Ever since Rico reintroduced its famed, Metalite mouthpieces for soprano, tenor, and baritone saxophones, alto sax players have been asking: Hey, what about us? Well it’s taken nearly a year, but the alto Metalite mouthpieces are finally on the market.
Source: A Friend of Bassic Sax
I had actually forgotten all about the fact that Rico hadn’t yet reintroduced the alto version of these once-very-popular pieces, but then in the end of July I received an email from one of my readers who informed me that he bought a new Metalite piece for alto. I checked out the Rico website and noticed that while the company now lists the new mouthpiece, its photo was very dark and the mouthpiece appeared black rather than grey.
I contacted the reader of my blog again, and asked if he would be able to send me some photos of his mouthpiece and box.
The new, Rico Metalite alto sax mouthpieces are indeed grey in colour, and have a shiny, smooth finish—just like the other new, Rico mouthpieces, and the last generation of the original Metalite mouthpieces.
Source: A Friend of Bassic Sax
Like the soprano Metalite, the alto Metalite is only available in 2 facing options. What’s up with that anyway?
Given how large Rico’s facing selection was for the first generation of Metalites, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t offer the same amount of choices this time around. At a minimum, why doesn’t Rico offer 3 facing options for soprano and alto, like they do for tenor and baritone? I don’t get it.
In any event, this is Rico’s description of their newly-reintroduced, Metalite mouthpiece for alto sax:
Metalite mouthpieces were designed by Arnold Brillhart [sic] and offer the brilliant sound qualities of metal using a durable composite material.
Metalite mouthpieces are free blowing and feature two facing options:
M5 – Medium Open (works best with medium reeds)
M7 – Open (works best with medium soft to medium reeds)
Source: store.daddario.com
Source: A Friend of Bassic Sax
So for all of you alto players out there who have been dying to try a Rico Metalite, your wait is over. You no longer have to scour eBay ads looking for that elusive piece, or hit the SOTW For Sale ads to see if someone is selling their vintage cast-offs.
New, Rico Metalite alto saxophone mouthpieces are now available for sale through Rico directly for $24.00, or through a Rico dealer.
Again, just to restate what I’ve already said a number of times in the past:
Rico mouthpieces play like pieces that cost much, much more. Sure you could spend more on a mouthpiece, but you don’t necessarily need to. These Arnold Brilhart-designed mouthpieces are a great value for the money. Don’t be a price snob. Give one a try.
It looks to me like this Metalite design would take to being opened up just as well as the original design. At the price, I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of people roll their own M9s and M11s with some 400 grit sandpaper and a razor blade.
I’m surprised you haven’t tried it yet Mal. Whatcha’ waiting for?
I’m not partial to high-baffled alto mouthpieces, and I have found my high-baffled tenor piece (Saxscape Downtown Studio, which feels like it might be made of the same plastic as the Rico pieces). I might be inclined to try one on bari though.
Fortunately, I don’t need a high-baffled piece to assist with altissimo on alto. For some reason, I can get it to pop out relatively easily even when the mouthpiece is not assisting me. This is not the case on tenor, but I need the baffle for projection there anyhow. The end result is that my alto sound tends toward the tenor-ish end, and my tenor sound tends toward the brighter alto-ish end, and at times it can be difficult to tell which is which. (Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on the purpose, I suppose.)
I’m holding off on purchase until I see your review Helen. :devil1: