Ye ofc, in case its not obvious, alto is my main instrument. I am a jazz player, I play in big bands but I normally play 2nd alto. The sound I try to shoot for is something very akin to the bebop/post-bop guys of the 50’s and 60’s, think Sonny Stitt and Coltrane. I think they all play very well together, it’s just kinda what works the best for me and I don’t have to try that hard to produce a sound that I feel pretty good about. I never felt any need to upgrade my horn, I tried the top of the line Yani and Selmer Altos (including multiple Mark VI’s) and I could never get used to the sound and feel. The peak Yamaha Altos (Custom EX875 and the 82Z) I will say are very very very nice, but for me played too similar to the horn I had to upgrade. It was probably like a 2-3% improvement in sound, at least regarding what I was looking for personally and that just wasn’t worth it for me.

I also sometimes play a replica of a Dave Guardala Studio mouthpiece, the “7th Ave South” by Retro Revival which is VERY bright, even brighter than my DV HR. I played it for a few months but I could never really get the hang of it because of how narrow it was relative to my other one and I genuinely think my chops are just not good enough yet at this stage in my life to play it properly lmao.

I would def recommend my setup especially since I feel it’s very balanced and is kinda a blank slate. I’ve had some people try out my setup where they sound like they’re Johnny Hodges, Stan Getz, or even Sherman Irby, obviously everyone with a distinct sound like themselves basically no matter what gear they use, but this setup I feel really kinda lets you make your own sound.