Tenor:

• This is my main axe. I play a 1965 Selmer MK VI (gold lacquer) with a Dukoff D7 or a Dave Guardala "King Curtis" mouthpiece. I always use Rico Plasticover reeds. Two reasons. As a doubler on keyboards / flute / double reeds / and other saxes, my horns sit on the stand for quite a while between songs that I usually play on saxophone. I actually prefer the sound of the Plasticovers and love the way they open up the high F# through altissimo A on my Selmer. I use a vintage Harrison ligature (gold).

• My alto is a 1953 Selmer Balanced Action with either a Dukoff D6 or a Selmer square chamber hard rubber mouthpiece. Sometimes my Strathern "adjustable chamber" mouthpiece. I use Rico Plasticover reeds and each mouthpiece's stock ligature. The horn is Sterling silver plated.

• My soprano is also a 1965 Selmer MK VI (gold lacquer) straight model. I use a Herb Couf hard rubber mouthpiece and Rico Plasticovers. The ligature is stock to the Couf.

• My bari is a 1968 Conn (gold lacquer) low Bb. The Bb is better in tune for me than the Yamaha Low A that I used to play. The mouthpiece is either a Dukoff D6 or a Berg Larsen 120/0/M. Harrison ligatures on both and Platicover reeds.

• I use two microphones live, a Shure Beta SM98 on my wireless and a Shure Beta SM58 on a stand. The SM98 is used on a Shure ULXP-4D wireless. I use 2 of these systems, one hard wired on my tenor and the other for my other horns. I use the Shure bell clamp / gooseneck. I have the stand microphone when I need to play more expressively than the clamp-on would allow. The 58 on the stand lets you "play" the mic, moving the bell in and out of the "sweet spot" of the microphone. On a sinilar note, a wireless in-ear monitor system is a dream come true for saxophone players. I use the Shure 500 series. The sound of the horn is right in the middle of your head, where it belongs.

• The singlemost important effect for a saxophone player is his delay. You should use delay rather than reverb. Reverb occurs very naturally in small rooms (typical of clubs), so it really isn't as necessary. Delay, on the other hand, changes the entire impression of the sound. I use a Line 6 D4 stompbox or a Line 6 Echo Pro. The stompbox has 3 presets. I set one for a slapback, the second one for a delay with a couple of dying returns (with filtering). I can use the "tap tempo" for each tune. The third is a special effect with 6 audible echos (dying with filtering). Tempo also with the tap. Good for the last note of a phrase that needs to "hang" in the open. The Echo pro stores more presets, but need to be changed by MIDI or tapped from some other source (like a Line 6 Floorboard).
  
  
• For special effects ONLY I have a Boss Digital Reverb pedal.
  
  
• Delays and reverbs should be last in the effects chain (reverb last).

• My second most important effect. I sometimes use one of two vintage octave dividers. One is a Maestro Sound System For Winds or a Hammond Condor Innovex octave divider. Each one has preset tabs for timbre and a shift down of one or two octaves. Eddie harris type sound. Both feature a tremolo effect. The Maestro has a foot pedal for easy switching, while the Condor is housed in a self contained case / stand.
  
  
• For serious "smart harmonizing" and intervals other than an octave, I either use a TC Helicon Voice Live or a Digitech IPS33B Smart Shifter. Both let you change the intervals per note based on scales and the key you are in. Both have a built in delay. The Digitech is a single space rack module. The Voice Live is a large stomp box. The TC Unit offers much more. It has microphone and line ins, balanced outs, instrument ins and MIDI in/out/thru. Special features on this fabulous unit allow you to hold a harmonized chord while you play a line over it. An optional footswitch can be programmed per patch to any parameter, most often to harmony volume. Song mode allows four presets per song, each with its own footswitch. Also has a direct (uneffected) output.

• I use a Boss EQ-20. It stores 8 EQ curves. I use the first for my primary sound. The others are for special effects. A telephone curve for those Chris Woods Trafic solos, a high end rolloff for a dark smoky sound, etc.

• I sometimes use a TC Electronic chorus (think: "Wild Nights" - Van Morrison soprano solo). This should be in the signal chain right after the harmonizer(s).
  
  
• A very special effect is a Wah Wah pedal. I prefer the Jim Dunlop 535Q "Multi Wah". The big problem with a wahwah is the feedback. The Dunlop pedal allows for an adjustment to the filter cutoff point - eliminating the feedback problem. Some players have even used a wah in an effects loop and blended only a certain amount of the effect in with the original sound. I place the wah directly after the EQ and harmonizer.
  
  
• Radial electronics makes a small box to switch between two XLR sources. I switch between my stand mic and my wireless. Radial also makes the direct boxes that I use.
  
  When all else fails I use a Boss GT5 multi-effect. It rolls most of these effects into one, but doesn't do the job as well as using individual effects, each designed for one specific purpose.

• For ballads I usually use a vintage RCA D77 ribbon microphone. Great smoky sound. For section use I usually use a Sennheiser MD-421.
  
  
• For everything else I use an Audio Technica AT-4047 emulation of a Neumann FET 47. I love this mic! Puts a great "point" on the sound.
  
  
• If you are looking for that 70's "Tom Scott sound" you should look into an AKG 414 ULBS.

• I use BAM cases for my local gigging and Janal custom cases for travel. Your horn is only as safe as your case.

• I use SaxRax tenor and alto stands with soprano, flute, piccolo and alto flute pegs. Greatest stand ever made.
  
  
• My baritone uses a Hamilton removable top stand on wheels. You can play it while it is on the stand.

• I am a great believer in the Jamey Aebersold playalong series. Over a hundred albums of piano, bass and drums playing chord changes and comping behind solos of some of the greatest tunes ever penned. A MUST for learning to improvise.
  
  
• Hal Leonard Music has a similar series, including many pop/rock tunes, a 60's and 70's soul series and many others.
  
  
• The Real Book series of jazz fakebooks from Sher Music are the standards for source material on the casual bandstand. Some 500 tunes per book of jazz standards makes the set list unending. Always updating and putting out new versions (Latin, Blues, etc.), these books are great for practicing your chord changes. Sher Music also has playalong CDs available for selections of songs from "The New Real Book".