin, 
could it be that the chamber is still too small?

I'd give up on this mouthpiece but it has an inspiring sound that my 
other pieces don't.

Thanks,
Jon

Poor high end (any mouthpiece, but especially soprano) may be caused by:

Tip rail too wide

Facing too long

Baffle too low (steep angle away from tip rail, no "rollover")

Reed wrong cut, too heavy or thick on the tip.  Try a jazz cut or medium 
cut reed.

Mouth / oral cavity too open ("ahhh" position, like they taught you in 
school band years ago).

Paul



stencilmann wrote:

> I've been enjoying my L.A. Sax soprano mouthpiece except that notes
> above C3 are thin and don't speak easily. I don't have this problem
> with other mouthpieces (Dukoff, Beechler, Lakey metal). I enlarged
> the square chamber a bit to get the pitch of the palm key notes up a
> bit. Thinning the tip rail only helped a little. Actually, the tip
> rail is very thin and has a slight flip up, but still the palm keys
> are still weak.
>
> What are the factors that might contribute to weak high notes and non-
> existant altissimo? The piece is a little more open than my others
> (around 80) and has a smooth, rounded facing out to the tip. I'm
> baffled!
>
> TIA,
> Jon
>
>
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>
>
>
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>
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Paul, thanks for this list. Excellent information.

I've changed the tip/facing from 80/42 to 72/36. This improved the 
high notes quite a bit and made the mouthpiece a bit easier to 
control. Tonight I plan on enlarging the chamber a little more in 
hopes of bringing the palm keys pitch up.

Thanks again,
Jon Lloyd

> Poor high end (any mouthpiece, but especially soprano) may
> be caused by:
> 
> Tip rail too wide
> 
> Facing too long
> 
> Baffle too low (steep angle away from tip rail, no "rollover")
> 
> Reed wrong cut, too heavy or thick on the tip.
> 
> Mouth / oral cavity too open
>

"enlarging the chamber a little more in
hopes of bringing the palm keys pitch up"

 

EXACTLY CORRECT!

 

Paul

stencilmann wrote:

> Paul, thanks for this list. Excellent information.
>
> I've changed the tip/facing from 80/42 to 72/36. This improved the
> high notes quite a bit and made the mouthpiece a bit easier to
> control. Tonight I plan on enlarging the chamber a little more in
> hopes of bringing the palm keys pitch up.
>
> Thanks again,
> Jon Lloyd
>
> > Poor high end (any mouthpiece, but especially soprano) may
> > be caused by:
> >
> > Tip rail too wide
> >
> > Facing too long
> >
> > Baffle too low (steep angle away from tip rail, no "rollover")
> >
> > Reed wrong cut, too heavy or thick on the tip.
> >
> > Mouth / oral cavity too open
> >
>
>
>
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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.
>
> To see and modify your groups, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service 
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.

>> > > Poor high end (any mouthpiece, but especially soprano) may
> > > be caused by:
> > >
> > > Tip rail too wide
> > >
> > > Facing too long
> > >
> > > Baffle too low (steep angle away from tip rail, no "rollover")
> > >
> > > Reed wrong cut, too heavy or thick on the tip.
> > >
> > > Mouth / oral cavity too open

Paul-

I am using a Runyon #5 mpc with Vandoren #2 & #3 reeds and having 
trouble with the palm keys not sounding, and when they did they were 
sharp. I took your advice about the reed since that was the easiest 
of all the suggestions. I sanded about 3/8 of an inch of the reed 
tip and wow did that make a difference. The palm keys sound much 
more reliably now and it even gave the low end more character. There 
is more Oboe like tone in the lower first register using a soft tip 
reed. The intonation of the palm keys is much better now that I 
don't have to apply a lot of pressure to the reed to make those high 
notes sound. For now this solves my problem. Thanks for the 
suggestion.
Bill

Bill, the Vandorens (blue box), while good reeds, are not the best 
suited reeds for the Runyon mpces.  Let me suggest Fibracell, for the 5, 
a Fibracell 2 � to 3, plain old orange box Rico, Vandoren Java, Lavoz.  
These are cut more like what you did to your Vdn, and should work for 
you out of the box.  The Runyon Custom soprano pieces I KNOW play well 
on the top end.  Also, with that little mpce, try the Rovner #1 RXS 
ligature.  No sonic magic, but it just holds the reed evenly and easily, 
easy to put on, etc.  Hey, guy, when you think you are ready, send it to 
me and I'll reface it to a 6 or 7 for cost of return postage.

 

Paul



David wrote:

> >> > > Poor high end (any mouthpiece, but especially soprano) may
> > > > be caused by:
> > > >
> > > > Tip rail too wide
> > > >
> > > > Facing too long
> > > >
> > > > Baffle too low (steep angle away from tip rail, no "rollover")
> > > >
> > > > Reed wrong cut, too heavy or thick on the tip.
> > > >
> > > > Mouth / oral cavity too open
>
> Paul-
>
> I am using a Runyon #5 mpc with Vandoren #2 & #3 reeds and having
> trouble with the palm keys not sounding, and when they did they were
> sharp. I took your advice about the reed since that was the easiest
> of all the suggestions. I sanded about 3/8 of an inch of the reed
> tip and wow did that make a difference. The palm keys sound much
> more reliably now and it even gave the low end more character. There
> is more Oboe like tone in the lower first register using a soft tip
> reed. The intonation of the palm keys is much better now that I
> don't have to apply a lot of pressure to the reed to make those high
> notes sound. For now this solves my problem. Thanks for the
> suggestion.
> Bill
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> ADVERTISEMENT
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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.
>
> To see and modify your groups, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service 
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.

Paul-

I did get ahold of a Fibracell Medium reed and it seems to work 
nicely. The palm keys sound much more reliably and I can even get up 
to high G now and then. 

Thanks for the offer to help with refacing. I will keep this in mind 
and of course I would send appropriate compensation inspite of your 
generous offer to do it for free. 

Thanks;

Bill

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, Paul Coats <tenorman@t...> 
wrote:
> Bill, the Vandorens (blue box), while good reeds, are not the best 
> suited reeds for the Runyon mpces.  Let me suggest Fibracell, for 
the 5, 
> a Fibracell 2 ½ to 3, plain old orange box Rico, Vandoren Java, 
Lavoz.  
> These are cut more like what you did to your Vdn, and should work 
for 
> you out of the box.  The Runyon Custom soprano pieces I KNOW play 
well 
> on the top end.  Also, with that little mpce, try the Rovner #1 
RXS 
> ligature.  No sonic magic, but it just holds the reed evenly and 
easily, 
> easy to put on, etc.  Hey, guy, when you think you are ready, send 
it to 
> me and I'll reface it to a 6 or 7 for cost of return postage.
> 
>  
> 
> Paul
> 
> 
> 
> David wrote:
> 
> > >> > > Poor high end (any mouthpiece, but especially soprano) may
> > > > > be caused by:
> > > > >
> > > > > Tip rail too wide
> > > > >
> > > > > Facing too long
> > > > >
> > > > > Baffle too low (steep angle away from tip rail, 
no "rollover")
> > > > >
> > > > > Reed wrong cut, too heavy or thick on the tip.
> > > > >
> > > > > Mouth / oral cavity too open
> >
> > Paul-
> >
> > I am using a Runyon #5 mpc with Vandoren #2 & #3 reeds and having
> > trouble with the palm keys not sounding, and when they did they 
were
> > sharp. I took your advice about the reed since that was the 
easiest
> > of all the suggestions. I sanded about 3/8 of an inch of the reed
> > tip and wow did that make a difference. The palm keys sound much
> > more reliably now and it even gave the low end more character. 
There
> > is more Oboe like tone in the lower first register using a soft 
tip
> > reed. The intonation of the palm keys is much better now that I
> > don't have to apply a lot of pressure to the reed to make those 
high
> > notes sound. For now this solves my problem. Thanks for the
> > suggestion.
> > Bill
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> > ADVERTISEMENT
> > 
<http://rd.yahoo.com/SIG=12cg66itt/M=267637.4116732.5333197.1261774/D
=egroupweb/S=1705032198:HM/EXP=1070416730/A=1853618/R=0/*http://www.n
etflix.com/Default?mqso=60178338&partid=4116732> 
> >
> >
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > To see and modify your groups, go to 
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of 
Service 
> > <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.