Saxophone Forum


by djazzy
(65 posts)
18 years ago

Mouthpiece to Cork

What does it mean if a mouthpiece doeesn't fit easily on the neck cork. When I put the Masteller mouthpiece on the cork it fits loosely and when I pull the mpc out (to tune), the mpc hangs very loosely on the neck cork. Also when I play the mouthpiece seems to leak spit and no spit is in the bell. Could this be an effect of a loose mouthpiece cork connection?

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  1. by charliepar
    (1 post)

    9 years ago

    Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

    Hi, I have just bought a vintage mouthpiece and it is to small for my neck. I removed the cork and it goes in only 1cm (without cork, only metal) , to play in tune, it should go in about 2 cm. The neck is standard size, because I played in tune with 3 other mouthpieces.

    Options:

    1. Discard the small mouthpiece
    2. Sand the mouthpiece chamber inner side
    3. Sand the metal sax neck

    Has anyone done something similar? Thanks for your help!

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  2. by saxplaya81
    (110 posts)

    18 years ago

    Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

    Just take the neck to your local shop and have them put a new cork on it, give them the mouthpiece too so they can sand it down and you get a perfect fit, it shouldnt cost more than 10 or 15 dollars

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    1. by djazzy
      (65 posts)

      18 years ago

      Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

      What does the loose mouthpiece mean to my sound production? Is this causing spit to drip from my mouthpiece?

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      1. by Dave Dix
        (421 posts)

        18 years ago

        Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

        If a hose pipe is loose on a tap it will leak Dave

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    2. by RoYrOy
      (51 posts)

      18 years ago

      Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

      Hey, I'm having both problems on my horn, I hear the "shhCHhhshhCHh" sound, and I thought that it was my embouchure, support or the mouthpiece, but it was the seal against the cork, I found out by putting some napkin around the cork to make it longer. How did I know it didn't seal? The napkin on the cork was wet about 3/4 cm down the cork. I really would like to have this fixed, what are the specifics of the jobs to be done? I posted another subject about my intonation problems due to the position of the mouthpieces loosely way out on the cork, my mouthpiece tunes C at about 3/5 cm in. Almost nothing! What can I do to change this problem? I thought about modifying my embouchure a bit, but that to me sounds extremely dangerous. Yamaha 62S Selmer Soloist Shork Shank C Mouthpiece Rovner Dark Lig Vandoren Blue Box Reeds Thanks for your help

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      1. by djazzy
        (65 posts)

        18 years ago

        Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

        Your problem is the same as mine. My band directors suggested putting paper towel around the cork but is still dripped. What should we do next?

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    3. by saxplaya81
      (110 posts)

      18 years ago

      Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

      Like I said the best thing to do is get your cork replaced and refitted to the mouthpiece you are playing, a thin cork can cause squeeks, leaks, and make the lower register harder to play.

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      1. by DaveUK1965
        (14 posts)

        18 years ago

        Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

        It's actually quite easy to re-cork a mouthpiece yourself. I do all mine - standard job after buying a new sax. You need a sharp knife, glue, 1/16" sheet cork and some sandpaper. If you're feeling brave, pop over to Steve's site at www.shwoodwind.co.uk/HandyHints/Recorking_crooks.htm and that's how it's done !

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        1. by djazzy
          (65 posts)

          18 years ago

          Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

          How much does the repair cost if the horn is taken in?

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          1. by RoYrOy
            (51 posts)

            18 years ago

            Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

            Ok, well my repairman did it for free the last time, but then again I stop by there almost every month. Hey so what about the intonation? Any ideas?

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          2. by djazzy
            (65 posts)

            18 years ago

            Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

            Wow. You and I have similar problems. My intonation is horrible on my Conn horn. I also use a Yahama YTS-23 with the same setup and intonation is much better. This could be due to the modern changes the Yahama has. Anyway I noticed almost every note I play is really, really sharp. I pull my mouthpiece out and the note(s) is/are still sharp. The mouthpiece also leaks an exccesive amount of spit. The bell remains dry and the mouthpiece continuously drips.

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          3. by connsaxman_jim
            (2336 posts)

            18 years ago

            Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

            As I told you before djazzy, your intonation problems are because your horn and mouthpiece are not compatable. Your Conn 10M requires a mouthpiece with a large, open chamber, This is why I suggested either the Otto Link Super Tone Master metal, or a Meyer G Series mouthpiece. The G Series might work out better for symphonic/concert or marching band. If the mouthpiece fits loosely on the neck, then you should probably look into having the cork replaced. For the time being, wrap some tape around the cork so that the mouthpiece fits snug. On that 10M, you may need to lift up on the neck just a tad, and then tighten down the tenon screw. I found a brass washer that is about .065 thick that I use as a spacer between the neck and the tenon to help with intonation. With the right mouthpiece, your old 10M should have pretty good intonation, and a big sound! Jim

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          4. by Sax Mom
            (964 posts)

            18 years ago

            Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

            I do the same with my 16M, raise the neck a bit and tighten the tenon screw. Works like a dream!

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          5. by chiamac
            (586 posts)

            18 years ago

            Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

            In high school I didn't seem to have any intonation problems using a selmer mpc, and here the other week I was plaing on band in a box with my otto link and it seemed to be fine. it sounds like you need a new cork, (like Jim said)

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          6. by odedtzur
            (19 posts)

            18 years ago

            Re: Mouthpiece to Cork

            about your intonation problems, which are linked directly to the spit leaking problem: i've started using selmer short shank a few months ago (with a mark vi, which is perfectly compatible mr. jim) and noticed i'm sharp. to be tuned, i had to put it out making it touch only a small part of the cork, forcing me to add a piece of paper etc. this is not the solution! mark my words - you are destroying your playing. and putting out the neck? oh my god. please continue reading i beg you. so, the thing is this mouthpiece, as you would guess from it's name, has a short shank. this means that while another mouthpiece has a certain distance from it's tip to it's end, this has a shorter one. so in order to play the right pitch, meaning to place the tip of the mpc in a certain distance from the tip of the neck, you have to cover less cork. if you check some joe henderson photos he also had to put it out on the neck cork in comparison to other mouthpieces, but not to the extent you put it. in my opinion selmer understood this shank is too short and that's why they made the long shank later, but this is a very good and playable mouthpiece all the same. what you got to do is put it inside much more than you do now, i mean until it covers at least 1.5 centimeters of the cork and start playing. you would notice the sound is much better, because the mpc is now in it's correct place. if you trust your embashure and ears just push the mpc in and out without looking at the tuner until you find the place where the horn is in perfect tune WITH ITSELF. then after a while start working with the tuner to tune it with the correct pitch by pressing less with your lips and bringing the air flow from a deeper lower place in your belly (to big subject to present here). you see, if a mpc is placed in the wrong place, it would affect some notes more then the others, causing the intonation to go bad, causing you to press more (with your lips) on some notes than others, causing you to get u-s-e-d to playing wrong. think about it: if the mpc is 5 mm away from it's correct place, it would change the length of the tube in x percentage when you play high f, and in y persentage when you play low Bb. because Bb is a much longer tube and 5 mm hardly change the pitch of it. so relativley (or whatever term is suitable here, not my language, sorry) the Bb is not in tune with F. F requires much more prussure than usual now becaues it's flat in relation to Bb, or to any other note which is "longer" tube-wise. try playing middle c and low c and you would see they are not in tune with each other, because your mistake in positioning the mpc doesn't affect the low c but savirely affects the middle one. so you get the fealing that you are playing c in tune now and would be sharp if you insert the mpc more, but thats an illution created by the matrix (kidding) created by playing on a sax which is not tuned with itself. understand the idea? i hope it's clear. anyway, when you find the right place for your mpc by cheking where the horn sounds best (meaning it's in tune with itself) you make the 1st step to fix this. you would be surprised to see that you are not as sharp as you expected (after working to adjust your ambashure of course) because the entire intonation of the saxophone changed and you are able to apply the right (and same) amount of prussure to every note.

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