Jay C. Easton: Saxophonist Resources- Equipment

Equipment

Jay Easton's Equipment

Bb Soprillo (piccolo) Saxophone
Built by Benedikt Eppelsheim
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Eppelsheim 4 / Eppelsheim / Vandoren 2.5 (soprano sax)

Eb Sopranino Saxophones
Orsi curved sopranino model 442
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Buescher / Olegature / Vandoren 3 blue box (sopranino)

C Soprano Saxophone
1920's Holton, silverplated, to high F
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Buescher (C sop) / Rovner / Vandoren 3 blue box

Bb Soprano Saxophones
1937 Buescher curved
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: Rascher-Wyman / Buescher / Vandoren 3 blue box
Jazz: Meyer 7M / Rovner / Vandoren 2.5 blue box

F Mezzo-soprano Saxophone
1928 Conn, goldplated
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
J.J. Babbitt (mezzo-soprano) / stock / Vandoren 2.5 (soprano) blue box

Eb Alto Saxophones
1932 Buescher New Aristocrat, silverplated
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: Caravan / Buescher/ Vandoren 3 Hand Select
Jazz/Rock: Zinner Strathon 7/ stock / Vandoren (blue box) 2.5

Unison Keyless Alto, goldplated/lacquered
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Rascher / Rovner / Vandoren 3 blue box

C Melody Saxophone (small bore)
1917 Conn, silverplated
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Conn C-mel mouthpiece / Conn / Vandoren 4 blue box tenor reed
Bill Street C-mel mouthpiece / stock / Vandoren 2.5 blue box tenor reed

C Tenor Saxophone (large bore)
c. 1900 Couesnon, silverplated
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Buescher C-mel mouthpiece / stock / Vandoren 4 blue box tenor reed

Bb Tenor Saxophones
1932 Buescher True Tone, goldplated
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: Rascher-Wyman / Selmer / Vandoren 3 blue box
Jazz/Rock: Zinner Strathon 8*/ Strathon / Vandoren 2.5 blue box

L.A. Sax straight tenor
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
same as Buescher

Eb Baritone Saxophones
1949 Buescher Aristocrat, silverplated
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: Woodwind Co. B5 / Buescher / Vandoren 3.5 blue box
Jazz/Rock: Berg Larsen HR 115/1 Vandoren Optimum / Rico Jazz Select 3H Filed

Selmer Super Action 80 Series II to low A, black lacquer
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: Brilhart Tonalin 2*/Rovner Eddie Daniels/Vandoren 3
(I have also had very good results with a Selmer S-90 (200)/Vandoren 3.5)
Jazz: Berg Larsen HR 115/1 Vandoren Optimum / Rico Jazz Select 3H Filed

BBb Bass Saxophone
c. 1928 Holton
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: J.J. Babbitt / stock / Vandoren 3 (bass sax)
Jazz: Zinner 8B / stock / Legere 2 (contrabass clarinet)

EEb Contrabass Saxophone
to low A, custom built by Benedikt Eppelsheim
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Classical: Zinner-Eppelsheim 6A /stock / Vandoren 3 (contrabass clarinet)
Jazz: Z-nner/Eppelsheim 8B /stock / Vandoren 2 (contrabass clarinet)

BBBb Subcontrabass Saxophone
Bb "Tubax" custom built by Benedikt Eppelsheim
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Eugene Rousseau JDX 8/ Rovner / Legere 2.5 (contrabass clarinet)

C Slide Saxophone
1920's Swannee slide soprano saxophone
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Buescher soprano mouthpiece, Vandoren 2.5

Eb Clarinet
Buffet R-13
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Hawkins model "A"/ stock Buffet/ Vandoren 3.5

C Clarinet (for klezmer and folk music)
maker unknown, early 1900's Albert-system
Walter Grabner mouthpiece, Vandoren 3

Bb Clarinet
Buffet R-13 Greenline Festival
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Clark Fobes 4L/ Vandoren Optimum / Rue 56 Vandoren 3.5+
Ridenour Ivorlon barrel

A Clarinet
LeBlanc Dynamique (1970's, full Boehm)
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
same as Bb clarinet

Eb Alto Clarinet
Selmer USA plastic
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Vandoren B44/ Rovner / Vandoren 2.5

Bb Bass Clarinet
Buffet R-13 Prestige (low C)
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Bay M-OM / Vandoren Optimum / Vandoren 2.5

EEb Contra-alto Clarinet
Leblanc Model 350 ("paperclip" to low C)
mouthpiece/ligature/reed setup:
Leblanc mouthpiece/ Rovner / Legere 2.75

Piccolo
Yamaha YPC-32, silver headjoint

Flute
Prima Sankyo artist model, NRS-1 headjont

Bassoon
Fox Model II, Fox CVX #2 bocal

This is a list of equipment I have found that works well for me.
Everyone has different preferences in the equipment they choose.
Some people are vintage horn buffs, others are very brand-loyal with new instruments. Harder reeds aren't always better. More expensive mouthpieces aren't necessarily going to fit your musical personality better than something less fashionable. In the end, your choice of equipment should be based entirely on what makes it easiest for you to get the sound you want on your instrument.

A bad reed on a great horn with a great mouthpiece will still sound bad.
The wrong mouthpiece with a great horn will also lead to frustration.
A great reed and mouthpiece on a mediocre instrument is usually going to have the potential to sound pretty good, as long as the horn is in good repair. If you're on a limited budget, start with getting a good mouthpiece/reed setup. Once these are in place, then look for a better instrument when you can afford it.

If you need help finding the right mouthpiece, ask your instructor for suggestions. Often finding the right mouthpiece for you is a process that takes experimentation with many different setups. Your goal is to find the mouthpiece/reed combination that allows your instrument to produce the sound you hear in your head with the least amount of work.

If the myriad choices of mouthpieces available today have you daunted, a helpful resource for the new-mouthpiece hunter is Robert Scarff's book Woodwind Mouthpiece Selection. It has easy-to-read comprehensive descriptions of how various aspects of mouthpiece design affect tone, comparison charts of the major mouthpiece brands, and advice on reeds and general instrument care. You can visit his site by clicking here.

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