tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post917575794786094250..comments2023-12-04T09:29:06.375-08:00Comments on Casa Valdez Studios: Jeff Holman- the quest for the Slant Link soundDavid Carlos Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-45609009981856435152007-10-15T15:12:00.000-07:002007-10-15T15:12:00.000-07:00I'm sorry but I don't buy that for a second. Why a...I'm sorry but I don't buy that for a second. Why are metal piece so much brighter than rubber, and what about wood or glass. Each material has it's distinctive tonal characteristics. Every mouthpiece professional I know would disagree with Fred Hemke on this issue. The old rubber has a much darker sound than the new rubber. Yes, you can make an old rubber piece brighter if you do things like thin the rails and the tip or make a bigger baffle. You can also make modern rubber or metal darker by doing the opposite, but take the exact same piece made with different materials and they will sound drastically different. It sounds to me like Mr.Hemke (who I the utmost respect for by the way) was doing a little boasting, which most of us are guilty of at some point.David Carlos Valdezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-86851493742883832452007-10-15T07:07:00.000-07:002007-10-15T07:07:00.000-07:00I used to take lessons from Fred Hemke. He told m...I used to take lessons from Fred Hemke. He told me it doesn't make any difference what the MPC is made out of. Hemke said it could be made out of concrete, and still sound the same.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-50533646497940069692007-05-20T16:09:00.000-07:002007-05-20T16:09:00.000-07:00That's great to hear.That's great to hear.David Carlos Valdezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-21623742673923530912007-05-20T12:21:00.000-07:002007-05-20T12:21:00.000-07:00On Dave's recommendation in this blog, I went to s...On Dave's recommendation in this blog, I went to see Jeff last week because of problems I was having with my modified Otto Link. I showed up and he did a couple of quick measurements, and told me that it made sense, from the transition from the tip to the lay, that I would be having problems with the lower register. <BR/><BR/>I was essentially having trouble with the notes below G and after about 2 5-minute sessions with a flat piece of glass and some sandpaper, Jeff fixed the problem. <BR/><BR/>I wanted to try one of his mouthpieces, but he said that he wanted to wait a while longer until he had a nicer finished product. He just wants to figure out a good way to make an engraving. He was playing a killer sounding original Florida Link 8* that I suspect will inform his creation of excellent saxophone mouthpieces. <BR/><BR/>Jeff Homan: ripping sax player, efficient effective mouthpiece customizer, and overall mensch.MonksDreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01925609181536862036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-54106792301901969312007-05-02T12:31:00.000-07:002007-05-02T12:31:00.000-07:00more from SOTW:Originally Posted by saxophobiaQ:"w...more from SOTW:<BR/><BR/>Originally Posted by saxophobia<BR/><BR/>Q:"why don't his "slant" (Doc Tenney) pieces look anything like a real slant on the outside? they just look like new links.<BR/><BR/>A: I don't think I'm divulging any trade secret here in telling you that the molds are cavity molds, not exterior molds, and so impact the interior only. If you look inside the chamber, on the side facing the table, you'll see a tiny raised number. I have an early-ish Babbitt mpc stamped '2', a modern Babbitt stamped '2', and 2 modern Babbitts stamped '1'. My Tenney Slant is stamped '2', but I am assuming that this identifies it among the Florida-era cavity molds that they "blew the dust off of" at Doc's urging. They are then sent to Doc for hand-finishing and, I believe, additional chamber and baffle work. I'm pretty certain that I've also seen current-production Babbitt Tone Edge mouthpieces with a '3' stamped inside. As to the significance of the differently numbered molds among any given era of chamber molds, I have no idea, but they did distinguish between them.David Carlos Valdezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-54840058697292179352007-05-02T09:49:00.000-07:002007-05-02T09:49:00.000-07:00oh, and yes the rubber is EVERYTHING!oh, and yes the rubber is EVERYTHING!David Carlos Valdezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-77068450632260901982007-05-02T09:48:00.000-07:002007-05-02T09:48:00.000-07:00Maybe I should call this blog 'the Politically Inc...Maybe I should call this blog 'the Politically Incorrect Saxophonist'.<BR/><BR/> Seriously though, China and India have both taken courses for financial gain that destroy the environment and poison their own people. India dismantles toxic old ships and China's new factories spew copious amounts of filth into the atmosphere. A few Otto Links manufactured in either of these places won't add any significant amount of toxic materials to what is already happening.<BR/><BR/> Hell, I'm only saying to do it in the third world because it's illegal here. I'm sure the law against that particular rubber manufacturing process wasn't passed because of mouthpiece makers anyways. Babbit is really small time compared to car manufacturers.<BR/><BR/>So change the law for small manufacturers and move the Babbit factory to Texas, where the DNA damage has already been done! :-)David Carlos Valdezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-74150836521492118882007-05-02T08:16:00.000-07:002007-05-02T08:16:00.000-07:00With all the talk about "greeness" and the envirom...With all the talk about "greeness" and the enviroment that is in vogue these days, is it PC for one to say its OK to make that kind of rubber in India or China, but not in the "1st world"??<BR/><BR/>Like, hey, I need my 'vintage' sax sound, so I can play a $20 jazz gig & pretend that there is a future for me & jazz, so you little brown & yellow guys have to live in a polluted place over there, cuz of a bunch of obsessed woodwind players.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I'm being a little harsh for effect.<BR/><BR/>I think that, possibly, it can all be the rubber--or maybe so....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-24817605874837085432007-05-01T19:38:00.000-07:002007-05-01T19:38:00.000-07:00Most of the problem is the old rubber. It has a co...Most of the problem is the old rubber. It has a completely different makeup than the new hard rubber. It's actually illegal to make rubber the way it used to be made. They can use the old molds, but if the rubber isn't the old stuff it won't sound like a vintage piece. <BR/><BR/>As I have said before, just move the Babbit factory to China or India and use the old rubber formula. <BR/><BR/>Better to find an old piece with good rubber and have it refaced the way you like.David Carlos Valdezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02338319345488366328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13630144.post-17681532657121318692007-05-01T19:14:00.000-07:002007-05-01T19:14:00.000-07:00Wow, interesting...it seems like there are 100s of...Wow, interesting...it seems like there are 100s of new refacers popping up these days...zentara, powell, mojo, saxscape...there all trying to accomplish the same thing--making a new version of a great meyer alto, or tenor slant.<BR/><BR/>Can it really be that hard? I guess it is, I wonder why? <BR/><BR/>All these guys chasing the same thing, locked-up in their basements, trying to split the atom or come up w/the holy grail.<BR/><BR/>interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com