As a beginner sax player, you’ve already upgraded from your stock mouthpiece to something like a Yamaha 4C – but now you’re ready for something a bit more professional. So what’s next?
Which is the best sax mouthpiece for you to get a better sound on your saxophone? And what if you want to spend less than $200? It’s a good question, and it’s something that I’ve been asked all the time.
Best sax mouthpiece?
I just got asked this week that exact question by Julie from our Sax School membership community. So I thought today it might be fun to look at the Yamaha 4C and compare it to two fantastic choices that are both under $200. We’re going to look at the Meyer 5mm and the Jody Jazz HR*.
They’re both cracking mouthpieces, but which one is the best sax mouthpiece for you? Well, today I’m going to be playing the Yamaha 4 C and also playing the Meyer and the HR*, so you can compare how they all sound. And we’re also going to be talking about the differences, to help you choose the best sax mouthpiece for you.
Oh, and I’ve also got two other mouthpieces from my collection that are also under $200 that you might want to consider.
Let’s get stuck in.
Yamaha 4C
It is tricky to work out which mouthpiece is right for you.
And by the way, I just wanted to point out that all the mouthpieces today I bought with my own money.
I just want to make the process of choosing the best sax mouthpiece for you as easy as possible.
I know it’s difficult, right? If you aren’t able to go to a music shop and try these mouthpieces yourself, how do you know which one’s right?
So hopefully this video is going help you. I know it’s going help my students over at Sax School.
So let’s start by talking about the Yamaha 4C. Now, this is a fantastic upgrade mouthpiece. If you have a stock mouthpiece that comes with your saxophone, I always recommend that you upgrade to the 4C first.
And by the way, if you want some more tips about this mouthpiece, check out my blog here where I explain why it’s a good upgrade option.
So the Yamaha 4c is pretty cheap. I managed to find it online for about $26 or £34. (Go figure – it’s more in pounds than dollars at the moment!)
What I love about this mouthpiece though, is it’s very, very consistent. So wherever you buy this mouthpiece, anywhere in the world, it’s always going to sound great. And it’s always going to be easy to play.
And it’s good for beginners because the shape internally means that you don’t need a lot of air to get a nice sound. So even if you’re pretty new to the saxophone, you’d be able to get a good modern sound.
It’s got quite a small chamber and an easy tip opening.
And by the way, I’m using the same reed, ligature and saxophone for all the demos today. So I’m using a Légère Signature 2.5 reed. The ligature is the one that came with the Meyer when I bought it the other day. And I’ve got my trusty Yamaha 62 purple logo that I’ve had for about 30 years that I’ll be playing today.
Right. Let’s have, listen to what the Yamaha 4C sounds like.
Yamaha 4C Test: Verdict
So what do you think about the Yamaha 4C? I think it sounds okay. I’m a bit annoyed I didn’t get that high D up there! But here’s the thing about this mouthpiece. Like I said before, it’s got a small chamber, which makes it easy to play. And that means you can easily get a decent sound out of it – but it also holds you back.
So the thing I like about it, is it’s easy to play.
The thing I don’t like about it, is it’s very restrictive with how many different colors you can get out of the mouthpiece. (I do want to get that high D out though!)
So this mouthpiece sounds okay, but it’s a beginner mouthpiece. This isn’t an advanced mouthpiece. So let’s talk about why you might want to upgrade.
Why Upgrade?
So the Yamaha 4C is great. But here’s the thing.
- You are restricted with the colors that you can get
- You’re restricted by the dynamics you can get
- You’re restricted when you’re trying to play lots of different styles.
So if you are just playing in a concert band, or a community group, or an ensemble, then it’s going to be okay.
But you still can’t get a really rich classical sound. You can’t get a bright, funky sound. You can’t get a great warm jazz sound.
It’s just a kind of “middle-of-the-road” type of mouth. And that’s why you might want to look to upgrade.
So let’s start by looking at the Jody Jazz HR*, which is our first option when you’re looking at the best sax mouthpiece under $200.
Jody Jazz HR*
Now, to the untrained eye, (and I’m talking about myself here!) when you look at Yamaha 4C and the Jody Jazz HR* side by side, they look the same shape inside.
But they’re made of different materials. The Yamaha 4C is plastic.
The Jody Jazz HR* is hard rubber. And the internal dimensions are different because it plays very differently. It has a bigger tip opening than the 4C. The 4C is a very middle-of-the-road opening. My HR* is a size 7. I’m going to use the same size reed, which is going to make it a bit harder to play.
But let’s hear how it sounds.
Jody Jazz HR* Test: Verdict
What do you think about the sound of HR*? Can you hear a difference there?
To me, it sounds quite a lot brighter, and that’s one of the things I love about it. You can get more edgy, bright sounds out of this mouthpiece, which makes it great if you’re playing in a louder environment.
If you’re playing in a rock band, funk band, doing any sort of fusion-type music, it’ll be perfect for that.
And actually, it’s great value for money. This always surprises me, how this mouthpiece doesn’t cost that much money, but it performs well.
Things I don’t like about it though – maybe it’s a little bit too bright sometimes.
So if you’re playing a saxophone quartet, or playing classical music, or if you’re doing an orchestral gig, this probably wouldn’t be the right choice for you. And maybe in some ways, the Yamaha 4c may be a better choice actually, in comparison to this at least, but we’ve still got some other mouthpieces to check out today.
What do you think about the Jody Jazz HR*? Could it be the best sax mouthpiece upgrade for you?
Meyer 5mm
The second mouthpiece I wanted to compare it to, is the Meyer 5mm.
Now, this is a classic mouthpiece. And legendary saxophone players like Cannonball Adderley, and Sonny Stitt played on versions of this mouthpiece. For many years, this was a standard mouthpiece option that people would upgrade to, as a sort of intermediate / pro mouthpiece.
I was really curious to get hold of one and start playing it over the last few weeks. Because actually, I’d never played on this mouthpiece before. One of the bonus mouthpieces I’m going show you in a second is the mouthpiece that I did play for about 20 years, instead of choosing the Meyer 5.
Why didn’t I choose the Meyer 5? Because everybody else was playing it and I wanted to try something different!
So again, when you compare these two mouthpieces side by side, they look slightly different. But different things are happening inside. We need to listen to them to be able to hear how they sound.
The Meyer 5 is a medium chamber mouthpiece. It’s got a smaller tip opening than the HR* that I just played. And in fact, it’s closer in size to the 4C that I played at the start. So let’s listen.
Meyer Test: Verdict
So what do you think about the Meyer 5M? Could it be the best sax mouthpiece choice?
I have to tell you, I like this – I think it’s an interesting mouthpiece. And I managed to find this online, by the way, for $122 US dollars and about £160. They are much more expensive in the UK.
Things I love about this mouthpiece – the smaller chamber means it’s really easy to play. So I could get up to those altissimo notes pretty quickly. The more I was playing this mouthpiece, the more consistently I could get those notes as well.
But I also could get a big range of sounds out of this. So in that little demo that I’ve been playing, there’s some sort of classical kind of things, like arpeggio lines. There are some jazzy things, and there’s some more funky, bluesy sort of lines. And I can get all of those different colors out of this mouthpiece.
And just the fact that Sonny Stitt And Cannonball Adderley sound awesome on this mouthpiece is enough to inspire me to really want to dig into it.
Isn’t it amazing by just spending less than $200, like way less – $122 – you can get something that sounds like this. I like it. But I want to show you a couple of other options that you might want to consider as well.
Bonus Option #1: Selmer C*
So the first bonus option I want to show you is this old gnarly mouthpiece from my collection. This is a Selmer C*. And actually, I’ve had this mouthpiece for 35 years.
Check out the shape of these internally though. They’re very, very different. And the reason for that is the Selmer C* (which you can buy now as a Selmer Soloist) is a classical mouthpiece. That’s why I had this mouthpiece, because I used to do a lot of classical playing.
It’s a much smaller chamber. It’s a nice easy tip opening, and it’s got a really lovely round sound. Have a listen to how this sounds.
Selmer C*: Verdict
So what do you think about the sound of the Selmer C*? It’s pretty different, isn’t it? It’s much darker. I love Paul Desmond‘s sound, and that always reminds me of that.
Now with this reed, by the way, the Légère Signature, it’s a brighter sound than you’d normally get with the cane reed. And if I was playing classical repertoire on this mouthpiece, I would not use that Légère reed. I would use a cane reed, like a standard blue box Vandoren reed, which I think gives it a much darker sound.
The thing I love about it though is the smaller chamber means you can control the sound, and get lots of variety out of it.
You can get way up into the altissimo very, very easily. And with this setup, with this reed, I can get a kind of jazzier sound out of it. It’s not crazy bright and it’s certainly not very loud. And that’s a bit of a challenge if you’re playing in a live setting.
But for a recorded sound, I think it sounds really nice. But it’s not got enough character for me, if I was doing a lot of playing in a jazz group or a fusion band or a rock group or commercial music, for example. I’d feel limited with this mouthpiece.
So let me show you one other mouthpiece, which you might like.
Bonus Option #2: Yanagisawa Metal
Okay, this is the last mouthpiece I want to show you. And this is a Yanagisawa Metal. It’s in a size 6.
I love this mouthpiece. It’s so versatile and if we look at it inside compared to the Selmer C*, again, it’s different. I know it’s made of metal as opposed to hard rubber. But you’ve got to remember that the material that the mouthpiece is made from isn’t as important as the internal shape.
By the way, check out this video I did with Jody Espina from Jody Jazz where he was explaining why that’s the case and why the material doesn’t matter.
It is a more aggressive shape inside, though. It’s got a baffle in here, which makes the air go faster. Again, it has quite a small chamber. But I love this mouthpiece because it’s so versatile. Let’s listen.
Yanagisawa Metal Test: Verdict
What do you think about the sound of the Yanagisawa? Now, I’ll be honest with you, because I’m using the same reed for every mouthpiece here today, this reed is too hard for me on this mouthpiece. My lips were just about falling off by the end of playing that! But I like the sound of it. I like the versatility of it.
And I can tell you when I was using this mouthpiece for all those years, I was using it to play in a concert band setting, and in a West End show. I would use it in a pop or a fusion band-type setting. In fact I even got away with playing it in a Big Band.
However I didn’t use it in an orchestra. I think that’d be a stretch too far. But I could use it for just about every other setting, which is pretty cool.
Personally, I kind of like to have one mouthpiece that does pretty much everything. And for me, this was the mouthpiece, for a long time, that I thought would do that.
Now the Yanagisawa is a little bit more money. I found it for about $320 US dollars about £231. Strangely, that one’s cheaper in the UK and more expensive in America. But at the moment, currencies are all over the place, so who knows? So this is the more expensive option. But it’s just interesting to hear it side by side with the other options we’re testing today to see how the sounds compare.
Final Thoughts
So which of these is the best sax mouthpiece for you? Would you stick with the Yamaha 4C? Would you upgrade to a Meyer or would you go for the Jody Jazz HR*? Or maybe one of the extra mouthpieces that we looked at today – the Selmer C* or the Yanagisawa Metal 6?
I’ve got a 2 pro tips for you. This is important whenever you are choosing a mouthpiece.
Tip #1: Go small
Go for a smaller tip opening, and a smaller mouthpiece in general than you think you want to go for.
I see so many students make the mistake of getting the really big, bright mouthpiece with a super high baffle. They love it for about a month, and then they hate it and it’s unplayable. So you’re better off going with something a little bit more modest, and then work on your skills to be able to get the sound that you want out of it. Perfect.
A case in point is Cannonball Adderley. He’s playing on a Meyer and sounding awesome! It’s not a crazy big mouthpiece with a high baffle or a super big size or anything. He’s just making it work for him.
Tip #2 Give it time
A second pro tip is whenever you change a mouthpiece, you’ve got to be prepared to spend plenty of time getting used to it.
For me, it can take a couple of months of regular practice, particularly working on things like long tones and slow melodies to dial in a new mouthpiece and to find my sound on it.
So whichever you choose as the best sax mouthpiece for you, make sure you put aside some time to get used to it. Get your muscles, your mouth, your embouchure, your sound used to that new mouthpiece, and then you’ll be a winner.
Go and explore my YouTube Channel and my blog for more advice on mouthpieces.
And if you want to really make some progress on your saxophone, check out what’s happening inside Sax School. Get started here.