I have played on and owned a variety of saxophones in my life. Throughout my musical career, I was constantly growing and seeking different sounds for different stages in my life. Below are the saxophones that I have been at the moment.
*Now Gemeinhardt*
This saxophone was gifted to me during the time saxophonist Richard Elliot was very popular in smooth jazz and he endorsed this brand by using the L.A. Sax Tenor Saxophone. The tenor is different than the soprano but they are both black! Colorful saxophones are pretty cool! For the Soprano Sax, I had find the right mouthpiece and reeds to make it blow for me like I wanted. After finding the right stuff, I'm happy with it! I use a Meyer Hard Rubber Size 6 mouthpiece and 3-3 1/2 sized reeds.
It's hard to find this saxophone now because Gemeinhardt bough L.A. Sax in 2015. There are some cool sopranos out there today though! I would love to try different soprano saxophones in the future someday.
Another discontinued saxophone but one of the best! I love the smoothness of this saxophone! Yamaha's have been, in my opinion, some of the most soothing sounding saxophones out there. It really can sing with the right mouthpieces. I used an old 1990's Phil Barone Mouthpiece with it during college and i hit altissimos that were hard for me to play on different mouthpieces. I wish I could've kept it but it was a loan from my Saxophone teacher. I now have a the newer version of that older Phil Barone mouthpiece model. It's not the same sound I had before. So I am looking for another mouthpiece that can give me the experience I had before.
I first heard the beauty of this saxophone from one of my friends Lebron. He was sponsored by them and he got my ear with these saxes! I was impressed with the sound he was getting out of this sax. He got deal with Cannonball and I got the (GA5-B) Gerald Albright Signature Alto Black-Nickel. Cannonball has certainly come a long way in providing versatile saxophones from levels student to professional. I have a Jody Jazz DV Alto metal mouthpiece Size 6 for it but I will most likely change the mouthpiece.
The Jody Jazz size 6 I have gives a warm, classical kind of sound. It is nice but I think I will need a size 5. Even though I've used a size 6 before with other brands, I didn't have the chance to try this before buying it. Therefore, I will need a different mouthpiece to play with ease and get the sound I'm looking for. I'm looking to purchase a TheoWanne Fire 2 mouthpiece in the future. These mouthpieces also have great sounds.
Reeds and Sizes:
I use softer reeds sometimes to give me longer endurance while performing.
(sizes 2.5 - 3.5)