Posted by Jim Haskell on January 25, 2002 at 08:58:37:
Hi all,
I majored in music for one semester in 1991, and during that time, my professor, through trial and error, put together a Doug Elliot Mouthpiece combination that seemed to work well for me.(He had a huge set of parts!). Upon changing majors, he of course took it back. So, I've been playing on my original Bach (18 or 19, I can't remember the number) that I've had since high school.
Well, now I play weekly at church, I have no back up mouthpiece, and I have the same problems that I have always had; poor sound quality in the high range, poor attack on several notes, poor slurring. Now, I do practice and work to keep these problems to a minimum, but I have to believe a different shaped mouthpiece, like the combo from college, would help too.
So, up to my question. What should I look for? Music stores in my area are VERY limited in selection. I've seen the used mouthpiece page at Dillon Misic, but I know nothing about the models they have. I wouldn't mind paying $20 a piece for 3 or 4 mouthpieces, even if I only get 1 that I like. But I don't want to ignorantly order 2 or 3 similar mouthpieces.
I've heard that Doug Elliot is very helpful over the phone, and will help tailor a mouthpiece for you, but he is kind of pricey for me.
Maybe some of you know of a mouthpiece with good all-around characteristics and can just recommend a make and model.
Thanks in advance,
Jim