Eppelshiem & Reese C Soprano Sax Redux

Here’s a recent update from my Gandalfe buys an Eppelsheim & Reese C Soprano post of two years ago. This advice comes from a professional musician and I still need to get permission to attribute this to him. But I think the idea has a lot of merit and I want to share it with my friends who may be in the same place I am with this instrument. I hope to get some quality with our mouthpiece guru from Seattle, Bob Carpenter.

Update: International Woodwind, Inc.  is currently making a new and improved version of
 the C Soprano –  under the IW name. The International Woodwind company is still going strong. We are still making horns and selling them in U.S.A,  Australia and internationally. We are actually expanding at this time.“ ~ Laksar Reese

Those of us who purchased this instrument found that the extreme upper register was hard to play, and for good reason. This horn goes up to within 1/2 step of a Yanagisawa Eb sopranino sax, even though it uses a Bb soprano sax mouthpiece. Benedikt Eppelsheim tried a modified Eb sopranino mouthpiece on this instrument and found it improved the upper register more than redesigning the horn.

Here’s what I found. Selmer mouthpieces are supposed to have a medium length lay for facings B to E (18 mm long). For facings F and above, the lay was shorter (15 mm long). In years past this was true, but recently, the facing measurements have been all over the place. I tried a fairly new Super session F on the E&R C soprano, and with its smaller chamber, it worked fairly well.

However, when I measured the Super session the lay was 18 mm long – the same as the smaller facings, not shorter. I tried an older Selmer S-80 F facing, with a lay that was 15 mm long, and it worked even better than the Super session, despite the larger square chamber.

You might try sending your mouthpiece to a reputable refacer like Erik Greiffenhagen or the guy at Warburton mouthpieces, and ask to have the facing shortened. If everything turns out well, the highest notes will be easier, and you will own a horn that might become the next Conn-O-Sax.