DjangoBooks.com

What's your setup and doubling

edited October 2012 in Woodwinds Posts: 3,707
I always enjoy finding out what others are playing and such being a complete gearhead.

My horn is a Keilwerth black nickel SX90II soprano with a Joe Giardullo (SopranoPlanet.com) Open Sky mpce and Hemke 3 reeds.

She's a fussy bitch on the palm keys with a gorgeous rich chocolaty tone. I work very hard to eliminate any trace of ancestry to ducks or geese. I once had a jazz critic make the mistake of thinking I played clarinet (probably the colour and bad ears). Sometime next year I will get an R & C Saxello which I have been told by those who know them will be perfect for the sound I try to get.

My main instrument is guitar which I have been playing for more decades than I will admit to. I play a custom built Michael Dunn that was finished on January 23, 2010. I am very fortunate to have this one as it turned out to be a very special guitar with a lovely rich timbre and lots of GJ style power and sustain when picked hard. Michael thinks it one of his best.
The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
«1

Comments

  • AndyWAndyW Glasgow Scotland UK✭✭✭ Clarinets & Saxes- Selmer, Conn, Buescher, Leblanc et.al. // Guitars: Gerome, Caponnetto, Napoli, Musicalia, Bucolo, Sanchez et. al.
    Posts: 599
    On Soprano sax I'm playing a silver plated Pan American (made by C.G. Conn) straight soprano from about 1929, with a "Bari 66" hard rubber mouthpiece: it's a very bright sound, very "Bechet" :P
    The tuning of a few notes on this old sop is a bit of a compromise, but it's "close enough for jazz".
    I also have a Yamaha YSS-62R, but I never use it.

    On Clarinet: I tripped over an immaculate 1936 Buffet "pre-R13" for £90 in a local auction, so that's my main gigging clari, though I'd easily go out to play on my Yamaha 250 student model. (£80 in the pawn shop - why pay £400?)

    The mouthpiece is from a cheap Selmer plastic clarinet, I haven't really started messing with hundreds of mouthpieces: clarinets seem less sensitive than saxes, mouthpiece wise.
    [ I've only been on clarinet for 18 months , though. :roll: ]

    I quite fancy a metal clarinet, that might work well for GJ.

    I'm (now) trying very hard not to be a gearhad, it's about the notes you play, they're more important. It's easy to get sidetracked into gear comparisons when we should be discussing the licks, riffs & tunes, or woodshedding arpeggios .

    I have a guitar too, of course, an old Ibanez AS100, gathering dust in the loft. *and* a violin...

    -A-
  • I am getting the feeling that GJ wind players are a bit shy :P

    Funny I have lots to say about gear but about which notes to play wellllllllllllllll ............... :shock: I guess to me it is such a personal thing that I never have much to say :lol: except that I will adapt a nice phrase from anyone
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • Ken BloomKen Bloom Pilot Mountain, North CarolinaNew
    Posts: 164
    My clarinet is a Buffett made in the late fourties. I'm not sure about the mouthpiece it says something on it but I can't make it out. This one replaced my old buffett which I got when I was fourteen. It was stolen and I searched for one that had a similar feel. This one was it. I have a nic eold Buesher C melody sax that I had restored. A student of mine gave it to me. It's a modest setup but does ok for me. My guitar is a seven string Selmac that I built a few years ago. I need to make another so I can make a different set of mistakes. They alldo fine on gigs which is what counts.
    Ken Bloom
  • kalestilezkalestilez Long Beach, CA✭✭
    Posts: 35
    My clarinet is an Artley. Nothing. Too fancy, but It's made of wood and it sounds pretty good. I'm currently using a Selmer C* mouthpiece, rubber ligature, and #2 vandoren reeds. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't spent enough time working on long tones lately. My routine has mainly focused on playing scales and arpeggios in the coomon gj keys. I'd like to Learn more licks. I've noticed that many of the gj clarinet players have different approaches. Some guys seem to take a stochelo Rosenberg type approach (very fast and arpeggiated), some folks channel Benny Goodman, and last of all, there are the guys who play with a very open mouthpiece and go for a more eastern sound (more gypsy than jazz). Artie Shaw is my personal favorite, but for practical reasons, I've decided to model my playing after Benny. Any and all advice is appreciated, being that it's in such short supply these days. Thanks!
  • Well as Istarted this one I think I should provide an update. A shoulder injury has made it painful to play sop for more than a few minutes so I switched to alto sax.

    I think I have found my right voice :D I am just loving it and IMO the instrument is pitched well to fit into GJ genre. I just got an SML gold medal 1 stencil made in 1963. That and a Selmer NY older larhe chamber refaced by Brian Powell mpce. Intonation is very good but not certain about the sound yet. I have a Meyer 7 refaced and slightly worked by mojobari on the way. This one is a medium chamber but opened up to .82 tip. Still using gonzalez 2 3/4 reeds.

    Hopefully finding a mpce reed combo that works well for me will be over soon.
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • BazzerBazzer New
    Posts: 4
    I have just become part of this web site and thought I would join this discussion.

    I mainly play an E.J Albert Albert system Bb clarinet with a ROC 5 star mouthpiece, I also play a French 'C' Albert system using a Vandoren 5JB mouthpiece, my alto sax is a good old silver Buescher Trutone, I use the mouthpiece it came with when I bought it in 1980 a lovely old 1950's Selmer, never wanted to change it, I also have 'Eb' and 'A' Albert system clarinets, I must not forget my Boehm system clarinets, two main ones, a Selmer Centeredtone and Selmer Sterling metal clarinet, I am comfortable with both systems. my tenor sax is a cheap and cheerful student model, sounds OK,

    Bazzer
  • Welcome to the group Bazzer. Wonderful collection of enthusiasts here and lots of info about Django and GJ in general. Looking forward to your input.
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • GerrySaxGerrySax New
    Posts: 5
    My alto and tenor are both Yanagisawa 902's.
    On alto I play Meyer G 5M with Hemke reeds, I think I get a sweet Desmondy sound. I'd like to try a Phil-Tone Solstice to see if it takes me further in that direction but they're hard to find in UK.
    I haven't been playing tenor long, I'm using a Yani metal 7 and V16s, which seems to work well for me but I'd like to try JodyJazz HR* and 10mfan Merlot sometime.
  • woodamandwoodamand Portland, OR✭✭✭ 2015 JWC Favino replica
    Posts: 227
    I have a 40's Bischer Elkhart alto, with a Meyer 5 mpc. Yes, a student horn -- sounds fantastic to me. I switch between to clarinets, 1949 Buffet and 1950 Selmer with a Morgan mouthpiece (used to use Fobes till I broke it, long story). VanDoren 56 Rue Le Pic #3. Works great for me. Oh yeah, 1972 Noblet bass clarinet, ESD mouthpiece and VanDoren #3 Tenor sax reeds.
  • Nice collection. In 2013 I switched to mainly tenor sax SML gold medal 1's ( I have 2 from the early 60's) and my main alto is now an SML of similar vintage.

    Boss 8 tenor mpce on 3 1/2 Legere Signatures. Currently playing a refaced Selmer Jazz on alto but still looking.
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
Sign In or Register to comment.
Home  |  Forum  |  Blog  |  Contact  |  206-528-9873
The Premier Gypsy Jazz Marketplace
DjangoBooks.com
USD CAD GBP EUR AUD
USD CAD GBP EUR AUD
Banner Adverts
Sell Your Guitar
© 2024 DjangoBooks.com, all rights reserved worldwide.
Software: Kryptronic eCommerce, Copyright 1999-2024 Kryptronic, Inc. Exec Time: 0.016099 Seconds Memory Usage: 1.008797 Megabytes
Kryptronic