This blog post is about the age old question “Does the material a saxophone mouthpiece is made of make a difference?” I have read hundreds, if not thousands of discussions on this subject since my earliest days on the internet in the 90’s. Many of these online discussions would get quite heated with one side insisting that the material a saxophone mouthpiece is made of makes a huge difference and the other side saying it makes no difference whatsoever. It is not uncommon to see these discussion go up in flames with both parties insisting they are right as they start calling each other names……..
I have been wanting to focus on this subject on my blog for many years but it has been hard to get my hands on two mouthpieces of different materials that are the exact same in design. My idea was to get two mouthpieces that are identical except for the material they are made of and to play them side by side with the same reed to see if they sound any different.
Today, I have probably the closest examples of two sax mouthpieces of different material that are reported to be exactly the same. They are two Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* tenor saxophone mouthpieces. One is made of brass that is gold plated and one is made of hard rubber.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
I just completed separate reviews with sound clips of each of these great saxophone mouthpieces. Theo Wanne Metal Gaia 3 Mouthpiece Review. Theo Wanne Hard Rubber Gaia 3 Mouthpiece Review. Theo Wanne is one of the most detailed and exact mouthpiece makers on the planet. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say anything bad about the quality of his mouthpiece work over all these years that I have been reviewing mouthpieces. All you need to do is look at the pictures to see how exact and detailed his work is.
For the sake of this discussion and comparison, my idea is to use the same exact reed and ligature on both mouthpieces and to try to play the exact same musical example on each sound clip to compare.
This is in no way a scientific comparison but will be a subjective comparison based on my experiences as I play the two mouthpieces side by side. It will also be a subjective comparison to you the reader as you listen to each of the clips below and decided what differences if any you can hear between the two mouthpiece. I would suggest listening to the sound clips on good speakers rather than on your iPhone or iPad speakers.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I will be using the same Rigotti Gold 3 medium tenor saxophone reed on both Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpieces with the same Selmer 404 silver metal ligature. I wanted to use the same ligature for this comparison and since the hard rubber Gaia 3 mouthpiece and the metal Gaia 3 mouthpiece come with different ligatures, I thought it would be best if I used the same Selmer 404 silver ligature for both mouthpieces.
I will play one sound clip and then without moving my feet or body position at all in relation to the microphone, I will take the mouthpiece off, change the reed and ligature to the new mouthpiece and attempt to record the same clip again with the next mouthpiece. I will do my best to position the reed and ligature in the same position each time.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
Before I tell you what I think, I would ask that you listen to some of the comparison clips below and please share what you think in the comment section at the bottom of this article before you read my thoughts. To get the most out of this experiment, it will be helpful to get your unbiased feedback and impressions from the clips.
Can you hear a difference?
Do they sound exactly the same?
If you can hear a difference, how would you describe the differences?
Which do you like more? Why?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
My opinion: I noticed a big difference between these two sax mouthpieces while playing them. The hard rubber Gaia 3 tenor sax mouthpiece had a darker more midrange tone while the metal Gaia 3 sax mouthpiece seemed to have more highs and sparkle in the tone as well as a bit more edge at times.
It seemed to me like the highs in the tone of the metal Gaia 3 made it seem louder and more projecting when played at full volume. That being said, the hard rubber Gaia 3 is plenty loud when pushed but it just seems to have less of the highs in the tone which made it seemed warmer sounding to my ears.
I actually liked the altissimo tone more on the hard rubber Gaia 3 as it sounded more full, round and fat to me. The metal Gaia 3 had a bit more edge and brightness to it which is probably better for soloing in a loud band but the hard rubber Gaia 3 gets my vote for the prettiest altissimo tone.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
I think I like the hard rubber Gaia 3 mouthpiece more for jazz playing in that the warmer tone just seemed more smooth and lush for those kind of fast lines. For R&B or funk playing I think I like the extra brightness and edge of the metal Gaia 3 though.
I thought the articulation on the metal Gaia 3 tenor mouthpiece was a little cleaner and more focused than the hard rubber Gaia 3. The hard rubber Gaia 3 seemed a little spread with the staccato notes but I also think the hard rubber Gaia 3 had a smoother articulated jazz line when playing bebop and faster jazz lines. (Listen to the articulation and bebop line clips……)
So I guess the question we have to ask ourselves is: if these two mouthpieces are exactly the same, are the differences I hear and perceive while playing them due to the material which the mouthpieces are made of. I’ve always had the impression that metal mouthpieces are brighter and that hard rubber mouthpieces are darker and warmer and in this instance it seems like these two mouthpieces follow that stereotype. Do you agree?
If you hear no difference in each of the clips of these mouthpieces below, please let me know that in the comments below also. I might very well be hearing what I think I hear because I know which mouthpiece is which and have preconceived ideas of what they sound like which is shading and affecting what my brain hears. I hate to admit that but it is a possibility………
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
If you like the sound and look of the new Gaia 3 tenor sax mouthpiece by Theo Wanne, you can find them at Theowanne.com. I have agreed to be an affiliate for Theo Wanne as of this review so if you purchase a Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece from this link, neffmusic.com will receive a small commission on the sale. (This helps to support my site and keep the saxophone related reviews and articles coming to you…..). As an added bonus, if you use the coupon code NEFF10 when you checkout at Theowanne.com you can save 10% on the Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece at checkout!
If you are lucky enough to play a Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments on these comparison sound clips below, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Moose the Mooche
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Moose the Mooche
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Altissimo Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Altissimo Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Brecker Lick
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Brecker Lick
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Articulation
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Articulation
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Bebop Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Bebop Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Chromatic Scale to Low Bb
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Chromatic Scale to Low Bb
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Donna Lee
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Donna Lee
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Body and Soul
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Body and Soul
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Tenor Madness
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Tenor Madness
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Loud Green Dolphin Street
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Loud Green Dolphin Street
TEST TO SEE IF LOSSLESS WAVE FILES GIVE ANY MORE DETAIL TO THE SOUND CLIPS-THESE ARE MUCH BIGGER FILES AND MIGHT BE SLOW TO LOAD (Listen below and please let me know if you hear any difference between them and the lossy mp3 files above in the comments below……)
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Moose the Mooche
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Moose the Mooche
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Altissimo Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Altissimo Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Brecker Lick
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Brecker Lick
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Articulation
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Articulation
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Bebop Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Bebop Line
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Chromatic Scale to Low Bb
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Chromatic Scale to Low Bb
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Donna Lee
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Donna Lee
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Body and Soul
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Body and Soul
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Tenor Madness
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Tenor Madness
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Loud Green Dolphin Street
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Loud Green Dolphin Street
Disclosure: I received the two mouthpieces reviewed above in the hope that I would try them and perhaps review them on my blog. I was allowed to keep one mouthpiece and pay the dealer cost for the second mouthpiece. If you purchase a mouthpiece through the link I provided in the review, I will also receive a small commission on any Theo Wanne mouthpieces sold through the link provided. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
This blog post is a follow up to my “Does the mouthpiece material make a difference? Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison” post. I am purposefully not putting a link to that article because I don’t want anyone to cheat.
In this poll, I am going to post the same 20 sound clips as lossless wave files (better quality than mp3 files) with a poll question next to each set of sound clips. The sound clips are mixed up and in a random order. Please answer each poll question honestly and do not take the poll more than once. You can see the results of the poll after you are done taking it.
I will write it again, please do not cheat! The purpose of this blind poll is to see if we can actually tell the difference between the metal and hard rubber mouthpieces. When we are told which mouthpiece is metal and which mouthpiece is hard rubber, many of us feel like we can hear a difference but can we hear this difference when it is a blind poll?? Good Luck, Steve
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
This is in no way a scientific comparison but will be a subjective comparison to you the reader as you listen to each of the clips below and decided what differences if any you can hear between the two mouthpiece. I would suggest listening to the sound clips on good speakers rather than on your iPhone or iPad speakers.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I will be using the same Rigotti Gold 3 medium tenor saxophone reed on both Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpieces with the same Selmer 404 silver metal ligature. I wanted to use the same ligature for this comparison and since the hard rubber Gaia 3 mouthpiece and the metal Gaia 3 mouthpiece come with different ligatures, I thought it would be best if I used the same Selmer 404 silver ligature for both mouthpieces.
I will play one sound clip and then without moving my feet or body position at all in relation to the microphone, I will take the mouthpiece off, change the reed and ligature to the new mouthpiece and attempt to record the same clip again with the next mouthpiece. I will do my best to position the reed and ligature in the same position each time.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
If you like the sound and look of the new Gaia 3 tenor sax mouthpiece by Theo Wanne, you can find them at Theowanne.com. I have agreed to be an affiliate for Theo Wanne as of this review so if you purchase a Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece from this link, neffmusic.com will receive a small commission on the sale. (This helps to support my site and keep the saxophone related reviews and articles coming to you…..)
If you are lucky enough to play a Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments on these comparison sound clips below, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
I will post the results of the poll and the correct answer after a number of people have taken the poll.
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 1A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 1B
Clip 1-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 2A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 2B
Clip 2-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 3A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 3B
Clip 3-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 4A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 4B
Clip 4-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 5A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 5B
Clip 5-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 6A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 6B
Clip 6-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 7A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 7B
Clip 7-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 8A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 8B
Clip 8-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 9A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 9B
Clip 9-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 10A
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Clip 10B
Clip 10-Which is the metal mouthpiece?
Disclosure: I received the two mouthpieces reviewed above in the hope that I would try them and perhaps review them on my blog. I was allowed to keep one mouthpiece and pay the dealer cost for the second mouthpiece. If you purchase a mouthpiece through the link I provided in the review, I will also receive a small commission on any Theo Wanne mouthpieces sold through the link provided. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing an RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Ron Coelho, at RPC mouthpieces. I reviewed an older red letter RPC 110B tenor sax mouthpiece about a year ago and after the review Ron Coelho contacted me through email and asked if we could talk on the phone. (Ron’s an old school guy that still likes to talk to people on the phone. Can you believe it?) We talked for a little over an hour about all sorts of subjects related to the saxophone and life that I won’t go into but at one point in the conversation Ron told me that I had to try one of his mouthpieces made out of Ultem. Ron said he had been using this material for about 5 years (I believe he was the first to use this material for a sax mouthpiece) and that he was very impressed with it as were his customers who were ordering Ultem mouthpieces.
According to Ron, Ultem is incredibly hard and durable (I believe his exact words were that you could drop it on the floor and it wouldn’t break although I’m not going to test that out……) Ron believes the Ultem material has a warmer sound than hard rubber does while still being incredibly resonant. I was very curious about this Ultem material and Ron was nice enough to volunteer to make me an RPC 110B Ultem tenor saxophone mouthpiece to try and perhaps review here on the site.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here are some words from the RPC website on Ron’s process of making these RPC Ultem saxophone mouthpieces:
Each sax mouthpiece is machined from round stock , Ultem , and Hard rubber also from hard rubber raw castings, it is then left on a rack to season or equalize, for at least a week so the material will relax and come to equilibrium after being machined. Then it is sculpted with hand tools to the correct shape inside and out. Now the real work of turning it into something truly musical begins.
Reeds are carefully chosen to begin the playing and fine tuning.
Rico Jazz Select, 2 medium, 2 hard, or 3 soft, filed.
Each saxophone mouthpiece is played and fine tuned for the following characteristics.
RESISTANCE POINT: Hugely important, there is good resistance and bad resistance. Good resistance gives something to push against and becomes familiar to the embouchure, this leads to good intonation and evenness of scale, without struggling to adjust different ranges of the horn. Bad resistance makes the horn stuffy and tires the embouchure….Not good.
Also essential to a great mouthpiece, the ratio of overtones to fundamental is blended, by making very subtle adjustments to the facing curve.
Together with an easy flowing resistance the mouthpiece now has a rich palette of tone colors.
These designs have been fine tuned with feedback from professional saxophone players all over the world and have evolved over 10 years of mouthpiece making.
Each sax mouthpiece is played and fine tuned evaluating the musicality of the mouthpiece.
FINALLY when the sax mouthpiece becomes just pure fun to play it is ready.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Ultem RPC 110B tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great! As you can see in the photos, it is a clear orange color that looks amazing. In these photos, the sunlight makes the RPC Ultem mouthpiece seem like it is glowing as the sunlight streams through it. (I also love the affect of having the orange fall leaves in the background behind the mouthpiece in these photos……) The color of the mouthpieces also looks great along side the dark honey gold lacquer of a saxophone.
The table looks flat and feels smooth to the touch. The rails look well crafted and even. The tip rail looks well proportioned and even also. The RPC Ultem 110B mouthpiece has what I would consider a high baffle with a “Berg” like bullet chamber. It is called a bullet chamber when there is a carved out shape to the baffle where it meets the chamber that looks like a bullet. In general, a bullet chamber baffle is not as bright and edgy as a high baffle with a straight edge in my experience. I would say the RPC 110B mouthpiece has a medium small sized chamber when I compare how the chamber looks to the size of some of my Otto Links that have large chambers. The side rails are flat until they come in contact with the the scooped out chamber at which point the side rails scoop out into the chamber as well.
The outside body of the mouthpiece is thinner than a typical hard rubber tenor sax mouthpiece but a little bit fatter than an alto sax mouthpiece. A typical alto saxophone ligature for a hard rubber alto sax mouthpiece fits perfectly on the RPC Ultem 110B tenor saxophone mouthpiece. The beak profile is very comfortable for me and is thinner in thickness than a typical hard rubber Otto Link tenor mouthpiece beak would be. The thickness of the beak feels closer in thickness to a typical metal tenor mouthpiece beak thickness in my opinion.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Medium Baffle Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Gold Series RPC Ultem 110B tenor mouthpiece came with a generic silver metal alto ligature that fits the mouthpiece nicely. It also came with a black mouthpiece cap that fits perfectly over the ligature when it is on the mouthpiece and holding a reed. I’m not really picky when it comes to ligatures but since the RPC 110B is slimmer than a typical hard rubber tenor sax mouthpiece it is nice that it comes with a ligature that fits well.
The RPC 110B mouthpiece played great with the Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 light, medium and strong reeds that I tried on it. All three sizes worked so well that I had trouble deciding which reed to use on the clips below. I ended up going with the 2 1/2 light for the first clip but I will say that the RPC Ultem 110B mouthpiece is very reed friendly. I think I tried maybe 10 different reeds on this mouthpiece over the course of a couple weeks and every reed played great on this mouthpiece.
After I had recorded the first clip with the Rigotti 2 1/2 Light reed, I was curious what a darker reed would sound like on this mouthpiece and I decided to try a BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 reed also. These are new reeds that I have been playing over the last few months and I really like the warmer darker tone these reeds give me on many mouthpieces. The BSS reeds worked well on the RPC 110B tenor sax mouthpiece also and I decided to record a clip using one of them also.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I have to admit that this RPC Ultem 110B tenor sax mouthpiece really surprised me. I thought it would be a lot brighter when looking at the baffle and chamber before I played it. The baffle gives it some nice power when pushed but the tone isn’t overly bright and edgy like I thought it would be. I found the tone to have a great balance and EQ. I know that in my review of the hard rubber RPC 110B, I felt that that mouthpiece gave more of a boost to the mids in the EQ of the tone but with this Ultem 110B I didn’t get that same impression. The highs, lows and mids seemed more equally balanced to my ear.
The RPC Ultem 110B tenor sax mouthpiece had a perfect resistance to blow against. After I received it, Ron asked me if it was too resistant but I honestly think it is perfect as far as resistance goes. In my mind, the resistance helps you to play a softer reed and have more to push against while playing which helps a player to shape and mold the tone in my opinion.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tone was nice and even throughout the range of the sax but that high baffle really gives this mouthpiece some overdrive power when you really push it to the max. The intonation was excellent which actually surprised me as high baffle tenor mouthpieces usually make the middle E and surrounding notes on my Selmer SBA much sharper but all those notes were right in tune when checking them with the tuner.
The altissimo and overtones were extremely easy on the RPC Ultem 110B mouthpiece and for whatever reason this mouthpiece had probably the easiest high G I have ever played. I usually have to work pretty hard for that note but on this mouthpiece the G just popped out easily. I honestly hate to describe a mouthpiece with words such as “the altissimo was easy” but in this case it just seemed much easier to get around up there. I found myself playing and experimenting with a lot of lines and ideas that I usually don’t “go for” in the altissimo range because the RPC Ultem 110B played and responded so well that it made me more confident in that range of the horn.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
On the two clips below, I tried to show a variety of different styles that this mouthpiece can achieve. As is my habit lately, I have added an additional clip with reverb as well. I feel this is important because sometimes listeners get fooled by a “dry” recording of a sax mouthpiece. They think it is too bright, or thin but that is only because it is recorded in a “dry” recording environment which is what you are supposed to do for the best recording. Trust me, a mouthpiece that is a little bright in a dry setting can be unbelievable in a big room with a natural reverb or through a mic with a little bit of added reverb. Honestly, as a gigging musician my choice of mouthpieces have always been the ones which have that brightness and punch that comes alive when played through a sound system on a gig. That’s my preference anyways….
I will say that this RPC Ultem 110B is in the lineup for being one of my favorite “garage” mouthpieces. What I mean by that is that certain sax mouthpieces just sound “killer” in my garage while practicing. The RPC Ultem 110B has enough brightness and focus to the tone so that the tone doesn’t get too vague and opaque as it bounced around the garage. The nice core to the sound helps the tone to bounce back to my ears in one solid tone even though the natural reverb is bouncing the sound all over the garage. I think this mouthpiece would sound great in a big hall or auditorium as well.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Like I wrote in my review of the hard rubber RPC 110B tenor mouthpiece, I feel like Ron Coelho is the master magician of baffled mouthpieces. I don’t know how he takes a tenor sax mouthpiece with such a high baffle and smaller chamber and gets it to play with a darker warmer sound. Even now, as I am typing this, I’m looking down at this mouthpiece on my desk and everything in me is saying that this mouthpiece should be a super bright, obnoxious, “paint peeler” of a tenor sax mouthpiece. Of course with Ron’s magic craftsmanship, it is not that at all. I don’t know how he does it!
I found the RPC Ultem 110B tenor sax mouthpiece to be very versatile. I could lay back on the air and get a pretty convincing fat, round jazz tone out of it or if I pushed the air harder I could get a tone and volume that would crank for rock & roll, funk or other modern music. The brightness or darkness of the tone could also be adjusted by air speed and embouchure changes quite easily.
The other tonal aspect of this mouthpiece that I loved is that it seems to be a combination of focus with fatness. I have always loved the mix of those two qualities. If a mouthpiece is too spread sounding, I feel like I can’t hear the core and center of the sound. If it is too focused, I feel like the sound isn’t big and fat enough. This mouthpiece had a nice balance between those two aspects of saxophone tone.
I did notice a big difference between the Rigotti reeds and the BSS reeds on the RPC Ultem 110B tenor mouthpiece. The Rigotti reeds were brighter, buzzier and at times edgier in tone especially up high. I also felt like the high notes had a bit more sizzle and spread to them in comparison to the high notes with the BSS reeds which seemed thicker, rounder, more compact and less edgy to me. The BSS reeds seemed to play the high notes with a more round and full beauty I think. The Rigotti reeds were a bit more edgy and in your face bright in my opinion. In general, the tone of the BSS reed was darker, warmer and seemed more compact and focused to me.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
My final thoughts on this Gold Series RPC Ultem 110B tenor saxophone mouthpiece is that it would make a terrific gigging mouthpiece for sax players that have to cover a lot of styles, sounds and volumes during a four hour gig. This sax mouthpiece has the power and brightness to cut through on a loud dance set but it also has a warmer fatter tone that can be used on standards during a dinner set or cocktail hour. If you are a gigging sax payer and looking for a new mouthpiece, this would be a great mouthpiece to consider.
If you are curious about the Gold Series RPC Ultem tenor saxophone mouthpiece, check out the RPC website for more information on them. Ron is running a 10% sale right now on all his already reasonably priced saxophone mouthpieces so if you order soon you can save even more on one of these great mouthpieces.
Ron is a great guy to talk to if you have any questions and his phone number and email are on the site. I suggest calling him and talking to him about what you are looking for in a mouthpiece so he can fine tune a great sax mouthpiece just for your playing needs. I know in this day and age everyone is used to emailing, texting and tweeting but do yourself a favor and give Ron a call. He would love to talk to you!
If you try an RPC Ultem 110B tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other saxophone related thoughts or comments, be sure to tell us what you think in the comments below. Steve
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Morgan Excalibur Indiana model tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Erik Greiffenhagen, at Morgan mouthpieces. Morgan mouthpieces used to be owned by Ralph Morgan who sadly passed away in 2007. Ralph worked designing instruments and mouthpieces for Selmer for many decades and in the early 80’s started his own mouthpiece company after retiring from Selmer.
After Ralph passed away, the company continued on under the ownership of David and Teresa Hoskins as well as the mouthpieces craftsmanship of Erik Greiffenhagen, John MacQueen and Brian Powell who worked side by side with Ralph Morgan for many years.
I have reviewed a number of Morgan mouthpieces in the past that you can find here on this page. This Morgan Excalibur Indiana tenor sax mouthpiece that I am reviewing today is a newer model that I am excited about trying out!
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I was lucky enough to speak with Ralph Morgan shortly before he passed away in 2007. I had just started my website at neffmusic.com and Ralph saw that I was reviewing and writing articles about saxophone mouthpieces and he reached out to me. I called him back and I remember talking to him for a couple of hours.
It is an understatement to say how interesting and knowledgable Ralph Morgan was about the subject of saxophones. He seemed to have an endless amount of stories about so many famous saxophone players and knew so many details about the history of the saxophone and sax mouthpieces that it was like talking to a walking encyclopedia of saxophone knowledge. The hour or two we talked flew by and I remember hanging up the phone so grateful that Ralph Morgan had shared his valuable time with me.
Although Ralph is no longer with us, I am glad his legacy lives on through the people at Morgan mouthpieces. Here is a page on Ralph Morgan and the history of Morgan mouthpieces if you want to know more about him.
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here are a few words describing the Morgan Excalibur Indiana model tenor mouthpiece from the Morgan mouthpieces website:
Morgan Excalibur Tenor Indiana Model Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a newer model introduced during the Summer of 2017 and was designed master crafter Erik Greiffenhagen. This saxophone mouthpiece model was inspired by the early Babbitt Otto Links made in Indiana shortly after the Babbitt purchase of Otto Link.
Mouthpiece Features
Slender, streamline body size (similar to metal)
Dark and rich centered tones with more edge
Powerful response in upper and lower registers
Large round chamber
Flat, clam shell style baffle (like early Babbitt link)
Thin interior walls (more edge and brilliance)
Quick Response
Includes Rovner Legacy ligature and cap
The Morgan Jazz Mouthpieces are handcrafted the “Vintage” way. Ralph Morgan started the company with the purpose of bringing back the lost art and science of truly handcrafted mouthpieces. Our materials, tools, and process of making mouthpieces are identical to the manufacturers of the 1940s and 1950s. We start with our 100% pure rubber formula, we mold and cure our mouthpieces to our exact specifications. No machines are used in the cutting and shaping of our mouthpieces. We cut our facings and shape the chambers and baffles all by hand. Our craftsmen are among the most experienced in the world with 80+ years experience among the three of them. This is a true handcrafted pure hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
CL (Classical), L (Large), FL (Florida), IN (Indiana), NY (New York), M (Medium)
Tip Openings: 7 (.095), 8 (.100), 8* (.105) 9(.110) & 9*(.115) (subject to change based on demand).
Handmade in the USA since 1984.
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Morgan Excalibur Indiana tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye as I took it out the packaging. As with all Morgan mouthpieces, it is hand engraved with the Morgan logo and details about the mouthpiece. This is certainly not fancy and perfect machine engraving but I like the personal touch and thought of someone engraving these details into the mouthpiece by hand just like Ralph used to do.
This mouthpiece is an 8* tip opening which measures out to a .105 tip opening. For most of the other tenor mouthpieces out there this would be considered a 7* but for some reason Morgan mouthpieces has numbered their tip opening differently.
The mouthpiece has a smaller diameter than many hard rubber tenor sax mouthpieces. It is closer to the diameter of an alto sax mouthpiece than a hard rubber tenor sax mouthpiece. I ended up using a Vandoren Optimum alto sax ligature on it that fit well. The beak also looks and feels slimmer than a typical hard rubber tenor mouthpiece beak height.
The table, side rails, tip rail, baffle and chamber all look well crafted. The side rails look even as they narrow heading towards the tip rail. The tip rail looks thin and fairly even although the left side of the rail looks a tiny bit wider than the right side. This is no big deal for me as what I care about most is how a mouthpiece plays and the Morgan Excalibur Indiana played well and was very reed friendly.
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The baffle is a rollover clam shaped baffle that reminds me of the baffle shape and size in a vintage Otto Link Early Babbitt tenor sax mouthpiece. Since the Morgan Excalibur Indiana is described as “inspired” by the Early Babbitt hard rubber Otto Link I can see why the baffles would be similar. The baffle starts out pretty high and rolls over after about 3/8ths of an inch. The side rails are scooped out and the baffle looks to have a scoop shape to it as it travels down into the large chamber.
The Morgan Excalibur Indiana tenor sax mouthpiece played well with Rigotti Gold reeds but I noticed a bit of brightness and edge on those reeds so I also performed a sound clip with some BSS (Boston Sax Shop) reeds that are a bit darker than the Rigotti reeds. I recorded a clip on each reed so that you could compare the differences in sound between the two reeds.
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Morgan Excalibur Indiana had a focused tone that leaned to what I would consider the bright side of a tenor tone in my opinion. It had a blend of focus with a spread to it that seemed like a nice balance between those two descriptions of tone. I would say that the softer I played the more spread the tone was and the more air I put through the horn and the louder I played the more focused it could become. It had a good amount of volume when pushed which is an important consideration when you are choosing a mouthpiece to gig with.
The Rigotti Gold reeds seemed brighter to me than the BSS 2 1/2 reed I also tried on it. The BSS reeds seemed to have less of a buzz to them and a darker tone to me. Maybe a bit richer and more complex in sound but as I listened back to the clips I thought the Rigotti reed had more higher partials in the tone which you could consider as “richer” also. I guess it depends on what your definition of these terms are and whether you prefer a brighter tone or darker and warmer tone.
The altissimo was excellent with both reeds and the intonation was very good as well. The articulation was clean and precise.
The Morgan Excalibur Indiana mouthpiece is advertised as having thinner interior walls which is part of what makes it a smaller diameter mouthpiece. I’m not sure if I heard this from Ralph years ago or just someone on the internet but I have heard that these thinner walls increase the resonance, brightness and response of the mouthpiece. I did feel like I could feel more of a connection between this mouthpiece as far as vibration and sound in my head than I do with many other hard rubber mouthpieces. Maybe that is due to the thinner beak and walls and the type of hard rubber used? Not sure of the cause but that is how I felt playing it.
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
On the clip below, I tried to show a variety of different sounds that the mouthpiece could get when I was playing it. As is my habit lately, I have added an additional clip with reverb as well. I feel this is important because sometimes listener’s get fooled by a “dry” recording of a sax mouthpiece. They think it is too bright, or thin or maybe even dead sounding but that is only because it is recorded in a “dry” recording environment which is what you are supposed to do for the best recording. Trust me, a mouthpiece that is a little bright in a dry setting can be unbelievable in a big room with a natural reverb or through a mic with a little bit of added reverb. Honestly, as a gigging musician my choice of mouthpieces have always been the ones who have that brightness and punch that comes alive when on a gig. That’s my preference anyways………
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I want to thank David and Teresa Hoskins at Morgan mouthpiece for sending me this Morgan Excalibur Indiana tenor saxophone mouthpiece to try out and review. Thank you for continuing Ralph Morgan’s business and continuing his legacy so that the next generation of sax players will know his name and something about his passion and artistry that he passed on to Erik, John and Brian as they continue to do work that Ralph would be proud of.
If you are curious about Morgan mouthpieces, check out the Morgan mouthpiece website for more information on them. If you try one, be sure to come back here and tell us what you think in the comments below. Steve
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed
Same Clip with Added Reverb-Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 Reed
Same Clip with Added Reverb-Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 Reed
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Fat Cat Classic 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Saxscape Live model tenor sax mouthpiece that I thought was superb and when Ken asked if I would like to review some of his other tenor sax mouthpiece models I immediately jumped at the chance.
The Saxscape Fat Cat Classic mouthpiece model is on the Saxscape website but all the mouthpiece description says is “Well balanced, compact, fat sound!” That’s it! Five words! With that brief description, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from this mouthpiece but was looking forward to trying it out nonetheless.
The Saxscape Fat Cat Classic tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of Delrin which is a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic. Yes, I know I lost most of you already with the scientific wording, sorry! From what I can gather from google, Delrin is a plastic that has been cleared as food safe by the FDA. I have also read that it is a very tough and stable material.
The Saxscape Fat Cat Classic tenor mouthpiece is a .105 tip opening which is a 7* tip opening. It has a traditional hard rubber tenor sax mouthpiece diameter and shape to it. Ken produces some tenor sax mouthpieces that have what is called a “slim profile” and other mouthpiece models with a more “traditional profile”. The diameter of the the Fat Cat mouthpiece is very close to the diameter of an average hard rubber Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece and I used a generic metal ligature on it that is made for hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces.
The Saxscape Fat Cat Classic tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye. Much of the mouthpiece seems to have some kind of machined pattern in the Delrin which gives it a modern look. The tip, rails and table look relatively even and well crafted. The shape of the tip matches the shape of the saxophone reeds perfectly.
The baffle of the Saxscape Fat Cat looks to be a rollover baffle that rolls over gradually for about a quarter of an inch and then declines to the chamber opening in almost a straight line descent.
The baffle ends at the chamber where it has a short drop off to the bottom of the chamber. The opening to the chamber looks to be a medium-small size opening to me. (I would consider a Selmer Soloist to have a small size chamber opening) The raised baffle floor at the entrance to the chamber and the straight sidewalls make it much smaller than a typical Otto Link chamber entrance.
The Delrin has a smooth feel to the touch. I didn’t want to take the chance that my teeth might mark up the beak so I put a Forestone mouthpiece patch on it and it has been on the mouthpiece ever since without moving. The beak profile is also similar to a typical hard rubber Otto Link mouthpiece and feels comfortable to me even with the patch on it. The beak does feel higher to me than the slim profile Saxscape mouthpieces.
I know that some people have contacted me worrying that the machine marks would stop the mouthpiece from getting a good seal with reeds but this is not the case with any of the four Saxscape Delrin saxophone mouthpieces I have played. Each mouthpiece has been very reed friendly and all the reeds have sealed well when performing the suction test.
The part I dread about trying saxophone mouthpieces and reviewing them is always finding the best reeds for each mouthpiece. For this mouthpiece, I ended up recording sound clips with a Boston Sax Shop 2 1/2 reed and a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong reed. I also tried a BSS 3 reed and a Rigotti 3 Light and 3 Medium reeds which worked great also but just felt a little too hard for me. In the end, I preferred the less hard 2 1/2 reeds on the Saxscape Fat Cat mouthpiece.
The Saxscape Fat Cat Classic tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a focused tenor sax tone that leaned to the darker and warmer sound of a tenor sax tone in my opinion. The Boston Sax Shop reed seemed to strengthen that core and focus in my opinion and I thought it was a bit darker than the Rigotti Gold reed. The Rigotti Gold reed seemed to give the tone a bit more buzz and brightness compared to the BSS reeds I think.
The intonation was really great! My Selmer SBA tenor saxophone (from the 50’s) can tend to be a bit sharp on certain notes with higher baffled and smaller chamber mouthpieces but the Saxscape Fatcat mouthpiece was very easy to play those notes in tune.
The evenness of notes throughout the range of the horn was nice and smooth when playing fast lines also. I felt like the fast lines had a bit of a warm velvety sound to them that I really dug also.
On many mouthpieces that are darker, the altissimo range can sometimes be harder to produce but the Saxscape Fat Cat Classic mouthpiece performed really well up in that higher range of the horn. I think that smaller chamber opening helps to direct and focus the sound so that it is easier to hone in on those altissimo notes. I have had a similar experience with Selmer Soloists also.
As the name suggests, the Fat Cat mouthpiece although focused , also has a nice fat round sound to it that I really enjoyed. It seemed like I could really hear that fatness when I played out into the room but as soon as I turned to the wall, the tone immediately sounded like it had more core and focus as it made the short bounce back to my ears.
On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of sounds and textures so that you can hear the Fat Cat mouthpiece perform in different styles. I perform my usual favorites so you can compare these clips with other clips on the site.
As has been my habit lately, I have added some slight reverb to each of the clips for those of you who like to check out the recordings with reverb added also. I try not to put a lot of reverb on the clip but just enough to thicken the sound a little bit. The reason I think reverb is good to add to the clips is that you can get an idea of how the mouthpiece might sound in a dry room and how it might sound in a room with natural reverb like a garage or bathroom. (I love playing in my garage!!)
The first two clips are with the Fat Cat Classic tenor mouthpiece with the Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong reed. I put the sound clips with reverb first because I really dug them but if you don’t like reverb you can just listen to the dry clips. It’s interesting because I usually don’t like reverb on darker sounding mouthpieces but I really like the reverb on these clips. I think the reality is that I don’t like reverb as much on spread mouthpieces but the Saxscape Fat Cat mouthpiece is focused enough and the core sound concentrated enough that the reverb sounds great when it fattens it up even more.
As I listen to the clips, I do enjoy the reverb a bit more on the Rigotti Gold clips so maybe it is the added brightness I like with the reverb as well. I’m not sure as I write this. Take a listen yourself and let me know what you think in the comments below……..
In my opinion, the Saxscape Fat Cat Classic is a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a warmer dark tone that also has a nice focused yet fat sound. I think Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces has done a great job with the Fat Cat tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Ken has recently revamped his website at Saxscape so make sure you check it out if you are interested in the Fat Cat tenor saxophone mouthpiece. He also has many other models of saxophone mouthpieces on his site that you can check out as well that I hope I can also review in the future (I have a Downtown MB1 and a Florida model also on my desk as I write this). Besides his website, you can also contact Ken Barry by phone or text: 570-350-5843, by email: saxscape@gmail.com or on Facebook.
If you try a Saxscape Fat Cat Classic tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Saxscape Fat Cat Classic Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Boston Sax Shop 2 1/2 Reed-Dry Recording With No Effects Added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Macsax Soco 8 tenor saxophone mouthpiece (formerly the FJ III model, I reviewed an original FJ III 8 years ago!). I was contacted by Jeff Gjertsen at Macsax earlier this year and asked if I would be willing to review the brand new line of Macsax tenor saxophone mouthpieces. Of course, I was excited to try these beautiful mouthpieces out! Jeff was nice enough to send me this gold Soco model 8 tenor sax mouthpiece as well as a silver Queso model 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece to try out as well.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
First of all, the Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece is beautiful to look at. Before I even received the mouthpieces in the mail, Jeff at Macsax sent me some photos of their new line of mouthpieces that just looked stunning. When I finally received the package and unwrapped the mouthpieces, I was just as impressed. These are beautifully crafted works of art.
The Macsax Soco tenor sax mouthpiece feels heavy in your hand as you hold it as it is made from a solid rod of brass. The gold plating looks thick and perfect with not a flaw or blemish anywhere in sight. The mouthpiece comes with a stylish red marble bite plate that looks fantastic as well. On the top of the mouthpiece is engraved MACSAX in all capital letters and on the top side of the shank is engraved SOCO ATX (I assume ATX stands for Austin, Texas as that is where Macsax is based out of). On the underside of the shank is the tip opening of 8 and USA.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is the description of the Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece from the Macsax website:
The MACSAX SOCO (formerly FJ III) was created to be a versatile mouthpiece for a traditional jazz tenor player. The sound of this piece is reminiscent to that of an old Link but with a fuller upper register without added brightness. This piece was designed to be very versatile; it is suited for playing soft standards in quiet settings but can also be right at home in a loud rock band. It has a fat, luscious core sound at all dynamic levels.
Each MACSAX SOCO is made from a solid rod of brass with a red marbled hard rubber bite plate which is CNC milled for a very consistent and high quality mouthpiece.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tip, rails, table and baffle of the Soco tenor mouthpiece all look perfectly crafted. The window of the mouthpiece looks extra long and wide in comparison to my other tenor sax mouthpieces which I believe is a feature to let more of the reed vibrate and resonate while playing. The side rails and tip rail look thin, even and precise. The tip rail is close to the shape of my Rigotti Gold reeds although the outside curve of the tip rail looks to bend towards the side rail a little bit sooner than the shape of the Rigotti reeds but it is really close in shape.
The baffle seems to be a straight line from the tip rail down to the edge of the chamber. I don’t see any rollover in the baffle shape at all as I examine the baffle. (I am not sure whether to categorize this as a medium baffle or low baffle? The straight line with no rollover makes me think of a low baffle but it is still at a medium height when it gets to the chamber so I put it in the medium baffle category)
The sidewalls are straight as they head back to the chamber as well. The chamber looks to be extra large in size to my eye. The bore of the mouthpiece comes right up to where the baffle ends and the extra long and wide window gives the impression of an extra large chamber area to me.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Macsax Soco tenor sax mouthpiece is slightly thicker in diameter than a typical metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece. Ligatures than fit an Otto Link metal mouthpiece will fit on the Macsax metal mouthpieces as well if you open the ligature up a bit. For example, my fabric Rovner ligature for metal tenor mouthpieces worked great on the Soco as did my Selmer 404 silver metal ligature if I opened it up a bit more. (Although, my Francois Louis Ultimate ligature for metal Otto Links would not fit on the Soco as it was too tight)
The bore of the Macsax Soco tenor sax mouthpiece was similar to the bore of a typical metal Otto Link mouthpiece as well and fit on my slightly worn down neck cork nicely.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece is one of the more freeblowing saxophone mouthpieces I have reviewed. On a typical 8 tip opening (.110), I usually use a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong reed or sometimes a 3 light reed. On the Soco tenor mouthpiece, the 3 light reed felt way too soft because the mouthpiece is more free blowing so I had to move up to the 3 medium strength reed which I really liked on the Soco mouthpiece.
The Soco tenor mouthpiece comes with a Rovner Versa ligature but I didn’t really like the affect this ligature had. It actually made the mouthpiece even more free blowing as the reed vibrated even more freely and I had to move up to an even harder reed of 3 strong. I seemed to prefer the resistance that the regular fabric Rovner gave me to the more free blowing Rovner Versa ligature but you might feel differently about it when you try one out.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece played great for me with the Rigotti Gold 3 medium reed and the Rovner fabric ligature. The tone seemed to lean to the darker side of a tenor tone to me as it doesn’t have a lot of brightness and edge in the tone. The tone is thick, full and round while having a strong core to it. At the same time, the tone seemed fat and more spread to me at softer volumes which I found interesting. The more air I pushed through the Soco tenor sax mouthpiece the more focused the tone seemed to get.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tone was even and smooth throughout the range of the horn. The intonation was actually really good. Better than usual actually. I think the extra large chamber is a good fit on my Selmer SBA (Super Balanced Action) tenor sax as many of the notes that tend to be sharp were right on the 0 of the tuner when I checked them which is pretty rare without me having to adjust to get them there.
The low notes sound thick, fat and lush to me and it was easy to play the notes in the lower range of the horn and to subtone. The altissimo register was also very clear and easy to produce.
I found the Macsax Soco tenor mouthpiece unique in that the louder volumes didn’t typically get more spread and blatty in tone like many mouthpieces do when pushed into overdrive. The Soco mouthpiece seemed to keep it’s round core and centered focus to the notes even at the higher volume and never got out of control.
Just to clarify, when I write that a sax mouthpiece is free blowing, what I mean is that in comparison to other mouthpieces with more resistance the Soco mouthpiece gets to the top volume a lot easier and faster with less air. My impression is that if I blow the amount of air that gives me a 5 on the volume scale of a mouthpiece with resistance, that same amount of air might give me a 7 or 8 in volume on the Soco tenor sax mouthpiece. This is neither good nor bad in my mind but just feels different if you are use to blowing with more resistance and is just something you get used to as you play the mouthpiece.
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
In my opinion, the Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a fat thick tone that also has a nice focus to it. I think Jeff Gjertsen at Macsax mouthpieces has done a great job with the Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece. It looks fabulous and plays great!
Macsax has recently revamped their website at Macsax, so make sure you check it out if you are interested in the Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece. Macsax also has a Queso model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that has a slightly higher baffle than the Soco model being reviewed today. I will be reviewing the Queso model tenor mouthpiece also very soon.
If you try a Macsax Soco tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Medium Reed-No Effects
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Medium Reed-Reverb Added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Macsax Queso 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece (formerly the FJ IV model). I was contacted by Jeff Gjertsen at Macsax earlier this year and asked if I would be willing to review the brand new line of Macsax tenor saxophone mouthpieces. Of course, I was excited to try these beautiful mouthpieces out! Jeff was nice enough to send me a gold Soco model 8 tenor sax mouthpiece that I reviewed earlier this week as well as this silver rhodium Queso model 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I am reviewing today.
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
First of all, the Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece is beautiful to look at. Before I even received the mouthpieces in the mail, Jeff at Macsax sent me some photos of their new line of mouthpieces that just looked stunning. When I finally received the package and unwrapped the mouthpieces, I was just as impressed. These are beautifully crafted works of art.
The Macsax Queso tenor sax mouthpiece feels heavy in your hand as you hold it as it is made from a solid rod of brass. The silver rhodium plating looks thick and perfect with not a flaw or blemish anywhere in sight. The mouthpiece comes with a stylish blue marble bite plate that looks fantastic as well. On the top of the mouthpiece is engraved MACSAX in all capital letters and on the top side of the shank is engraved QUESO ATX (I assume ATX stands for Austin, Texas as that is where Macsax is based out of). On the underside of the shank is the tip opening of 8* and USA.
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is the description of the Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece from the Macsax website:
The MACSAX QUESO Tenor was created to be a mouthpiece for the contemporary tenor player that provides a powerful and projecting sound. Unlike many contemporary mouthpieces the QUESO does not sacrifice a fat and luscious core for projection and higher overtones. This mouthpiece has a well defined center at all dynamic levels that makes it perfect for any musical situation but is particularly suited for rock and contemporary music. The result is a mouthpiece that is easy to play with enough projection to allow you to be heard in any situation.
Each MACSAX QUESO is made from a solid rod of brass with a red marbled hard rubber bite plate which is CNC milled for a very consistent and high quality mouthpiece.
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tip, rails, table and baffle of the Queso tenor mouthpiece all look perfectly crafted. The window of the mouthpiece looks extra long and wide in comparison to my other tenor sax mouthpieces which I believe is a feature to let more of the reed vibrate and resonate while playing. The side rails and tip rail look thin, even and precise. The tip rail is close to the shape of my Rigotti Gold reeds although the outside curve of the tip rail looks to bend towards the side rail a little bit sooner than the shape of the Rigotti reeds but it is really close in shape.
The baffle is a little bit higher than the Soco model tenor mouthpiece and it has a gradual curve to it from the tip rail down to the edge of the chamber. I would say this is a medium height baffle. The baffle looks a tiny bit longer than the baffle in the Soco model mouthpiece as I compare them side by side.
The sidewalls are straight as they head back to the chamber as well. The chamber looks to be extra large in size to my eye just like the Soco chamber size. The bore of the mouthpiece comes right up to where the baffle ends and the extra long and wide window gives the impression of an extra large chamber area to me because that window takes out material from where the chamber is.
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Macsax Queso tenor sax mouthpiece is slightly thicker in diameter than a typical metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece. Ligatures than fit an Otto Link metal mouthpiece will fit on the Macsax metal mouthpieces as well if you open the ligature up a bit. For example, my fabric Rovner ligature for metal tenor mouthpieces worked great on the Queso as did my Selmer 404 silver metal ligature if I opened it up a bit more. (Although, my Francois Louis Ultimate ligature for metal Otto Links would not fit on the Queso as it was too tight)
The bore of the Macsax Queso tenor sax mouthpiece was similar to the bore of a typical metal Otto Link mouthpiece as well and fit on my slightly worn down neck cork nicely.
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece is one of the more free blowing saxophone mouthpieces I have reviewed. On a typical 8* tip opening (.115), I usually use a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 light, medium or strong reeds. On the Queso tenor mouthpiece, I had to use slightly harder 3 strength reeds because of the free blowing quality of this mouthpiece. The 3 light reeds felt good but a bit soft for me. I did end up recording with the softer 3 Light reed just because I liked the added brightness the softer reed gave the tone. I also recorded a track with a Rigotti Gold 3 Strong reed as well that I really liked. (I actually thought it was a 3 Medium and realized it was a 3 Strong at the end when I was taking my reed off of the mouthpiece.)
The Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece comes with a Rovner Versa ligature but I didn’t really like the affect this ligature had. It actually made the reeds even more free blowing. For these sound clips, I used my Selmer 404 silver metal ligature that fits on the Macsax Queso tenor mouthpiece perfectly.
On the clips at the bottom of the review, I tried to show a variety of different sounds that the mouthpiece could get when I was playing it. As is my habit lately, I have added an additional clips with reverb as well. I feel this is important because sometimes listener’s get fooled by a “dry” recording of a sax mouthpiece. They think it is too bright, or thin or maybe even dead sounding but that is only because it is recorded in a “dry” recording environment which is what you are supposed to do for the best recording. Trust me, a mouthpiece that is a little bright in a dry setting can be unbelievable in a big room with a natural reverb or through a mic with a little bit of added reverb. Honestly, as a gigging musician my choice of mouthpieces have always been the ones who have that brightness and punch that comes alive when on a gig. That’s my preference anyways………
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece played great for me with Rigotti Gold 3 light, medium and strong reeds. The tone definitely leans to the brighter side of a tenor tone at loud volumes but at softer volumes it sounds more warm and lush to me. The tone is thick, full and round while having a strong core to it. The more air I pushed through the Queso tenor sax mouthpiece, the more focused the tone seemed to get just like when I reviewed the Macsax Soco tenor mouthpiece. The difference is that while the Soco seemed to retain it’s round warmth and control, the Queso is a bit brighter and edgier sounding at louder volumes. I also got the impression that while the Soco was more refined and controlled the Queso can be more wild. If I was playing in a loud R&B or Rock gig I would definitely go with the Queso mouthpiece for those types of gigs.
The tone was even and smooth throughout the range of the horn. The intonation was actually really good. Better than usual actually. I think the extra large chamber is a good fit on my Selmer SBA (Super Balanced Action) tenor sax as many of the notes that tend to be sharp were right on the 0 of the tuner when I checked them which is pretty rare without me having to adjust to get them there.
The low notes sound thick, fat and lush to me and it was easy to play the notes in the lower range of the horn and to subtone. The altissimo register was also very clear and super easy to produce. The altissmo register was so easy to play that I think I spent a lot more time playing up there than I usually do on my sound clips so keep that in mind when you listen to the clips.
Just to clarify, when I write that a sax mouthpiece is free blowing, what I mean is that in comparison to other mouthpieces with more resistance the Queso mouthpiece gets to the top volume a lot easier and faster with less air. My impression is that if I blow the amount of air that gives me a 5 on the volume scale of a mouthpiece with resistance, that same amount of air might give me a 7 or 8 in volume on the Queso tenor sax mouthpiece. This is neither good nor bad in my mind but just feels different if you are use to blowing with more resistance and is just something you get used to as you play the mouthpiece.
Free blowing also means that I find that harder reeds work better on the mouthpiece than I might typically use on a mouthpiece with more resistance.
I did feel like the Queso did have more volume potential for me than the Macsax Soco model mouthpiece could produce. The Soco could bring me to a solid 9 for volume but the Queso seemed like I could push it to an 11 or 12 if I needed to. Especially with that harder Rigotti Gold 3 Strong reed. It felt like there was a lot more potential for volume with the Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
In my opinion, the Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a focused thick tone that also has a nice brightness to it. This would be a great all round tenor mouthpiece for those of you looking for a mouthpiece that can handle multiple styles of music. At soft volumes it is thick and full sounding but at louder volume it gets brighter and more focused to cut through those loud band gigs. I think Jeff Gjertsen and Greg Wilson at Macsax mouthpieces have done a great job with this new Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece. It looks fabulous and plays great!
Macsax has recently revamped their website at Macsax, so make sure you check it out if you are interested in the Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece. Macsax also has a the Soco model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that has a lower baffle than the Queso model being reviewed today if you are interested in something with a darker, warmer tone.
If you try a Macsax Queso tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
*I say I am using a 3 medium reed in the clip but this is a mistake, it is a 3 strong reed
Same Clip As Above with Reverb Added
*I say I am using a 3 medium reed in the clip but this is a mistake, it is a 3 strong reed
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Downtown MB1 8* (.115) slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Saxscape Live model tenor sax mouthpiece as well as a Saxscape Fat Cat model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I thought were superb and when Ken asked if I would like to review some of his other tenor sax mouthpiece models I immediately jumped at the chance.
The Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece model is on the Saxscape website and is described as:
The Downtown MB1 is modeled after the famous Dave Guardala model that Michael Brecker played on most of his career, and is great for jazz fusion, smooth jazz, rock, and wherever a bright, quality sound is needed. High baffle and big chamber.
The Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of Delrin which is a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic. From what I can gather from google, Delrin is a plastic that has been cleared as food safe by the FDA. I have also read that it is a very tough and stable material.
The Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor mouthpiece is a .115 tip opening which is an 8* tip opening. (I believe Michael Brecker’s main mouthpiece was also around this .115 tip opening). It has a slim profile hard rubber tenor sax mouthpiece diameter and shape to it. Ken produces some tenor sax mouthpieces that have what is called a “slim profile” and other mouthpiece models with a more “traditional profile”. The diameter of the the Downtown MB1 mouthpiece is very close to the diameter of an average metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece and I used a Selmer 404 silver metal ligature on it that I also use on metal tenor saxophone mouthpieces like Otto Links.
The Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye. Much of the mouthpiece seems to have some kind of machined pattern in the Delrin which gives it a modern look. The tip, rails and table look relatively even and well crafted. The shape of the tip matches the shape of the saxophone reeds pretty closely.
The baffle of the Saxscape Downtown MB1 is what I call a shelf baffle and looks similar to some baffles in Guardala tenor mouthpieces I have owned in the past like a Guardala Studio model tenor mouthpiece and a Guardala MB1 model tenor sax mouthpiece. The baffle is high and angles downward until it changes direction at an edge. It then angles down into the chamber at a more acute angle.
The baffle ends at a medium-large sized chamber. The side walls are straight and go all the way until the chamber starts.
The Delrin has a smooth and light feel to the touch. I didn’t want to take the chance that my teeth might mark up the beak so I put a Forestone mouthpiece patch on it and it has been on the mouthpiece ever since without moving. The beak profile is also similar to a typical metal Otto Link mouthpiece and feels comfortable to me even with the patch on it.
I know that some people have contacted me worrying that the machine marks would stop the mouthpiece from getting a good seal with reeds but this is not the case with any of the four Saxscape Delrin saxophone mouthpieces I have played. Each mouthpiece has been very reed friendly and all the reeds have sealed well when performing the suction test. My experience with Saxscape mouthpieces is that Ken Barry is a mouthpiece craftsman that knows what he is doing in this regard. He is also a great sax player that knows how a great sax mouthpiece should play and sound.
The part I dread about trying saxophone mouthpieces and reviewing them is always finding the best reeds for each mouthpiece. For this mouthpiece, this task was really easy. I ended up recording sound clips with a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 light reed. I thought the 2 1/2 light reed was perfect for the .115 tip opening and played easily with a nice crisp brightness to it.
I also tried a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 medium and strong reed as well. They also played well with just a little bit more resistance. I felt like these slightly harder reeds darkened the sound just a tad and would be better suited if I was trying a to play a jazz set on the Downtown MB1 tenor sax mouthpiece.
The Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece has a focused tenor sax tone that is on the bright side of a saxophone tone. I didn’t feel like it was as bright and edgy as a Guardala Studio and Michael Brecker 1 model that I used to own but it certainly has a ton of power when pushed and is in that brighter category of tenor sax mouthpieces in my opinion.
The intonation was as would be expected with a high baffle mouthpiece on my Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone. This means that most of the notes were very close to being in tune but the middle register around D, D#, E and F were slightly sharper than normal. This is as expected for me and I encounter this with all high baffle tenor mouthpieces with medium sized chambers. The slight sharpness is very minor and can be controlled easily by voicing those notes a little lower while playing.
The altissimo register on the Downtown MB1 really screamed as you would expect with that high baffle. It was really easy to play up in the higher register and really easy to kick the notes into overdrive for a tough sound or lay back a little bit and treat those notes with a little bit more finesse.
Like I wrote earlier, the Saxscape Downtown MB1 has a ton of power when pushed. It is one of those mouthpieces you want to be careful playing loud into a wall as I think the volume bouncing back to your ears could hurt your ears over time when played at full volume.
On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of sounds and textures so that you can hear the Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles. I perform my usual favorites so you can compare these clips with other clips on the site.
As has been my habit lately, I have added some slight reverb and EQ to the clip for those of you who like to check out the recordings with some effects added also. I try not to put a lot of reverb on the clip but just enough to thicken the sound a little bit. The reason I think reverb is good to add to the clips is that you can get an idea of how the mouthpiece might sound in a dry room and how it might sound in a room with a natural reverb. It also might give you an idea of how this mouthpiece might sound in a recording studio with some effects added.
The Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a killer mouthpiece for those funky “Brecker” lines in my opinion. I start off the sound clip with some lines in that style and the bright tone of the mouthpiece just sounds great on those types of lines.
Later on in the clip, I lay back a little bit and play my usual “Moose the Mooche”, “Donna Lee” and a little bit of “Pure Imagination”. I think the bright tone settles down when you lay back and it is easy to get a nice middle of the road tone for jazz stuff in my opinion. I was actually surprised how nice it sounded on “Pure Imagination” and I was playing at a pretty full volume. The tone is fat, full and thick in my opinion.
The low notes aren’t as warm and lush as they might be on a darker mouthpiece but with a little bit of subtone they fatten up nicely.
I have to admit that I do love the clip with reverb and some EQ on it. It just makes the recording sound like I am playing in a huge hall or the studio. I usually don’t like adding EQ to the sound clips just because I don’t like to manipulate the original sound clip too much when the readers of these reviews are judging the sound and playability of the reviewed mouthpieces. However, this EQ with reverb just sounded so great and is just a boost of the bass, midrange and treble that gives the clip a little more presence I think. I didn’t think it would hurt though as you can still listen to the dry recording to see what the mouthpiece sounds like without any of these effects.
In my opinion, the Saxscape Downtown MB1 is a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a focused brighter tone similar to a “Brecker” type of tenor saxophone tone. If you need volume to cut through in a “live” band situation and love that brighter “Brecker” type of tenor saxophone tone, then the Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor sax mouthpiece is a great choice! I think Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces has done a great job with the Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Ken has recently revamped his website at Saxscape so make sure you check it out if you are interested in the Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece. He also has many other models of saxophone mouthpieces on his site that you can check out as well that I hope I can also review in the future. Besides his website, you can also contact Ken Barry by phone or text: 570-350-5843, by email: saxscape@gmail.com or on Facebook.
If you try a Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Saxscape Downtown MB1 Slim Profile Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Light Reed-Dry Recording With No Effects Added
Same Clip as above with some Reverb and a little EQ added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Florida Slim Profile 7** (.108 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Saxscape Live model tenor sax mouthpiece as well as a Saxscape Fat Cat Classic and Downtown MB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I thought were superb and when Ken asked if I would like to review some of his other tenor sax mouthpiece models I immediately jumped at the chance.
The Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece is so new at the time of this review that it is not yet on the Saxscape website. Ken told me that it is his first attempt at a Florida Otto Link type tone concept but with a new baffle concept, straight sidewalls and different chamber. Basically, he was targeting that Florida Otto Link type sound and tone but coming at it from a different design angle.
The Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of Delrin which is a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic. From what I can gather from google, Delrin is a plastic that has been cleared as food safe by the FDA. I have also read that it is a very tough and stable material.
The Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece is a .1o8 tip opening which is an 7** tip opening. It has a slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece diameter and shape to it. Ken produces some tenor sax mouthpieces that have what is called a “slim profile” and other mouthpiece models with a more “traditional profile”. The diameter of the the Florida slim profile mouthpiece is very close to the diameter of an average metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece and I used a Selmer 404 silver metal ligature on it that I also use on metal tenor saxophone mouthpieces like Otto Links.
The Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor sax mouthpiece looks great to the eye. Much of the mouthpiece seems to have some kind of machined pattern in the Delrin which gives it a modern look.
The tip, rails and table look relatively even and well crafted. The shape of the tip is close to matching the shape of the saxophone reeds although on this mouthpiece, the top of the tip curve has a flat spot that the reeds do not have. This slight difference in tip shape doesn’t affect the playability of the mouthpiece or the seal of the reed that I can tell.
The baffle of the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor sax mouthpiece looks to be a rollover baffle that rolls over gradually for about a quarter of an inch where it meets this slightly scooped out “lake” area in the baffle that you can see in the photos. The baffle then declines to the chamber opening in almost a straight line descent although that straight line still seems to have a slight curve to it as I look at it with my eye in the light. At the bottom of the baffle, there is another slight scooped out “lake” in the baffle right before the chamber entrance.
The baffle ends at the chamber where it has a short drop off to the bottom of the chamber floor. The opening to the chamber looks to be a medium-large size opening to me. The raised baffle floor at the entrance to the chamber and the straight sidewalls make it seem a bit smaller than a typical Otto Link chamber entrance.
The sidewalls are straight until they get to the chamber where they are carved out to round out the chamber a bit. Typically, scooped out side walls tend to help produce a fatter more spread tone and straight side walls seem to add more focus to the tone in my experience.
The Delrin has a smooth feel to the touch and the mouthpiece is very light in weight. I didn’t want to take the chance that my teeth might mark up the beak so I put a Forestone mouthpiece patch on it and it has been on the mouthpiece ever since without moving. The beak profile is also similar to a typical metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece beak profile and feels comfortable to me even with the patch on it.
I know that some people have contacted me worrying that the machine marks would stop the mouthpiece from getting a good seal with reeds but this is not the case with any of the four Saxscape Delrin saxophone mouthpieces I have played and reviewed so far. Each mouthpiece has been very reed friendly and all the reeds have sealed well when performing the suction test.
The part I dread about trying saxophone mouthpieces and reviewing them is always finding the best reeds for each mouthpiece. For this mouthpiece, as with the other Saxscape mouthpieces I have reviewed, this job was pretty easy. I tried Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 medium reeds, 2 1/2 strong reeds and 3 light reeds that all played excellently on the Saxscape Florida tenor mouthpiece. I did end up recording sound clips with a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong reed just because it felt like a comfortable strength for me and I dug the tone the most with that reed.
The Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece had a balanced tenor sax tone that seemed right in the middle of the bright to dark tenor saxophone tone spectrum to me. The tone is thick and full with just a bit of sparkle and edge to the tone to make it more interesting and add character to the tone without getting overly bright in my opinion.
The low notes were full and thick with a tone that reminded me of a Florida Otto Link type tone down low but with a bit more focus to the notes in my opinion.
The intonation was really great! My Selmer SBA tenor saxophone (from the 50’s) can tend to be a bit sharp on certain notes with higher baffled and smaller chamber mouthpieces but the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece was very easy to play those notes in tune.
The evenness of notes throughout the range of the horn was nice and smooth when playing fast lines also. The character and thickness of tone seemed to blend well as I played faster lines throughout the range of the horn.
The altissimo register was easy to produce on the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece and the notes were easy to control and manipulate. Many times, that higher range of the saxophone, can become a little “wild” and uncontrollable on certain notes but the Saxscape Florida tenor sax mouthpiece was easy to control up in that higher range.
The rollover baffle and straight sidewalls provide a bit more added focus and power than a typical Otto Link mouthpiece type design so that you can get a lot of volume and power out of the Saxscape Florida tenor mouthpiece when you push it.
Although the tone does get brighter when pushed, it still stays in the middle of the road category of tenor tone to my ears. Although it leans to the brighter side at full volume, it doesn’t get as bright as most high baffle mouthpieces do like the Saxscape Downtown MB1 tenor mouthpiece I just reviewed last week.
On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of sounds and textures so that you can hear the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles. I tended to slow down my playing a bit more than my usual sound clips just because I was really enjoying listening to the tone of this mouthpiece while I was playing.
As has been my habit lately, I have added some slight reverb to the clip for those of you who like to check out the recordings with reverb added also. I try not to put a lot of reverb on the clip but just enough to thicken the sound a little bit. The reason I think reverb is good to add to the clips is that you can get an idea of how the mouthpiece might sound in a room with natural reverb like a garage or in a recording studio with some effects added.
In my opinion, the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece is a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a tone in the middle of the tenor sax tone spectrum between dark and bright. It can be easily tilted to either side of that middle line by manipulating your embouchure while laying back on the air stream or increasing air speed. It has a nice focused and thick sound that would sound great over jazz standards or in a more pop setting where you don’t have to be overly bright to cut through the mix. I think Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces has done a great job with the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece.
Ken has recently revamped his website at Saxscape so make sure you check it out if you are interested in the Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece. Like I stated above, the Florida model tenor mouthpiece is not listed on the site as of this review so if you are interested in one you will have to contact Ken to have him make you one. Besides his website, you can also contact Ken Barry by phone or text: 570-350-5843, by email: saxscape@gmail.com or on Facebook.
If you try a Saxscape Florida Slim Profile tenor mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Saxscape Florida Slim Profile Tenor Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-Dry Recording With No Effects Added
Same Clip as above with some Reverb and a little EQ added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece from 10mFan sax mouthpieces. This is the Chameleon 7** hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I have already reviewed a number of great 10mFan tenor saxophone mouthpieces and alto saxophone mouthpieces in the past that you can find here.
Whenever Mark Sepinuck, at 10mFan mouthpieces, comes out with a new mouthpiece model, I am always really excited to try it out because all of his mouthpieces are so good! Mark is always thinking about how he can meet the needs of the sax playing community with new uniquely designed mouthpieces.
Here’s a description of the Chameleon tenor sax mouthpiece that Mark posted on Sax on the Web:
“These rollover baffle sax mouthpieces are very special and have a huge, powerful, full, and clear sound with some brights and a beautiful freedom to the blow! Incredibly efficient mouthpieces with GREAT CLARITY AND POWER. At the same time, these mouthpieces can be played gentle and warm. These can be used for the straight ahead player wanting a more powerful sound, or ANY setting where you need LOADS of power and volume. The sound can be warm and powerful, or bright and powerful, depending on your abilities. This is the most powerful tenor mouthpiece I offer, and its not a step baffle! It’s truly a Chameleon!!!”-Mark Sepinuck
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is some more details from Mark Sepinuck’s description of the 10mFan Chameleon tenor sax mouthpiece from the 10mFan website:
“This is a free-blowing powerful rollover baffle mouthpiece designed for my 3rd category, that allows players who don’t get along with step baffle pieces, a real opportunity at finally getting some serious power and volume into their playing with a huge full-bodied sound. This is a rollover baffle design. It has brights and warmth and fatness depending on the players abilities. An open canvas of sound opportunities that fits in my 3rd Category so perfectly. Free and powerful with a full-bodied sound top to bottom!”-Mark Sepinuck
Mark describes his 3rd mouthpiece category as: “Very powerful “Cross-over” category mouthpiece. This is a POWERHOUSE roll over baffle like nothing in the marketplace.”
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The 10mFan Chameleon tenor saxophone mouthpiece came in a well packaged box. Inside, amidst the packaging was a clear tube. Inside the tube, was a velvet looking bag with gold trim that protected the Chameleon saxophone mouthpiece while shipping.
The new 10mFan Chameleon tenor sax mouthpiece has the traditional three rings on the shank that all of the 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces have. It also has “10mFan” and “CHAMELEON” engraved on the top of the mouthpiece. On the bottom corners of the mouthpiece next to the table is engraved “U.S.A.” and “7**”.
As you can see in the picture below, the table, rails and tip rail look flat, even and perfectly crafted as all 10mFan mouthpiece do. The baffle is a slightly curved side to side baffle that rolls over about half an inch into the mouthpiece before it runs straight down towards the rear of the chamber.
The first half inch of baffle is what I would consider a high baffle but it is not so long and high that I would think this mouthpiece would be obnoxiously bright. About 15 years ago, I was always complaining on the internet sax forums about how I wished there were some saxophone mouthpieces that were made with a more moderate high rollover baffle to give power and brightness but still be able to play jazz. At the time, I remember being frustrated because it seemed like most of the choices out there were Otto Link type baffles or Guardala type high step baffles (which I found too bright for my tastes). This 10mFan Chameleon high rollover baffle is exactly the kind of mouthpiece I was wishing for in my imagination way back then.
The side walls are slightly carved out on each side as they lead into the medium large sized chamber. The rails look even and precise as they head towards the tip rail. The shape of the tip rail matches the shape of the Rigotti Gold reeds I used on it.
One other interesting fact about the Chameleon tenor mouthpiece is that Mark told me that they made the Chameleon mouthpiece body longer because of the high baffle design so that it plays in-tune on older horns and modern horns. You need to lengthen the shank on a design like so that it can sit further on the cork and play in-tune.
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
So, how does the new Chameleon 7** saxophone mouthpiece in hard rubber play and sound? The 7** I played for this review played perfectly with a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong reed. I also tried a Rigotti Gold 3 light reed that also played quite well and gave me even more volume and power but I chose the 2 1/2 strong reed for the sound clip below.
The Chameleon mouthpiece has a tone that lies at that midway area between bright and dark in my opinion. At normal playing levels, you can shade the tone to be warmer or brighter and it really is a Chameleon in that the player can easily adjust his playing to fit the genre of music he is playing.
Where the Chameleon surprised me, was in the power it has when you blow with all of your air. The Chameleon mouthpiece can go from a 1 on the volume scale to about a 13+ pretty quickly when pushed. A couple times in the clip below, I was playing at a medium level and then decided to push it and the Chameleon took all the air I could give it and is able to really crank out the power and volume. (I actually had to turn down the overall gain on the microphone because the full power of the Chameleon would distort the recording at my normal recording levels. That’s some pretty impressive volume!)
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The first clip below is of the Chameleon tenor mouthpiece with a bit of added reverb to the clip. I like this clip the most just because it represents the type of reverb I would have on my sax during a live performance playing wailing Top 40, Funk or R&B type tenor sax solos. I open up the clip with a louder, more aggressive line up in the altissimo, so be prepared for that when you listen.
After that, I play a bunch of my standard jazz lines including “Moose the Mooche” and a medium “Donna Lee” (which I try to play in all of my sound clips as a way to compare the different clips).
The Chameleon sounds great on the jazz lines and has a tone that is fat and focused but with loads of character and warmth. It does have brightness to the tone but not enough brightness that it sounds out of place playing jazz. The lines and evenness between notes is smooth and the intonation is really great in my opinion.
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I also let myself go into the altissimo with more volume on some bluesy R&B type lines at numerous times in the clip. The tone gets brighter as the power and volume increases but it is still fat and round to my ear. It doesn’t get thin and frail like many high baffle mouthpiece can sound up high. You can hear this even more clearly on the second “dry” sound clip which has no reverb or added effects on the clip. Many high baffle mouthpiece sound really harsh and almost brittle with no effects added but the Chameleon still sounds really good to my ear on a “dry” recording.
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The 10mFan Chameleon tenor mouthpiece has a great focus and core to the sound that I loved. It also had a lot of volume and power to it when you push it without getting too bright, edgy and thin sounding. At the same time, the tone has enough highs, brightness and power in those lines to carry the sound through the mix when playing a solo.
This is a great tenor sax mouthpiece for those of you looking for an all-round mouthpiece that can cover many different types of gigs and genres of music. I would have no problem playing a jazz set on this tenor mouthpiece and then ripping into a solo on “Respect” or “Mustang Sally” immediately afterwards.
10mFan Chameleon Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you like the sound and look of the 10mfan Chameleon hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece, you can order one of them from Mark Sepinuck at connsaxman@comcast.net . You can also check out his site at 10mFan.com for more information and order a mouthpiece right there on his website.
If you have played or end up playing a 10mFan Chameleon Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
*To hear the most detail from these clips it is best to listen to them from a computer with nice audio speakers or headphones rather than from an iPhone or laptop speakers. It makes a world of difference!
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing the Michael Wilbur signature model 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece from SYOS mouthpieces in France. This is my third SYOS tenor saxophone mouthpiece I will be reviewing today. I have already reviewed the Chad LB SYOS Signature model mouthpiece for tenor sax and the Tivon Pennicott Signature model mouthpiece for tenor sax and I thought both of these mouthpieces played excellently so I was excited to review this Michael Wilbur signature tenor sax mouthpiece as well.
This SYOS company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I remember thinking they were strange looking and looked like something one of my fourth grade saxophone students might have walked into their sax lesson with.
I must admit, that at first, I was very skeptical when I received my first SYOS mouthpiece months ago. First, these bright colored sax mouthpieces looked like Legos to me. Like something I might give my nephew, who just turned one year old, as a toy he could play with. Secondly, they look like plastic. I have been reviewing mouthpieces for about 14 years now and if it’s one thing I know, it’s that sax players like their sax mouthpieces made of costly materials like hard rubber, gold plated brass, stainless steel, ebony, silver plated brass and sterling silver.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you haven’t heard of Michael Wilbur before this, you can learn more about him by checking out the website of his band Moon Hooch. There are also a bunch of interesting musical videos of Michael Wilbur creating some layered saxophone soundscapes on Youtube such as this one:
I have had a bunch of requests over the last few months to review other SYOS mouthpieces but with the whole COVID-19 pandemic going on, I decided to take a break from mouthpiece reviews. I took about four months off and then couldn’t take it any longer! I emailed SYOS and asked if I could review the Steve Kortyka alto mouthpiece (Steve is a burnin’ sax player with Lady Gaga that I first encountered on Facebook), a Michael Wilbur tenor mouthpiece, a Lorenzo Ferrero tenor mouthpiece and this Dayna Stephens soprano mouthpiece. SYOS also sent a Knoel Scott alto mouthpiece to try as well. I will be reviewing all of these mouthpieces in future reviews.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The reason I was interested in trying the SYOS Michael Wilbur signature model tenor sax mouthpiece was because I had already reviewed the Chad LB signature mouthpiece. The Chad LB mouthpiece is rated as a 7.8 for brightness and a 6.8 for volume on the SYOS scale on their website. The Michael Wilbur signature mouthpiece is rated at a 5.7 for brightness and a 6.1 for volume.
By looking at these numbers you can see that the Wilbur model is a bit darker than the Chad LB model and has slightly less volume to it. The Tivon Pennicott mouthpiece that I also already reviewed, was rated at a 2.4 for brightness and a 2.7 for volume. Which is quite different than the Chad LB model. I was curious how the Michael Wilbur would play and sound for me as it sits between the Chad LB and Tivon Pennicott mouthpieces I have already reviewed. (I also have a SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero tenor mouthpiece here that I will review that is rated a 3.7 for brightness and 4.2 for volume)
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Before we get to the playing of the SYOS Michael Wilbur tenor saxophone mouthpiece, let me share a few tidbits of info from the SYOS website on these sax mouthpieces.
First of all, you have two choices when you visit the SYOS website and order a sax mouthpiece. You can order a “SYOS Signature Mouthpiece” which is basically what the mouthpiece that the player whose name is on the mouthpiece plays.
If, however, you want to be unique and are on a quest to find your own unique sound, you might want to pick the second choice of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS which I have to say looks like a pretty cool process. Here’s what you do on the SYOS website:
First, you choose what saxophone you play. Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bari Sax
Second, you choose whether you are a beginner, intermediate or professional sax player
Third, you choose what type of music you play (you can pick more than one category)
Fourth, this is the coolest part, you choose your sound preferences. There is a slider for tone that goes from very dark to very bright. You can choose where in that tone spectrum you feel you would like to be. There is also a slider to choose how powerful you want to be. The slider goes from soft to powerful. Now here’s the coolest part because as you are reading this you might be confused about how you might choose what you want or you might be confused about what your preferences are. SYOS gives you a bunch of examples with sound clips! How cool is that? The following list of player are listed and rated for tone and power. Ben Webster, Chris Potter, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Wayne Shorter. (Can I just point out at this point, how awesome Chris Potter must feel about being included in this list!)
You click “Submit” and wait by your mailbox for your custom mouthpiece that will answer all your dreams to be delivered.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is a quote from the SYOS mouthpiece website on the specifics of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS:
SYOS is the first custom mouthpiece maker to use a high-tech process to design its products. It is different from all the other brands who only make standard series of mouthpiece models. SYOS gives you the possibility to have your custom mouthpiece created on-demand according to your needs and preferences.
You are helped by an acoustic expert who will help guide you in your sound research.
You can test the mouthpiece(s) at home or in rehearsal without having to go in to a shop.
You can try your custom mouthpiece for 30 days, with the possibility of requesting adjustments on its shape to modify the sound, to get it even closer to your need.
Simply fill out the customization form on our online shop: you tell us about your saxophone level, the music you like, your favorite sound, which kind of sound you are looking for (bright? Dark? Powerful? Warm…) and we design your mouthpiece based on that. With SYOS, satisfaction is guaranteed. If you have any question, we can answer you on the mouthpiece chat, or you can give us a call: we will help you define your requirements.
Here is a few comments about the material SYOS mouthpieces are made from in case you are curious:
We use ABS plastic to craft our mouthpieces: this material allows us to get the highest degree of precision, with an improved resistance and durability. And you can get that in 18 colors to build a perfect style on stage!
The plastic we use to make SYOS mouthpieces has been certified non-toxic in laboratory (EN 71 and CE 1907/2006 standards). In fact, the same kind of plastic is used to make toys for children, which can be put in mouth without any risks. At the opposite, with the “ebonite” plastic, some sulfuric acid releases are observed when the mouthpiece is old, which gives it a yellow-green color.
And finally, here is a quote about the manufacturing process and how the minute details affect your tone which I found interesting:
For wind instruments, it’s the internal geometry of the bore that gives all the acoustic properties. We work at 1/100th millimeter to adjust the shape and the length of the baffle, the chamber section and size, the tip opening, the facing length… We study and compute the effect of all these parameters on the sound, to predict the timbre of each combination of them.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Ok, so let’s get to the saxophone mouthpieces I received form SYOS. The five sax mouthpieces came in a package and inside were five drawstring bags. Each has a mouthpiece, ligature and rubber mouthpiece cap inside the bag.
I checked the mouthpieces each very closely and saw no signs of damage, nicks or abrasions. They looked good to go. The Michael Wilbur 8* tenor mouthpiece had an ocean blue color to it that I thought was cool and unique.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece felt really light as you would expect a plastic mouthpiece to feel. The table had some texture to it that I could feel with my fingers. Whatever process they use to make these sax mouthpieces does leave some texture marks on the mouthpiece. You can see fine lines going across the table and fine lines going down the baffle as if the machine that cut the mouthpieces left these lines on the plastic.
The mouthpiece looks pretty well made. The table, rails and tip look well made and conventional. The baffle is a straight shelf baffle that is high and straight until it hits a curved edge. After that curved edge, the baffle heads in a straight diagonal line through the chamber and terminates at the rear of the chamber where the bore starts.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I would describe the chamber as a large chamber for a tenor sax mouthpiece. The baffle through the chamber most certainly takes some of the size out of the chamber but it looks to be about the size of a typical hard rubber Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece chamber to me.
The side walls are scooped out nicely. Everything looks neat and tidy. There is also a nicely engraved S on the top of the sax mouthpiece and a signature on the side of the saxophone mouthpiece which reads “Michael Wilbur”.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The SYOS tenor sax mouthpiece comes with a SYOS ligature which fits the mouthpiece nicely when it has a reed on it. I was a bit skeptical of this ligature but it actually holds the reed on the mouthpiece pretty firmly when the ligature is slid all the way down and is tight around the reed. I recorded the sound clip with this ligature. I didn’t try any other ligatures on this mouthpiece as the SYOS ligature seemed to do the trick for me.
I will warn you that the ligature can move when you have to adjust the mouthpiece on the cork so if you need to adjust the sax mouthpiece for tuning, it is best to grab it around the shank of the mouthpiece to move it on the cork.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The first tenor sax reed I tried on the SYOS Michael Wilbur tenor sax mouthpiece played incredibly well and is the reed I used for the sound clip. It was a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong reed. I have not tried any other reeds on it so far butam curious how a BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 would sound also.
As I expected, the Michael Wilbur model mouthpiece was not as bright as the Chad LB model mouthpiece that I have reviewed already. So far, my experience has been that SYOS has really nailed these number ratings for brightness and volume. The volume seemed well rated also as I remember the Chad LB as being louder to me.
The mouthpiece sits more in the middle frequencies to my ear. It has a nice thick tone but it doesn’t have as many of the higher brighter overtones that the Chad LB had when I played it.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
One of the high points of the SYOS Michael Wilbur tenor mouthpiece, in my mind, was the altissimo range. The notes in that upper octave were round, full and fat. They were not as bright and edgy as they were on the Chad LB mouthpiece that is for sure. I liked that because they seemed prettier and more squarely locked in to me. Check out 3:48-4:06 in the clip. That high A at 3:50 just sounds so fat to me!!
Although the mouthpiece has a nice focus and core to the sound, the 8* tip seems to give the tone a little more spread and width. I would think a 7* or 8 would be even more focused although probably a bit brighter also. (*Mike Wilbur plays a 9 tip opening)
The intonation and articulation were great and I didn’t notice any issues at all. The mouthpiece was easy to sub-tone on. The low notes weren’t as rich and fat as the Tivon Pennicott mouthpiece as I remember but they did sound thick and full to me.
As is my habit, I provided the clip without effects (dry) and one clip with added reverb just so you can hear how it might sound with some effects added.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you like the sound and look of the Michael Wilbur signature tenor sax mouthpiece by SYOS, you can find them at the SYOS website. SYOS HAS AGREED TO GIVE READER’S OF THIS REVIEW 5% OFF THE PURCHASE OF A MOUTHPIECE IF YOU USE THE COUPON CODE NEFFSYOS WHEN YOU CHECKOUT ON THEIR WEBSITE. (Neffmusic also gets a small commission from each sale using this coupon which helps support this website).
The SYOS website has a ton of artists and signature models available so if the Michael Wilbur model isn’t your cup of tea, there are a ton of other sax mouthpieces to choose from including the Chad LB and Tivon Pennicott signature model for tenor sax that I have already reviewed.
Or, you can be courageous and go for a custom sax mouthpiece made specifically for you. The amazing thing is that SYOS has a 30 day return policy which is unheard of in the sax mouthpiece industry.
The other great thing about the SYOS saxophone mouthpieces is the price point. As of today, the signature model sax mouthpieces are at about 165.83 EUROS (Approximately 189 USD as of today), which in my mind is a great price for a sax mouthpiece that plays this well. The custom model sax mouthpieces are 249.17 EUROS (Approximately 284 USD), which is still a great deal for a custom sax mouthpiece that is made to your preferences. From what I read on the SYOS website, you can send your custom sax mouthpiece back for adjustments if you want tweaks made to it also which is amazing.
If you have played or end up buying a SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Tenor Saxophone mouthpiece make sure to use the promo code NEFFSYOS to save 5% and please come back here to tell us what you think.
If you have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
*For best results, it is best to listen to these clips with good speakers or headphones.
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. I also receive a small commission when you purchase from the SYOS website using the 5% off coupon code NEFFSYOS above that helps to support this site. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Gottsu mouthpieces in Japan. I had received some emails from a few different fans of my site who were impressed with the Gottsu sax mouthpieces they had played and I decided to reach out to the Gottsu company and see if I could review some of their mouthpieces. In response, they sent me a beautiful Gottsu Sepia Tone Jazz Metal Tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I reviewed last year which I loved!
Gottsu recently sent me two more beautiful saxophone mouthpieces to review. They are the hard rubber Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble tenor and alto saxophone mouthpieces. The alto saxophone mouthpiece is a 7 tip opening and the tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I am reviewing today is a 7* tip opening.
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble saxophone mouthpiece I received is beautiful as you can see in the photos. It is made of hard rubber with a colored marble like design to it. It is a 7* tip opening which according to the tip opening chart on the Gottsu website is a .102 tip opening. The mouthpiece really is a work of art. The craftsmanship looks amazing. The mouthpiece has “Gottsu VI” engraved on the top and “Sepia Tone” engraved on the gold band of the shank. Japan is engraved on the bottom of the gold band and the tip opening of 7* is engraved on the right side of the mouthpiece as you look at the table.
The table, tip rail, side rails and baffle look great to the eye. The side rails are a bit thicker that the rails of the Gottsu Jazz metal tenor sax mouthpiece I reviewed last year. The tip rail looks thin, even and balanced. The mouthpiece table is a little bit wider and longer than my Rigotti Gold tenor saxophone reeds and the curve of the tip rail lined up with the shape of the Rigotti saxophone reed tip nicely. The side rails do flare out a bit as they head towards the tip rail which means you can see the tip rail extend out on the sides of the reed near the tip of the reed. This might be a concern if the side rails were really thin but because they are wider rails the reed still seals well when the mouthpiece seal test is performed on it.
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The baffle is a rollover baffle that I would consider a medium rollover baffle height. The baffle is not flat side to side but has a side to side curve to it that looks to follow the whole length of the baffle until it terminates at the end of the mouthpiece chamber similar to how the baffle looked in the Gottsu metal jazz mouthpiece.
The chamber looks close in size to a typical hard rubber Otto Link sized chamber. The curve at the bottom of the chamber does extend a little lower than the bottom of the bore circumference so it might be a tad larger than a hard rubber Link chamber but it looks pretty close. You can see an edge at the rear of the chamber where the bore starts when looking into the chamber from the tip side of the mouthpiece.
The inside of the side rails are scooped out nicely and the scooped shape continues into the round chamber as you look into the chamber from the tip.
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble tenor sax mouthpiece is also similar in size to a typical hard rubber Otto Link mouthpiece as I used a generic metal ligature that I use on hard rubber Otto Links as well as the Boston Sax Shop Superlative ligature that I reviewed a few weeks ago on the Gottsu VI marble tenor saxophone mouthpiece. The beak profile also feels very comfortable and similar in shape to the beak profile on a hard rubber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is a quote from the Gottsu mouthpiece website on the Gottsu Sepia Tone VI marble tenor saxophone mouthpiece:
Sepia Tone VI Marble
Baritone / Tenor / Alto
Sepia Tone VI is the standard Gottsu model, and the most popular in Japan. The “VI” label stands for “Vintage”; it is only coincidentally also the roman numeral VI. The features of this model are its dark, focused sound and ease of blowing. With the Gottsu Sepia Tone VI, you are free to make your own sound.
I made this model to give musicians nostalgia while playing it. The style is designed to reflect the vintage jazz era. Although other styles and sounds are fun to explore for a while, this mouthpiece will be the favorite that you always return to.
The reason I decided to implement 5-axis center machining at Gottsu was because of this model. I really wanted to make the best hard-rubber mouthpiece in the world, so I spent many hours studying the programming in order to fix errors by myself. That is how I started to create this Sepia Tone VI model.
—Masahiko Goto—
Types: Baritone, Tenor, Alto, Sopran
Material：Hard-rubber
Chamber shape：Round
Baffle：Roll-over baffle
Features and Tone：
Dark sound,
Freedom of expression,
Easy blowing,
Easy to control
Style：Jazz
* Natural wooden reedrecommended
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Gottsu Sepia Tone VI marble tenor saxophone mouthpiece played great for me with Rigotti Gold tenor saxophone reeds. I decided to record some clips with a Rigotti 2 1/2 Strong reed, Rigotti 3 Light reed and a Rigotti 3 1/2 Light reed just so you can hear the differences in sound that the different reed strengths produced for me. I would say that the Rigotti 3 Light reed felt the most comfortable to me.
The tone of the Gottsu Sepia Tone VI tenor mouthpiece is kind of in the middle of the range from dark to bright but I did find it leaning to the dark side in my opinion. With the softer Rigotti 2 1/2 reed I felt like the tone was brighter and more focused sounding. With the harder reeds the tone of the Gottsu VI mouthpiece seemed richer and more complex to me but also more spread sounding. The harder reeds made the tone less focused and pure and more spread and rich in character if that makes sense.
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The intonation with the Gottsu VI marble hard rubber tenor mouthpieces was very good. Nothing unusual to report but just that the intonation was as it usually is on my SBA (Super Balanced Action) tenor saxophone.
I felt like the max volume I could get out of the Gottsu Sepia Tone VI tenor sax mouthpiece was similar to what I can get out of a great hard rubber Otto Link. I would say that between 1-10 my max volume on the Gottsu was about a 7.5 or 8. That is common with this type of mouthpiece for me and usually I will experience more volume with a mouthpiece with a higher rollover baffle like an EB Otto Link.
Due to the darker more “spread” nature to the tone, I don’t think I would want to play this mouthpiece on a loud “top 40” type gig where you would have to cut through the band. I don’t think it would give me enough volume and the tone does not have as many highs and brights in the sound to help it cut through as other pieces I have reviewed.
The Gottsu Sepia Tone VI marble hard rubber tenor mouthpiece is a great choice for players that want a mouthpiece that is great for jazz playing and leans to the darker side of a tenor sax tone. It has a full bodied tone that is rich in character (especially with the harder reed on it), and is a great mouthpiece to play jazz standards on.
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you like the sound and look of the Gottsu Sepia Tone VI marble tenor saxophone mouthpiece, you can find more information about them on the Gottsu website. I don’t see any way to purchase a mouthpiece on the Gottsu website though. I think you have to click on the Store tab and then choose a distributor to contact to buy a mouthpiece.
Unfortunately, I don’t see any US distributors of these Gottsu tenor sax mouthpiece right now on the Gottsu website so if you are in the US and are interested in trying one of these mouthpieces out, you might have to reach out the Gottsu company through their website for more information.
I just want to thank and commend Masahiko Goto at the Gottsu company for doing a great job on this Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble tenor saxophone mouthpiece and for sending it to me to try out for this review. It really is a well crafted and beautiful saxophone mouthpiece that plays exceptionally well.
If you have played or end up playing a Gottsu Sepia Tone VI marble tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-No Reverb Added
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-No Reverb Added
Gottsu Sepia Tone VI Marble Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 Light Reed-No Reverb Added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
*Sadly, Ron Coelho passed away on 12/24/2019. We had a long conversation in October of that year. Even though I only talked to Ron a couple times over the years, this last conversation was like talking to a good friend. We talked about everything you could think of having to do with the saxophone, life, business and even talked about some of our past and ongoing medical struggles. I had no idea that he would be leaving us so soon. Rest In Peace Ron P. Coelho! You will be missed….. Steve
Today, I am reviewing an interesting, unique and rare tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I am borrowing from a friend who was close and worked with Ron Coelho. Ron was always experimenting with unique sax mouthpiece designs and “out of the box” thinking in regard to saxophone mouthpieces.
I recently saw a photo on the internet of this RPC Ultem AirBeam tenor sax mouthpiece that I am writing about today. Ron was experimenting with it’s design before his death in 2019 and had mentioned a “super secret” new design he was really excited about to me in our last phone call. When I saw the photo online, I was so curious about it, that I expressed an interest in trying it out. I was contacted by Michael Schuette who was kind enough to let me borrow his RPC Ultem AirBeam tenor mouthpiece for this review.
This is an RPC Gold Series 110B “AirBeam” Ultem tenor saxophone mouthpiece that was made by Ron Coelho, at RPC mouthpieces. Ron called this the “AirBeam” model because of the duct in the baffle that you see in the photos below. The hole starts halfway down the baffle and continues through the baffle until it comes out at the bottom rear of the baffle.
The purpose of this review and blog post is to write about this unique “AirBeam” feature which I have not seen in any other saxophone mouthpieces. If you want to know more about Ultem or more general details about this sax mouthpiece you can see my RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review that I posted in 2019 where I go into more details about Ultem and other details about this model of mouthpiece. Besides the addition of the “AirBeam” feature, this mouthpiece is very similar in design to that already reviewed RPC 110B Ultem tenor saxophone mouthpiece already reviewed.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I am reviewing and writing about the RPC AirBeam tenor sax mouthpiece more out of curiosity than because of anything else. When I first saw a photo of the baffle of this mouthpiece I was simply curious what this tunnel through the baffle would do to the sound and playability of a sax mouthpiece.
Michael Schuette who was a good friend of Ron Coelho and worked with him posted this on SOTW (Sax on the Web):
“Ron and I were working on the AirBeam baffle, in short, having a tubular duct through the baffle to create some kind of Venturi effect in the chamber and decrease the resistance. There were only a handful of these made, some ended up being paint peelers but the few that actually passed Ron’s quality standards are phenomenal. I have one and putting a piece of scotch tape over the hole really changes the piece pretty dramatically in terms of resistance.”
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I can’t speak to the scientific accuracy of Michael’s description, the venturi effect, or about Ron’s opinions on the matter as he is no longer with us. All I can do is share my thoughts on what I experienced when playing the RPC Ultem AirBeam tenor saxophone mouthpiece in this review.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I tried a bunch of different reeds on the RPC Ultem AirBeam tenor sax mouthpiece but I found the Lupifaro Evo 2 1/2 reeds (brand new reeds to me that I am trying out) and the Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong reeds to play quite nicely with the RPC Ultem AirBeam tenor sax mouthpiece.
I recorded clips on both of these reeds because I heard enough difference in the tone and response of the mouthpiece that I thought posting clips of both reeds would be interesting. I am not going to talk about the differences in the reeds as this article is specifically on the effect of the AirBeam’s tubular duct. I will let the clips speak for themselves as far as differences between the reeds.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I posted sound clips of the mouthpiece “as is”, with the tubular duct open as well as clips with the front of the tubular duct taped over with each reed. The reason for this, is so that I could experience and hear the differences in sound and playability when the duct was closed compared to when the duct was open and perhaps capture these differences on the recordings.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here are my impressions of the RPC Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece with the tubular duct open.
I first played the AirBeam mouthpiece “as is” and my initial impressions were that the tone was thick and hearty while having accentuated mids in the tone. Words that came to mind while playing were fat, rich, full and big. The tone reminded me of a bluesy big Texas tenor type saxophone tone with the thickness that comes with that type of sax tone.
It definitely leans to the brighter side of a tenor saxophone sound but the thick and beefy tone made the brightness seem more balanced and not as bright to me.
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The RPC AirBeam could get a surprising amount of volume when pushed. It is one of the louder sax mouthpieces I have played when pushed. I felt like I could push it to 13 on the volume scale. I really couldn’t demonstrate this on the recordings because whenever I tried to push it to super loud it would distort my computer speakers. I think at the most I pushed it to about an 8 on the volume scale during these sound clips.
Contrary to Michael Schuette’s description of the venturi effect earlier in the review, I did feel more resistance in the way the RPC AirBeam blew with the duct open than when the duct was closed later with tape. I wouldn’t say it was a bad resistance but as I will discuss later, I think the resistance made the tone thicker as well as making the altissimo range much easier to play and navigate.
The variation in our descriptions might be due to the fact that the RPC AirBeam mouthpiece with the duct open played much bigger and louder in my opinion. Many times we associate those two descriptive words with “less resistance”. However, when comparing just the blowing resistance between the closed duct and open duct to each other, I am of the opinion that the open duct felt more resistant to me and required slightly more air.
As I have discussed in other threads, I like a certain resistance in a mouthpiece. The resistance gives me something for my air stream to push against and it seems like it makes the tone easier to manipulate, shape and in this case, play louder.
Qualities of RPC Ultem AirBeam Tenor Sax Mouthpiece with Open Duct
Thicker, More Hearty Tone
More Volume Without Thinning Out
Tone More Open, Bigger and More Spread
More Mids in the Tone
More Resistance to Push Against
Low Notes take More Air and Support
Altissimo Much Easier and Fuller than when Duct Closed
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece with the tubular duct taped closed
Next, I taped the tubular duct closed and tried the RPC Ultem AirBeam tenor sax mouthpiece again with the same exact reed. With the duct closed, the AirBeam mouthpiece felt immediately less resistant to me. I immediately felt that the mouthpiece blew easier and there was more of a smoothness throughout the range of the horn when playing fast. I can best describe it as a faster response to less air. It felt like the AirBeam with the closed duct would start sounding when my air was at 3% whereas the Airbeam with the open duct would start sounding at 6%. (These numbers are just my subjective guesses of what I experienced and not scientific at all, so take them for what they are worth.)
With the duct taped closed the AirBeam was much more effortless to play softly. It seemed to me that with lesser resistance I could play with very little air and the AirBeam would play at a whisper. With the duct open, the AirBeam still could be played softly but it needed more air and support because of the resistance I was pushing against.
I want to clarify again, that I in no way think this resistance is “bad”. I actually really enjoyed it and think I preferred the AirBeam with the duct open much more because of that thick Texas tenor type of saxophone tone. With the duct closed it seemed like the tone leaned more towards a clean, focused “Brecker” type of tone for me and with it open it seemed to be a bigger, dirtier Texas tenor type saxophone tone. At least those were my impressions.
One statement I can write for sure, is that the RPC AirBeam with the open duct seemed to “wail” much more than when the duct was taped closed. Although the RPC AirBeam with the taped duct played loud, I felt that the open duct allowed the mouthpiece to play much louder and really wail. It felt like the added resistance of the open duct allowed me to push the tone to a 13+ on the volume scale because I had something more substantial to blow my air against.
With the duct closed and less resistance, it felt like the RPC AirBeam maxed out at 10 while I still had more air to push into it. Besides that, it also seemed to me that the more focused core of the tone seemed less complex, more polite and pure when compared to the recordings of the mouthpiece with the duct open. The tone sounded more focused and seemed to have more of a centered tighter core than when the duct was open in my opinion. It also sounded smaller in tone in comparison to when the duct was open. The thicker, bigger tone of the RPC AirBeam with an open duct made it more substantial and fat sounding when pushing it to full volume.
Qualities of RPC Ultem AirBeam Tenor Sax Mouthpiece with Closed Duct
More Focused, Tighter Core to the Tone
Smoother Throughout the Range of the Horn when Playing Fast
Low Notes Required Less Air
Required Less Air to Play at ppp Softness Level
Tone More Polite, Pure and Refined Sounding
More Higher Partials in the Tone (Brighter)
Not as Rich, Complex and Hearty Sounding. Tone More “Breckerish” than “Texas Tenorish”
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
That’s about all I can write in this review about the effects of Ron Coelho’s “duct through the baffle” experiment. I know first hand from talking to Ron that he was very excited about this mouthpiece and design he was working on. In my mind, the duct definitely has an effect on the tone, resistance, response and volume of the mouthpiece. Listen to the sound clips below and see what differences you can hear.
Special thanks again to Michael Schuette who was good friends with Ron Coelho and let me borrow this mouthpiece for this review. Through Michael’s relationship with Ron Coelho, Michael says he learned a ton about working on mouthpieces firsthand from Ron.
If you try an RPC Ultem 110B AirBeam tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other saxophone related thoughts or comments, be sure to tell us what you think in the comments below. Like I said above, only a few of these were made so if you get your hands on one you will be one of the few to be able to play one. Steve
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam with Lupifaro Tenor Reeds
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece with Airbeam Open-Lupifaro Evo 2 1/2 Reed-No Effects
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece with Airbeam Taped Closed-Lupifaro Evo 2 1/2 Reed-No Effects
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Airbeam with Rigotti Gold Tenor Reeds
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece with Airbeam Open-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-No Effects
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem AirBeam Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece with Airbeam Taped Closed-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-No Effects
Disclosure: I borrowed the RPC AirBeam mouthpiece reviewed above to review it on my blog and will sending it back to the owner. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
This SYOS company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I remember thinking they were strange looking and looked like something one of my fourth grade saxophone students might have walked into their sax lesson with.
I must admit, that at first, I was very skeptical when I received my first SYOS mouthpiece months ago, but after playing them I have been very impressed with each one I have reviewed.
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you haven’t heard of Lorenzo Ferrero before this, you can learn more about him by checking out his website at lorenzoferrero.com. A side benefit to having all these SYOS signature model mouthpieces is that the saxophone world can learn about sax players we might not already know about.
I have had a bunch of requests over the last few months to review other SYOS mouthpieces but with the whole COVID-19 pandemic going on, I decided to take a break from mouthpiece reviews. I took about four months off and then couldn’t take it any longer! I emailed SYOS and asked if I could review the Steve Kortyka alto mouthpiece (Steve is a burnin’ sax player with Lady Gaga that I first encountered on Facebook), a Michael Wilbur tenor mouthpiece, a Lorenzo Ferrero tenor mouthpiece and this Dayna Stephens soprano mouthpiece. SYOS also sent a Knoel Scott alto saxophone mouthpiece to review as well.
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The reason I was interested in trying the SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero signature model tenor sax mouthpiece was because I had already reviewed the Chad LB, Tivon Pennicott and Michael Wilbur signature tenor sax mouthpieces. You can see in the chart below, how all four mouthpieces are rated and how they compare to each other. According to these numbers, the Lorenzo Ferrero SYOS mouthpiece is between the Tivon Pennicott and Michael Wilbur mouthpieces as far as brightness and is ranked lowest for volume between these four mouthpieces. Although 4.2 might seem like a low volume rating compared to the other SYOS mouthpieces, I could get plenty of volume and power out of this Lorenzo Ferrero mouthpiece. I write about the volume in more detailed further on in this review.
Neff Reviewed SYOS Tenor Sax Mouthpieces
SYOS Mouthpiece
Brightness
Volume
Chad LB
7.8
6.8
Michael Wilbur
5.7
6.1
Lorenzo Ferrero
3.7
4.2
Tivon Pennicott
2.4
5.5
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Before we get to the playing of the SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero tenor saxophone mouthpiece, let me share a few tidbits of info from the SYOS website on these saxophone mouthpieces.
First of all, you have two choices when you visit the SYOS website and order a sax mouthpiece. You can order a “SYOS Signature Mouthpiece” which is basically what the mouthpiece that the player whose name is on the mouthpiece plays.
If, however, you want to be unique and are on a quest to find your own unique sound, you might want to pick the second choice of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS which I have to say looks like a pretty cool process. Here’s what you do on the SYOS website:
First, you choose what saxophone you play. Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bari Sax
Second, you choose whether you are a beginner, intermediate or professional sax player
Third, you choose what type of music you play (you can pick more than one category)
Fourth, this is the coolest part, you choose your sound preferences. There is a slider for tone that goes from very dark to very bright. You can choose where in that tone spectrum you feel you would like to be. There is also a slider to choose how powerful you want to be. The slider goes from soft to powerful. Now here’s the coolest part because as you are reading this you might be confused about how you might choose what you want or you might be confused about what your preferences are. SYOS gives you a bunch of examples with sound clips! How cool is that? The following list of player are listed and rated for tone and power. Ben Webster, Chris Potter, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Wayne Shorter. (Can I just point out at this point, how awesome Chris Potter must feel about being included in this list!)
You click “Submit” and wait by your mailbox for your custom mouthpiece that will answer all your dreams to be delivered.
SYOS Michael Wilbur Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is a quote from the SYOS mouthpiece website on the specifics of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS:
SYOS is the first custom mouthpiece maker to use a high-tech process to design its products. It is different from all the other brands who only make standard series of mouthpiece models. SYOS gives you the possibility to have your custom mouthpiece created on-demand according to your needs and preferences.
You are helped by an acoustic expert who will help guide you in your sound research.
You can test the mouthpiece(s) at home or in rehearsal without having to go in to a shop.
You can try your custom mouthpiece for 30 days, with the possibility of requesting adjustments on its shape to modify the sound, to get it even closer to your need.
Simply fill out the customization form on our online shop: you tell us about your saxophone level, the music you like, your favorite sound, which kind of sound you are looking for (bright? Dark? Powerful? Warm…) and we design your mouthpiece based on that. With SYOS, satisfaction is guaranteed. If you have any question, we can answer you on the mouthpiece chat, or you can give us a call: we will help you define your requirements.
Here is a few comments about the material SYOS mouthpieces are made from in case you are curious:
We use ABS plastic to craft our mouthpieces: this material allows us to get the highest degree of precision, with an improved resistance and durability. And you can get that in 18 colors to build a perfect style on stage!
The plastic we use to make SYOS mouthpieces has been certified non-toxic in laboratory (EN 71 and CE 1907/2006 standards). In fact, the same kind of plastic is used to make toys for children, which can be put in mouth without any risks. At the opposite, with the “ebonite” plastic, some sulfuric acid releases are observed when the mouthpiece is old, which gives it a yellow-green color.
And finally, here is a quote about the manufacturing process and how the minute details affect your tone which I found interesting:
For wind instruments, it’s the internal geometry of the bore that gives all the acoustic properties. We work at 1/100th millimeter to adjust the shape and the length of the baffle, the chamber section and size, the tip opening, the facing length… We study and compute the effect of all these parameters on the sound, to predict the timbre of each combination of them.
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Ok, so let’s get to the Lorenzo Ferrero tenor saxophone mouthpiece I received form SYOS. The mouthpiece came in a package and inside the mouthpiece was in a drawstring bag. Included in the bag was a ligature and rubber mouthpiece cap.
I checked the mouthpiece very closely and saw no signs of damage, nicks or abrasions. It looked good to go. The Lorenzo Ferrero 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece is white, which for the record, is my least favorite saxophone mouthpiece color to review because it is so hard to photograph. The photos I have included in this review are the best I could get and believe me, I took photos of this mouthpiece with all sorts of backgrounds and in all sort of lighting. A white mouthpiece is just really hard to photograph……..
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece felt really light as you would expect a plastic sax mouthpiece to feel. The table had some texture to it that I could feel with my fingers. Whatever process they use to make these sax mouthpieces does leave some texture marks on the mouthpiece. You can see fine lines going across the table and fine lines going down the baffle as if the machine that created the mouthpieces left these lines on the plastic.
The mouthpiece looks pretty well made. The table, rails and tip look well made, even and conventional. The baffle is a straight short shelf baffle that is high and straight until it hits a straight edge. After that straight edge, the baffle heads in a straight diagonal line through the chamber and terminates at the rear of the chamber where the bore starts.
I would describe the chamber as a medium large chamber for a tenor sax mouthpiece. The baffle through the chamber most certainly takes some of the size out of the chamber but it looks to be about the size of a typical hard rubber Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece chamber to me.
The side walls are scooped a little bit. There is also a nicely engraved S on the top of the sax mouthpiece and a signature on the side of the saxophone mouthpiece which I assume reads “Lorenzo Ferrero” although I can’t make out what is written.
The SYOS tenor sax mouthpiece comes with a SYOS ligature which fits the mouthpiece nicely when it has a reed on it. It seems to hold the reed on the mouthpiece pretty firmly when the ligature is slid all the way down and is tight around the reed. I personally prefer a mouthpiece ligature that I can move forward or backward on the mouthpiece to effect the playability of the reed so when play testing this mouthpiece, I decided to switch to my Vandoren V16 Optimum tenor sax ligature and kept that ligature on for the three sound clips provided below.
I will warn you that the SYOS ring ligature can move when you have to adjust the mouthpiece on the cork so if you need to adjust the sax mouthpiece for tuning, it is best to grab it around the shank of the mouthpiece to move it on the cork.
I used 3 different reeds on the SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero tenor sax mouthpiece. A Boston Sax Shop 2 1/2 and 3 and a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong. All three reeds played well on this mouthpiece and I thought it would be interesting to provide clips of all three reeds for comparison sake. Although I usually provide clips with added reverb, I didn’t in this case just because I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many clips.
For the record, of all the SYOS mouthpieces I have reviewed so far, the Lorenzo Ferrero model I am reviewing today got the least amount of suction when applying the suction test to it. It always got suction, but the reed would pop almost immediately every time. I don’t think this is necessarily bad as the mouthpiece did get suction and played great for me but thought it was worth mentioning.
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
As I expected, the Lorenzo Ferrero model mouthpiece was not as bright as the Chad LB or Michael Wilbur model mouthpieces that I have reviewed already. So far, my experience has been that SYOS has really nailed these number ratings for brightness and volume that I posted earlier in the review.
The volume rating for the SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero is 4.2 and is rated lower than the other SYOS tenor sax mouthpieces I have already reviewed. I would agree with this rating although I think I could get a substantial amount of volume from this mouthpiece. Remember that the 4.2 rating is in relation to other high baffle SYOS tenor mouthpieces and I think that many other mouthpieces brands like Otto Links would be rated less than the 4.2 volume rating in my opinion.
I really enjoyed playing the SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero tenor sax mouthpiece and really think it offers something special as far as tone. The mouthpiece sits more in the middle frequencies to my ear. It has a nice thick rich tone but it doesn’t have as many of the higher brighter overtones that the Chad LB and Michael Wilbur had when I played them. I find the tone to contain something interesting and captivating to me that is hard to put my finger on. I found myself listening, over and over again, to some of the slower melodies I played during the sound clips. I feel like the tone contains an interesting character that is mature and authentic. Not even sure what that means, but I am trying to describe some feelings I have here and it’s hard to find the words to describe a sound or feeling. You’ll have to listen to the clips yourself and figure out what you hear and think…..
Although the mouthpiece has a nice focus and core to the sound, the 8* tip seems to give the tone a nice thickness and big warm character in my opinion. When pushed, the tone seems to gain some edge more than it does brightness in my opinion. I am usually not a big fan of edge but combined with the warmth and fullness of the tone, I found the added edge very interesting.
The intonation was dead on and was actually better on my middle E than most other high baffle tenor mouthpieces are. During the third clip, I play and A going to E nice and slowly and the E was pretty much perfectly in tune without much adjustment on my part. Usually, on high baffled mouthpieces, that middle E can be quite sharp. I was really surprised by this as I usually only experience a more in tune middle E with lower baffled tenor saxophone mouthpieces.
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you like the sound and look of the Lorenzo Ferrero signature tenor sax mouthpiece by SYOS, you can find them at the SYOS website. SYOS HAS AGREED TO GIVE READER’S OF THIS REVIEW 5% OFF THE PURCHASE OF A MOUTHPIECE IF YOU USE THE COUPON CODE NEFFSYOS WHEN YOU CHECKOUT ON THEIR WEBSITE. (Neffmusic also gets a small commission from each sale using this coupon which helps support this website).
The SYOS website has a ton of artists and signature models available so if the Lorenzo Ferrero model isn’t your cup of tea, there are a ton of other sax mouthpieces to choose from including the Chad LB,Tivon Pennicott and the Michael Wilbur model for tenor sax that I have already reviewed.
Or, you can be courageous and go for a custom sax mouthpiece made specifically for you. The amazing thing is that SYOS has a 30 day return policy which is unheard of in the sax mouthpiece industry.
The other great thing about the SYOS saxophone mouthpieces is the price point. As of today, the signature model sax mouthpieces are at about 165.83 EUROS (Approximately 189 USD as of today), which in my mind is a great price for a sax mouthpiece that plays this well. The custom model sax mouthpieces are 249.17 EUROS (Approximately 284 USD), which is still a great deal for a custom sax mouthpiece that is made to your preferences. From what I read on the SYOS website, you can send your custom sax mouthpiece back for adjustments if you want tweaks made to it also which is amazing.
If you have played or end up buying a SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Tenor Saxophone mouthpiece make sure to use the promo code NEFFSYOS to save 5% and please come back here to tell us what you think.
If you have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
*Each clip below is different and using different reeds. For best results, it is best to listen to these clips with good speakers or headphones.
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model 8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 Reed-No Effects Added
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model 8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 3 Reed-No Effects Added
SYOS Lorenzo Ferrero Signature Model 8*Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-No Effects Added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. I also receive a small commission when you purchase from the SYOS website using the 5% off coupon code NEFFSYOS above that helps to support this site. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today I am reviewing another great tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Phil Engleman at Phil-Tone mouthpieces. I have reviewed quite a few Phil-Tone sax mouthpieces on the site already and am always interested when Phil announces a new Phil-Tone saxophone mouthpiece model.
A couple of months ago he announced that he had a new tenor sax mouthpiece model called the Orion model that was based off of the old Brilhart tenor saxophone mouthpieces like the one Gene Ammons used to play. I have always loved Gene Ammons’ tenor sax sound so I was immediately interested in trying out this Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Phil-Tone Orion 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here’s a quote from Phil about the new Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece from his website:
The Phil-Tone Orion Alto and Tenor Mouthpiece: These mouthpieces are inspired by the early Brilly pieces played by Charlie Parker and Gene Ammons. They are handmade and play tested mouthpieces like all Phil-Tone mouthpieces. In addition they are professional level precision mouthpieces offered at a price resembling out of the box factory made mouthpieces. Machines don’t make music! Try the Phil-Tone Orion today. Sold only direct through Phil-Tone. -Phil Engleman
Gene Ammons (on right) with a Brilhart Tenor Sax Mouthpiece
The Phil-Tone Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece I received to review is made of resin. The look and feel of the outside of the mouthpiece resembles hard rubber in my opinion. I actually wasn’t sure if it was hard rubber or resin and had to email Phil to ask him what it was made of. The clue for me that it was perhaps resin, was that the inside bore of the mouthpiece was super shiny. I have never seen a hard rubber mouthpiece with a chamber and bore that shiny before so guessed that it was a resin material. Phil confirmed this for me via email.
The exterior of the Orion tenor sax mouthpiece is pretty plain looking. There is no engraving on it except “Phil-Tone” hand engraved on the top of the body of the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is a .105 tip opening or a 7* tip opening. It’s diameter is a standard hard rubber tenor mouthpiece diameter and I used a generic metal tenor sax ligature on it.
Phil-Tone Orion 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Orion mouthpiece tip rail is very close in shape to all of my tenor sax reeds and the table and rails look even and well made as they are on all of the Phil-Tone mouthpieces I have reviewed to date.
The baffle has a nice rollover to it and then the baffle heads down at a curve into the chamber area. After the baffle rolls over, the descending slope of the baffle looks to have a side to side curve to it where the outside edges are a little higher than the center. The sidewalls are straight and look to angle inward slightly as they approach the chamber area. I would consider the baffle to be a low to medium low baffle just because the rollover happens pretty quickly.
Phil-Tone Orion 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece (with my dog Lily in the background)
The Phil-Tone Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece has a unique shaped chamber that I am told is the same as the old Brilhart tenor saxophone mouthpiece chambers. The straight sidewalls give the chamber sides a straight edge and the bottom of the chamber looks slightly lower and wider than the top of the chamber. Like I mentioned above, the inside of the chamber and bore are incredibly shiny and smooth looking.
Phil-Tone Orion 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Phil-Tone Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece seemed to want a harder saxophone reed than I usually play on 7* tenor sax mouthpieces. Usually I can get by with a 2 1/2 Strong or 3 Light Rigotti Gold saxophone reed on a 7* mouthpiece but the Phil-Tone Orion made these reeds feel too soft for me especially in the upper register. I tried using Rigotti Gold 3 Medium, 3 Strong and even 3 1/2 Lights and these saxophone reeds played much better for me on the Orion tenor sax mouthpiece. I ended up recording the sound clip with a Rigotti Gold 3 Medium saxophone reed.
The beak of the Phil-Tone Orion tenor mouthpiece looked and felt higher to me than my other hard rubber tenor sax mouthpieces I have in my collection. I compared it visually to a couple hard rubber Otto Link mouthpieces I have and it does look and feel higher than a typical hard rubber Otto Link beak to my eyes.
Phil-Tone Orion 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The .105 tip opening felt very comfortable to me and the mouthpiece had an overtone rich tone that is thick and full sounding in my opinion. The tone leans to the darker side of a tenor saxophone tone in my opinion. The low notes are lush and thick sounding with lots of character. The high notes are also full and round sounding.
I have to admit that I really enjoyed playing the Phil-Tone Orion tenor sax mouthpiece. I am listening back to the sound clips even as I type these thoughts, and I think the Orion has a unique tone and richness of character that makes it a joy to play as well as listen to in my mind.
Like the Orion alto sax mouthpiece, the Orion tenor sax mouthpiece seemed to have a lightness of tone to me. I am not sure why I get that impression but I just feel like the tone is more light sounding than heavy sounding to my ears.
The Phil-Tone Orion’s chamber and straight sidewalls seems to give it a rich focus of tone that isn’t as spread sounding as some hard rubber Otto Links I have played throughout the years. My experience has been that the added focus in a sax tone can really add to the definition of the sound when played in a big room or into a microphone.
The Orion tenor sax mouthpiece played smoothly and evenly throughout the range of the horn and the intonation was excellent. The articulation was clean and efficient also.
I would say the Orion tenor sax mouthpiece was similar in volume to the Orion alto sax mouthpiece in that I would rate at about a 7 if I was to rate it 1-10 as far as volume. It does get a little brighter when really pushed but, as you can hear in the sound clips, I tended to lay back a bit and stick to jazz lines and melodies. I did play my usually Moose the Mooche and Donna Lee melodies so you can hear how the Orion might compare to my other tenor mouthpiece clips.
Phil-Tone Orion 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
As is my habit, I have included a sound clip below of the Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece recorded dry with no effects, as well as the same sound clip with reverb added so you can hear how it might sound with reverb.
Phil has told me that he has created the Phil-Tone Orion to be a great playing tenor saxophone mouthpiece at a great price. I would have no reservations in suggesting this mouthpiece to a tenor sax student, whether young or old, who was looking to step up to a more professional mouthpiece. In the past, I have suggested Otto Link mouthpieces for tenor sax students but the Orion is in that same price range while giving the student a different direction and unique sound in my opinion.
If you like the clips below and the Phil-Tone Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece interests you, contact Phil Engleman via his website at Phil-tone.com. Phil is very knowledgeable about sax mouthpieces and will answer any questions you might have about the Orion or any of his other mouthpiece models. Thanks for letting me try the Orion tenor saxophone mouthpiece Phil!
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Arizona slim profile 7* (.104 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review.
Here is how Ken Barry describes the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece on his website:
The Saxscape Arizona tenor sax mouthpiece is the most tonally flexible darker model, based on the best qualities of highly sought-after metal Otto Link mouthpieces, and features a large chamber and complex faceted geometric baffle.
The Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of Delrin which is a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic. From what I can gather from google, Delrin is a plastic that has been cleared as food safe by the FDA. I have also read that it is a very tough and stable material.
The Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor mouthpiece is a .1o4 tip opening which is a 7* tip opening. It has a slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece diameter and shape to it. Ken produces some tenor sax mouthpieces that have what is called a “slim profile” and other tenor sax mouthpiece models with a more “traditional” hard rubber profile. The diameter of the the Arizona slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece is very close to the diameter of an average metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece. I used a Selmer 404 silver metal tenor sax ligature on it that I also use on metal tenor saxophone mouthpieces like metal Otto Link saxophone mouthpieces.
The Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece looks great to the eye. Much of the mouthpiece seems to have some kind of machined pattern in the Delrin which gives it a modern look.
The tip, rails and table look even, flat and well crafted. The tip rail is nice and thin, and it’s shape perfectly matches the shape of the saxophone reeds I used on it.
The baffle of the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece is very interesting and a “one of a kind” baffle. (I have never seen one like it before, and I have seen a lot of mouthpiece baffles over the years…..) The Saxscape Arizona baffle area has some creative geometrical shapes, angles and channels cut into it. It looks to have a shelf baffle that then had a channel cut into the middle of it. The cut out channel travels all the way down to the large chamber. On either side of the channel are geometric shapes that almost look like the wheel wells you see inside a U-haul truck to me.
The baffle ends at the mouthpiece chamber where it looks like the bottom of the chamber floor is lower than the rest of the chamber. The opening to the mouthpiece chamber looks to be a large sized chamber that is similar in size to a typical metal Otto Link sized chamber. The roof of the mouthpiece chamber under the table is nice and thin and also looks to be cut-out quite a bit.
The sidewalls are straight until they get to the chamber where they are carved out to round out the chamber a bit. Typically, scooped out side walls tend to help produce a fatter more spread tone and straight side walls seem to add more focus to the tone in my experience.
The Delrin material the Saxscape Arizona mouthpiece is made of has a smooth feel to the touch and the mouthpiece is very light in weight. I didn’t want to take the chance that my teeth might mark up the mouthpiece beak, so I put a mouthpiece patch on it and it has been on the mouthpiece ever since. The beak profile is similar to a typical metal Otto Link tenor sax mouthpiece beak profile and feels comfortable to me even with the mouthpiece patch on it.
I know that some people have contacted me worrying that the machine marks on the table would stop the sax mouthpiece from getting a good seal with saxophone reeds but this is not the case with any of the five Saxscape Delrin saxophone mouthpieces I have played and reviewed so far. Each Saxscape mouthpiece has been very reed friendly and all the saxophone reeds have sealed well when performing the suction test. Ken Barry is not only a great mouthpiece maker but he is also a great sax player, so you know he play tests each and every one of the saxophone mouthpieces that he makes and sells to his customers. I am pretty confident that he test the seal of every mouthpiece he works on.
The part I dread most about reviewing saxophone mouthpieces, is trying to find the best reed for each saxophone mouthpiece I review. For the Saxscape Arizona tenor sax mouthpiece, as with the other Saxscape mouthpieces I have reviewed, this job was pretty easy.
The Arizona tenor sax mouthpiece was very reed friendly! I tried Rigotti Gold 3 Light and 3 Medium saxophone reeds that all played excellently on the Saxscape Arizona tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I also tried Boston Sax Shop 2 1/2 and 3 sized tenor saxophone reeds as well as Lupifaro Evo 2 1/2 and 3 strength saxophone reeds. They all played great on the Saxscape Arizona tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
The Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece had a balanced tenor sax tone that seemed to lean darker on the tenor saxophone tone spectrum to me. The tone is thick and warm with just a hint of sparkle and brightness to the tone in the upper register.
The harder Rigotti Gold 3 Medium tenor saxophone reeds seemed darker to me in tone that the BSS 2 1/2 sax reeds which were softer. The softer saxophone reeds sounded a bit brighter to me especially in the upper register of the saxophone.
The low notes were full and thick with a tone that reminded me of a Florida Otto Link type tone down low but with a bit more focus to the notes in my opinion. The low notes could be played with a sub-tone which made them lush and rich sounding or you could play the low notes with a regular airstream and get a clear, full and round low Bb that filled up every corner of the room.
The intonation on the Saxscape Arizona tenor sax mouthpiece was really great! My Selmer SBA tenor saxophone (from the 50’s) can tend to be a bit sharp on certain notes with higher baffle and smaller chamber mouthpieces but the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece was very easy to play in tune.
The evenness and smoothness of notes throughout the range of the horn was nice when playing fast lines also. The character and thickness of tone seemed to blend well as I played faster lines throughout the range of the saxophone. I think you can hear this smoothness in the fast technical lines I play on the sound clips below.
The altissimo register of the saxophone was easy to produce on the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece and the notes were easy to control and manipulate. Many times, that higher range of the saxophone, can become too bright and edgy on certain notes but the Saxscape Arizona tenor sax mouthpiece was easy to control up in that higher range and it retained a nice warm and round sound to the tone. With both the Rigotti and the BSS reeds, I felt like the altissimo register tended to be a lot warmer than it is on most other tenor sax mouthpieces with baffles.
The unique baffle and straight sidewalls provide a bit more added focus than a typical Otto Link style mouthpiece design so that you can get volume and power out of the Saxscape Arizona tenor mouthpiece when you push it while still playing with a dark and warm tone.
Although the tone in the upper register does get a little brighter when pushed, it still stays in that darker category of tenor tone to my ears. Nevertheless, that little bit of added brightness can allow it to cut through in a live performance which makes it a very versatile tenor sax mouthpiece in my opinion.
On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of saxophone sounds and textures so that you can hear the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles. I have included one sound clip with a Rigotti Gold 3 Medium saxophone reed and another with a softer BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 saxophone reed.
As has been my habit lately, I have added some slight reverb to the clips for those of you who like to check out the sax recordings with reverb added also. I try not to put a lot of reverb on the clip, but just enough to thicken the sound a little bit. The reason I think reverb is good to add to the clips is that you can get an idea of how the sax mouthpiece might sound in a room with natural reverb like a garage or in a recording studio with some effects added.
In my opinion, the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a tone that leans a bit to the darker side of the tenor sax tone spectrum but is still versatile for modern playing. It can be easily swayed to either side of the tone spectrum by manipulating your embouchure and air. It has a nice focused and thick saxophone sound that would sound great over jazz standards or in a more pop setting where you don’t have to be overly bright to cut through the mix. I think Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces has done a great job with the Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece.
Ken has recently revamped his website at Saxscape so make sure you check it out if you are interested in the Saxscape Arizona Slim Profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece. If you are interested in one, you can contact Ken Barry to get one. Besides his website, you can also contact Ken Barry by phone or text: 570-350-5843, or by email: saxscape@gmail.com or on Facebook.
If you try a Saxscape Arizona slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Saxscape Arizona Slim Profile Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Same Clip as above with some Reverb added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
Today, I am reviewing a Sakshama Branford Marsalis model Delrin tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I bought used online because I was curious about this tenor sax mouthpiece. I have read that Branford Marsalis played a Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece in the 80’s and 90’s (not sure when he switched to something else) and I have always been curious about what kind of baffle and chamber Branford’s Guardala tenor mouthpiece had in it.
This is an exact replica of the mouthpiece played by Branford Marsalis. It has a large bore and chamber and a moderate baffle. It is perfect for playing mainstream jazz with the “harder” sound Branford is known for.
The Sakshama Branford Marsalis model tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of Delrin which is a polyoxymethylene thermoplastic. From what I can gather from google, Delrin is a plastic that has been cleared as food safe by the FDA. I have also read that it is a very tough and stable material.
The Sakshama Branford Marsalis tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a .110 tip opening which is an 8 tip opening. It has a slim profile tenor sax mouthpiece diameter and shape to it similar to a metal Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece although I think the Sakshama might be slightly thinner.
The beak of the mouthpiece is thin and has a duckbill feel and shape to it. I personally do not like the thin duckbill type beak profile on the sax mouthpieces I have tried. This mouthpiece beak feels thinner than a typical Guardala saxophone mouthpiece thickness to me (although it has been years since I played a Guardala mouthpiece). I found that adding a thicker bite patch to the mouthpiece made it feel more comfortable for my tastes.
As soon as I received the Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece I sent Sakshama a few emails to ask questions about it. My first thought and question when looking at the mouthpiece was “Is this an exact copy of a Branford Marsalis Guardala mouthpiece?” Here are some quotes I received back from Sakshama in a few emails:
It is not an exact copy of a Branford Guardala but inspired by a Guardala mouthpiece. Knowing how the 100th part of an inch affects the sound, I can’t claim it is identical. They are CNC machined with my hand facing and baffle work. I have the same G line (Guardala) CNC machined in bronze and the Delrin line in black and white color. I make all the Guardala models, starting from Crescent to King in Delrin and bronze. I play test them against an excellent handmade Guardala I have and they have to perform on the same level to ship.
I have seen all the Guardala pieces and measured them so that I can reproduce them. Still, the tip opening can be very misleading. A .118 tip opening Branford model will look different than a .110 tip opening if the attempt is to make them play similarly. So it is not an exact science but more of a sound search.
I spend a lot of time weeding out from the baffle the unpleasant particles of the sound. You hear my preferences and sensibility in the tonal picture presented, something totally mine, not Guardala or anybody else. Evolution as a mouthpiece maker and a listener.
It wasn’t my intention to make something identical to Guardala mouthpieces. I’m sure the dimensions will differ. Even when the blank is identical that doesn’t guarantee the same performance as Guardala. Far from it. The facing and especially the baffle work is where all the marbles are in making a good saxophone mouthpiece and I like to be judged for that. Since the beginning of saxophone, there are few mouthpiece concepts that work, the Guardala concept being one of them. Sakshama
To sum up Sakshama’s thoughts in my own words, the Sakshama Branford Marsalis model is inspired by the original but when creating different tip openings like this .110 tip opening, certain adjustments were made to get the best tone and response from the mouthpiece according to Sakshama’s tastes.
The tip, rails and table of the Sakshama Branford mouthpiece look relatively even and well crafted. The shape of the mouthpiece tip rail is an exact match to the shape of the BSS (Boston Saxophone Shop) saxophone reeds I used on it. The side rails and tip rail are Guardalaesque in their precise thinness.
I have to say, that the height of the baffle of the Sakshama Branford Marsalis model tenor sax mouthpiece was a surprise to me. It has a flat high baffle that is about a half an inch long that then rolls over smoothly and slants down to the entrance of the chamber. The bottom of the downward slope is scooped out to make the chamber area slightly bigger. The baffle does look similar to the original Guardala Branford Marsalis mouthpiece photos I have posted below in height and length to my eye except the Sakshama seems to have a bit of a smoother roundness to the edge of the baffle where it changes direction after half an inch from what I can see.
I compared the baffle height and shape to some other higher baffled mouthpieces I have like the Liu Shizhao Pilgrimage (copy of a Guardala that Michael Brecker reportedly had) and this Branford Marsalis mouthpiece has a higher baffle than the Pilgrimage for that first half inch of baffle.
Although the original Guardala Branford Marsalis description I posted above describes the mouthpiece as having a large chamber and bore, the opening to the chamber on the Sakshama looks to be a medium size chamber to me. The raised baffle floor at the entrance to the chamber and the straight sidewalls make it seem a bit smaller than a typical metal Otto Link chamber entrance.
The sidewalls are straight until they get to the chamber where they are carved out slightly to round out the chamber a bit. The roof of the chamber is close to the table of the mouthpiece and is nice and thin also.
Original Guardala Branford Marsalis Mouthpiece Photo Found Online
Another Original Guardala Branford Marsalis Mouthpiece Baffle Photo found Online
The Delrin material of the Branford Marsalis saxophone mouthpiece has a smooth feel to the touch and the mouthpiece is very light in weight. I didn’t want to take the chance that my teeth might mark up the beak so I put a Forestone black mouthpiece patch on the mouthpiece but the Forestone patch fell off pretty quickly. I think the fact that the Delrin has an oily feel to it coupled with the curve of the beak made it harder for the Forestone patch to cling to. This leads me to my next huge revelation……..
Huge Revelation
I have been reviewing saxophone mouthpieces for about 15 years now and I discovered something new on this review! When I received the Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece, I put a black Forestone mouthpiece patch on it (mouthpiece patches are a cushioned patch that go on the mouthpiece beak and protect the mouthpiece from your teeth while also making playing more comfortable) and took my saxophone out to a barn near my house to test it out. The first clip below is from that excursion.
I was awestruck by how well the Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece played. It had loads of power and was just smoking from top to bottom in my opinion. Near the end of my session, the mouthpiece patch fell off and so I wrapped up my playing in the barn and came back to my house excited about this new tenor sax mouthpiece.
The next day, I put a thinner clear 3M patch on the Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece (because the Forestone patch would not stay on) and tried playing in my house. I absolutely hated it! It was horrible! Way too loud and edgy. The tone was thin, piercing and honestly was painful to my brain. I was dumbfounded! I tried reed after reed but had no luck at all. At the end of that session, I just assumed that I had found the perfect reed in the barn and that this mouthpiece wasn’t that great after all.
Months later, I decided to give the Sakshama Branford Marsalis tenor mouthpiece one more shot. On a whim, I decided to try another Forestone black patch on it over the 3M clear patch that was already on it just because the thinner beak of the mouthpiece didn’t feel comfortable to me and the black patch would make it a little thicker.
The mouthpiece played great again! Thick and full sound that was focused and powerful but not overly bright and annoyingly edgy. I had found a great reed again, I thought. Yeah!!
I recorded the second sound clip below with that reed and the mouthpiece played incredibly well. But here is where I had the “aha” moment! Towards the end of my second clip, the Forestone mouthpiece patch fell off again! I threw it on my desk and attempted to keep playing. Now, however, I couldn’t stand the way the mouthpiece played again! It was too loud, edgy and thin sounding. It was the same reed and nothing had changed except that the thicker patch had fallen off.
That is when I realized that what I was hearing and so disgusted with, was not the sound of the mouthpiece coming out of my sax but the sound of the mouthpiece coming “through” my head. The vibrations and sound were coming through the Delrin, through the thin clear patch, through my teeth and right into my ears or brain or whatever. I was amazed! Could a mouthpiece patch make such a difference in sound to me?
I have known that a mouthpiece patch can make a difference with how a mouthpiece sounds to the player but I have never experienced such a drastic change of perception.
As a test, I continued to play on the mouthpiece without the thicker black mouthpiece patch for a few minutes as painful as it was for me. I then put a fresh Forestone patch on and played again for a few minutes and was again happy with the sound and tone.
Afterwards, I listened back to the sound clip and guess what? I could hear no difference whatsoever in the recording. I knew exactly where the patch fell off, and where I put one back on, and I could not hear any difference whatsoever! This blew my mind! I’m still amazed by this as I type this out! Wow!
The Sakshama Branford Marsalis model tenor mouthpiece played great with BSS (Boston Sax Shop) size 2 1/2 reeds. It played so well, that I didn’t even try other reeds on it. Both clips below were made with two different BSS 2 1/2 reeds. The two clips were recorded months apart as I recorded the first barn recording 2-3 months ago when I first got the mouthpiece in the mail.
The Sakshama Branford Marsalis model tenor mouthpiece has a focused tenor sax tone that definitely leans to the bright side of the tenor saxophone tone spectrum to me. The more you push the mouthpiece, the brighter it would get for me.
Even though it was brighter, I still found the tone thick enough to pull off some jazz lines and play some jazz standards. It was not as bright as a Guardala Studio model I used to have that is for sure. When pushed the Sakshama Branford Marsalis model could go into pure “Brecker” mode in my opinion. Maybe not early Brecker Brothers brightness but I could get pretty close.
This is also, without a doubt, one of the loudest tenor sax mouthpieces I have played. It could take all the air I could give it and go to like a 13 on the volume scale. I have probably said that about every Guardala mouthpiece I have played, so this Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece is similar in that regard. (I think the Guardala Super King I tried out years ago has the volume record for me……)
The intonation was very good! My Selmer SBA tenor saxophone (from the 50’s) can tend to be a bit sharp on certain notes with high baffled mouthpieces but the Sakshama Branford Marsalis model tenor mouthpiece was very easy to play in tune throughout the range of the horn.
The evenness of notes throughout the range of the saxophone was nice and smooth when playing fast lines also. The character and thickness of tone seemed to blend well as I played faster lines throughout the range of the saxophone.
The altissimo register was also easy to produce on the Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece and the notes were easy to control and manipulate. This mouthpiece can really go all out in the upper register and get a pretty gritty raw sound if you choose to go in that direction.
On the two sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of sounds and textures so that you can hear the Sakshama Branford Marsalis tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles.
The first clip in the barn was as much a test of the recording environment as anything else. I knew it would have an incredible echo and reverb as I was playing in the basement of the barn and the walls were all concrete with about 10 open concrete rooms that were mostly empty. You can hear the natural reverb in the clip.
The second clip is in my office and in an acoustically dry environment with no reverb or effects whatsoever. I wanted to provide this clip, as well as the barn recording, to give you an idea of how this mouthpiece plays in both environments. When I hear guys on Youtube making mouthpiece clips in big rooms with lots of reverb, it can be really deceptive as the sound of almost any sax mouthpiece will sound pretty killer in those rooms with a natural reverb to them.
One thing I want to address before I wrap up this review is that I know that I sound nothing like Branford Marsalis on these sound clips. The fact is, that even though I have listened to many of his recordings, I have never immersed myself in them or tried to sound like him. His sound and phrasing is not in my brain or ear, so a mouthpiece by itself will not transport me magically to that sound and phrasing.
I believe that Branford’s embouchure approach is very different from mine also. I have heard that he uses a double lip embouchure and from photos I have seen I think this is probably true although I haven’t done research on this and don’t know for a fact. I certainly get a much brighter tone out of this mouthpiece than I hear from his early recording with his Guardala but I can imagine how a harder reed, more bottom lip on the reed and differences in our physiology could make a huge difference in tone between two people.
Branford Marsalis Playing the Tenor Sax (Double Lip Embouchure?)
In my opinion, the Sakshama Branford Marsalis tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great mouthpiece for those of you looking for a tenor mouthpiece with a tone that is bright and powerful enough to do the “Brecker” concept and sound but isn’t as bright as a Guardala Studio or Super King would be. I have owned a few versions of both of those latter saxophone mouthpieces and always had a hard time playing jazz standards on gigs. They just didn’t give me the depth and warmth of tone I was looking for for jazz playing in my opinion.
The Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece keeps the Brecker brightness but leans a bit more towards the middle so you can produce a warmer sound for jazz. Don’t get me wrong, this is nothing like an Otto Link but it does head a little bit in that direction which is what a lot of tenor players are looking for. I think Sakshama Koloski at Sakshama mouthpieces has done a great job with this Sakshama Branford Marsalis tenor saxophone mouthpiece. If you are interested in trying out this model or one of his other handmade mouthpieces you can contact him on his site. He makes his own versions of the Guardala Crescent, Branford, Brecker 1 and 2, Studio and King as well as many other models of saxophone mouthpieces.
If you try a Sakshama Branford Marsalis model tenor sax mouthpiece or have any thoughts or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Sakshama Branford Marsalis Model Delrin Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Recorded in Big Barn near my House-BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 Reed-A lot of Natural Reverb from the Barn
Sakshama Branford Marsalis Model Delrin Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Recorded Dry in my Office with no effects-BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 2 1/2 Reed
Disclosure: I bought the mouthpiece mentioned above because I was curious about how it would play for me and then decided to review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
It looks like December is “Reso” month here at Neffmusic as I have three reproductions of Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpieces sitting on my desk to review this week. I have a Getasax Reso tenor mouthpiece that is a copy of a regular 7* Otto Link Reso Chamber mouthpiece. A Getasax Reso FG Special that is a copy of an Otto Link Reso Chamber that was refaced by Freddie Gregory, and the third sax mouthpiece is the one I am reviewing below which is a James Bunte reproduction of an Otto Link Joe Allard Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a bit overwhelming for a guy that has never played an original Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece before. The most notable player that I know that played one for many years was Seamus Blake. If you check out any of his recordings from the 1994-2017 time period, I believe those are all on an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece. (I believe Seamus Blake plays on a hard rubber Ted Klum tenor sax mouthpiece now but am not sure when he switched or why)
Otto Link Joe Allard Reso Chamber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece that was the inspiration for the James Bunte ARC mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing a James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece. James Bunte is one of my favorite mouthpiece refacers I have dealt with. I have played a number of mouthpieces he has refaced as well as created, and all of them played incredibly well for me. I have a lot of trust in James Bunte and know from our history that when he tells me a mouthpiece is amazing, it is!
When James told me he had a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece in the works that was “really special”, I immediately paid attention. We talked on the phone and he told me all about this amazing Joe Allard Reso Chamber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece that he had refaced for Chase Baird (an amazing NYC tenor sax player).
He was very excited about this mouthpiece! He described it to me as having a complexity of tone and power that he had never encountered in an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece before. You can see the original Otto Link Reso Chamber mouthpiece in the photo above (notice it is engraved “Joe Allard Model”) and the two photos below:
Otto Link Joe Allard Reso Chamber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece (look at that baffle!)
Otto Link Joe Allard Reso Chamber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is how James Bunte described the ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece to me:
When Chase Baird (tremendous NY tenor player) sent me this Joe Allard Otto Link Reso Chamber to reface, I was astounded by the power, clarity, and complexity of the sound. This version of the Reso seems to be quite different from others I have played over the years.
I had this Reso mouthpiece measured and my new ARC mouthpiece is CNC machined out of the best rubber rod stock I can get. I hand finish all the facings, baffles and rails. I am VERY proud of the result!-James Bunte
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece came to me engraved with the word “Nuit” (night in French) on the shank of the mouthpiece. This was the original name of the mouthpiece but James told me that he wasn’t very crazy about that name. He wasn’t sure what to name it so when I hung up the phone I started thinking of names. A little while later, I texted James just spitballing, “Since it is a copy of an Allard Reso Chamber, what if you call it ARC?” He loved the idea and the name ARC was born!
The James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye. It is a dark glossy hard rubber that James Bunte says is the best hard rubber rod stock he could find. The tip, rails and table look even, flat and well crafted. The tip rail is nice and thin, and it’s shape is very close to the shape of my Rigotti Gold tenor saxophone reeds.
The baffle of the James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a substantial rollover baffle as you can see in the photos. James Bunte described the baffle as “A pronounced baffle lower than an EB (Early Babbitt) ..but higher than any Slant I have seen”.
The beginning of the mouthpiece baffle reminds me of that flat part of a ski slope after you jump off of the lift. As it starts to rollover, the baffle heads downward at a straight angle into the mouthpiece chamber. The curved sidewalls come inward a bit as the baffle descends into the chamber so that the baffle floor narrows a bit as it progresses.
The baffle levels out a bit at the bottom of the mouthpiece chamber (again, like a ski slope). The opening to the mouthpiece chamber looks to be a large sized chamber that is similar in size to a typical hard rubber Otto Link mouthpiece chamber. The roof of the mouthpiece chamber under the table is a medium thickness.
The sidewalls are scooped out nicely until they get to the chamber where they are carved out even more to round out the chamber. Typically, scooped out side walls tend to help produce a fatter more spread tone and straight side walls seem to add more focus to the tone in my experience.
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece was reed friendly and that caused me some issues just because I couldn’t figure out which saxophone reed to record a sound clip with.
The whole purpose of the sound clip is to give the listener an idea of how a sax mouthpiece sounds and plays for me so maybe they can get an idea of how the mouthpiece might play for them. When I experiment with different reeds and get different response and tonal shadings it gets harder to choose which reed to use.
For this review, I have chosen to provide three sound clips with three different saxophone reeds:
Robertos 2 1/2 Hard Reed-I just got a supply of these delivered and this was the first reed I took out of the box. It played great and was exactly what I was looking for. It was similar in strength and feel as the Rigotti Gold 3 Light but had a thicker and more complex tone to it.
Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-These are my brighter option for reeds. This one felt similar to the Robertos 2 1/2 Hard as far as strength but was brighter and had more buzz in the tone. (The palm keys can sometimes get too thin and bright for me with these reeds depending on the mouthpiece.)
BSS (Boston Sax Shop) 3 Reed-This was the hardest reed I played with the ARC mouthpiece. It has a bit of a thicker and more hearty tone to it but also sounds like a harder reed to me. I know a lot of guys love the hard reed sound so I have included it. (I also tried a BSS 2 1/2 but it felt way too soft for this mouthpiece.)
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece played great. It is very different than a high baffled mouthpiece and I had just reviewed a Sakshama Branford Marsalis mouthpiece that was about as high baffled as you can get. Moving to the James Bunte ARC tenor saxophone mouthpiece was like a night and day difference.
With a high baffle piece, you can almost sigh into and it will play. You put a medium amount of air into and the windows start shaking and neighbors start complaining. A mouthpiece based off of an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece requires a good amount of air and support compared to a high baffled mouthpiece. Usually the transition from a high baffled mouthpiece to an Otto Link type tenor saxophone mouthpiece takes me a few days of playing and about 4-6 hours. I did just that and then recorded the sound clips below when I felt comfortable.
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a balanced tenor sax tone that leaned to the darker side on the tenor saxophone tone spectrum to me. The tone is thick and warm with just enough sparkle and brightness to make the tone more interesting.
Usually we just describe tone with words like dark or bright which can be confusing all by themselves. The ARC tenor sax mouthpiece also brings words like character, richness and complexity to the tone description. These are even harder to describe. All I can say is that these words come to mind when I listen to a saxophone tone and hear depth, layers and overtones. These are some of the things I hear in the sound clips below.
The low notes were full, thick and robust with a tone that was rich and beautiful. The low notes could be played with a sub-tone which made them lush and pillowy sounding or you could play the low notes with a regular airstream and get a clear, full and round low Bb that filled up every corner of the room with richness.
The intonation on the James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece was very good and the ARC mouthpiece was a great match for my Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone (from the 50’s).
The evenness and smoothness of notes throughout the range of the saxophone was nice when playing fast lines also. The character and thickness of tone seemed to blend well as I played faster lines throughout the range of the saxophone. I think you can hear this smoothness in the fast technical lines I play on the sound clips below.
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The altissimo register of the saxophone was easy to produce on the James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece and the notes were easy to control and manipulate. I think that nice rollover baffle near the tip is responsible for that!
The altissimo is slightly different with each of the saxophone reeds I used, but I think with all three reeds, the notes up in that range have a roundness to them that is really beautiful.
The rollover baffle provides a surprising amount of power when pushed but the tone still remains fat and round to my ears. The brightness increases but it stays within certain parameters and didn’t get away from me. It’s enough to play with more force and power but I wouldn’t want to use it for a Brecker Brother Tribute band if you know what I am saying…….
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of saxophone sounds and textures so that you can hear the James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles.
My personal favorite of the three clips was the first one with the Roberto’s 2 1/2 hard saxophone reed. It seemed to combine the elements I liked about the harder BSS 3 reed with the playability that comes from a reed that feels absolutely perfect in strength.
The BSS 3 saxophone reed clip is definitely a harder reed for me. The tone sounds thicker and louder just because I had to blow harder due to the harder reed. I also think the harder reed gives this sound clip more edge and volume.
The Rigotti Gold 3 Light saxophone reed was an interesting change from the other two clips. There were some interesting elements in the sound clip that made me think some of you who like a brighter sound might dig it more. The tone sounds lighter, more delicate and with more highs in the tone to me. I think the fast playing was the smoothest with this saxophone reed.
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
In my opinion, the James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a tone that leans to the darker side of the tenor saxophone tone spectrum but has some kick and a little bit of brightness when you push it.
It is a great hard rubber jazz mouthpiece that would be great for straight ahead jazz playing. As always, I know people will email me and ask “Hey Steve! Would this work in my funk band or rock n’ roll band?” and I will head you off by saying that this would not be the mouthpiece I would play for those types of gigs! (but if you want to go for it, let me know how it goes…..)
James Bunte is currently redesigning his website but if you are interested in one of these ARC tenor saxophone mouthpieces, you can contact James Bunte by email at jamesbunte@gmail.com.
If you try a James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thought or comments on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
P.S. I am also working on reviews of the two Getasax Reso mouthpiece reproductions that should be out later this week. If you are curious about those and want to compare all three reviews and sound clips with each other they will be out shortly……..
James Bunte ARC (Allard Reso Chamber) 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece- Robertos 2 1/2 Hard Reed-No Effects Added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
It looks like December is “Reso” month here at Neffmusic as I have three reproductions of Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpieces sitting on my desk to review this week. I have a GetASax GS RESO tenor saxophone mouthpiece that is a precise replica of a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber. The GS RESO comes in two versions, and I’ll be reviewing both of them. This review is of the variable tip GS RESO version, that is modeled in different facings. And the next review will be of the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece that comes only in a Freddie Gregory 7* facing. The third tenor sax mouthpiece is a James Bunte ARC reproduction of an Otto Link Joe Allard Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece with James Bunte’s own facing curve on it that I have already reviewed.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a Vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber
Today, I am reviewing the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that is a very precise replica of an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece with a 7 Freddie Gregory facing curve applied to it. I have never played an original Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor mouthpiece just because they are so darn expensive ($1500+ dollars) but these new reproductions from GetASax are only $199 which is a great deal for a replica of a world class Otto Link Reso Chamber mouthpiece!
The original Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece that was the inspiration for the GS RESO model mouthpiece is a 5 tip opening and has JA (Joe Allard) engraved on the table of the mouthpiece. I have been told that the JA refers to a specific facing curve by Joe Allard who taught at the Juilliard School of Music.
To open the GS RESO tenor saxophone mouthpiece tip up to a more modern tip opening, Brian Curry copied a facing curve off of another one of his favorite tenor sax mouthpieces, a Freddie Gregory Mark II 7 tenor saxophone mouthpiece that he has in his extensive mouthpiece collection.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a Vintage Otto Link JA Reso Chamber (notice the JA engraved on the table)
The most notable player that I know that played an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor mouthpiece for many years was Seamus Blake. If you check out any of his recordings from the 1994-2017 time period, I believe those are all on an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece. In all of these recordings, Seamus has a very distinctive and personal tenor sound. (I believe Seamus Blake plays on a hard rubber Ted Klum tenor sax mouthpiece now and I heard that he switched after he dropped his old Reso Chamber mouthpiece on a gig and it broke.) *I was informed by Brian Curry that Ben Wendell and Joe Lovano also play Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpieces.
Here is how Brian Curry describes the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece on his website at GetaSax.com:
“The big idea here is to let you experience the magic of the best mouthpieces I have ever played, for a price that makes them widely accessible for the first time.
This mouthpiece is a very precise copy of an original Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor mouthpiece. It’s medium dark, but not too dark, with moderate focus, and gets punchy without thinning out when pushed. Balanced and responsive, it’s one of the best all-around tenor mouthpieces I’ve played. Even if you normally play brighter pieces, the GS Reso is worth having in your arsenal. It’s ideal for jazz, beautiful on ballads, and can handle burning bebop tenor lines like a champ. The facing is just right. Subtone is effortless, response is quick. Altissimo pops right out. It’s very free blowing and takes air extremely comfortably. The 7 .100″ tip opening is very comfortable. Newer players can easily manage it with a 2.5 reed. And for pros, it slots right in with a Rigotti 3 light to 3.5 medium. (I like the Rigotti 3 light personally.)
The computer model we developed for the Reso is accurate down to .001” compared to my original Reso Chamber. Each mouthpiece gets carefully hand faced, precisely measured, and tested, so that it really is totally right! Bottom line: You get the equivalent of a $1500+ vintage mouthpiece for only $199. People keep saying we should charge more, but the whole idea from the start has been to make the best mouthpieces widely accessible, not to maximize profits. A lot of people have never played a really good mouthpiece. It’s time to change that.
Using cutting-edge tech, we went through over 50 prototypes so that now every one of these sounds like the original.
Finishing:
Each GS Reso gets carefully hand faced and finished before coming to you. This is super important. The magic of a mouthpiece is in the facing. If you buy a generic, mass-produced mouthpiece, chances are the table is not flat and the facing is uneven between the side rails. As a result, the reed vibrates unevenly. It feels stuffy and dead, resistant, and all-around disappointing to play. SO many people have this problem, whether they know it or not. I don’t know how many players I’ve helped to get their first actually good mouthpiece, and all of a sudden playing is fun!
Since we flatten the table, you get an easy reed seal. There are no print lines or marks messing up the facing. It’s smooth and perfect like a boutique mouthpiece. The facing is also finished by hand, which is a BIG plus. I’m really picky about this, so I learned to do it myself so I could be sure these pieces were actually the same as the great facings on the original mouthpieces.Each facing is measured at ten points to make sure that it is even and consistent throughout.
Mouthpiece facings are unforgiving. Small problems can make a big difference in playability. Unlike any other mouthpiece of its kind or anywhere near its price, each one of these GS mouthpieces goes out the door only when it is faced just right. Every one is as good as the best mouthpieces I have played.
I have been collecting mouthpieces seriously for over ten years now, and I have been saving the very best ones over that time. I currently have about 750 pieces, and of those there are about 20 that I think are in that Holy Grail category. Those are the mouthpieces that will be coming out in the GS Mouthpieces line. Keep an eye on this, if you want to put together a collection of the best playing saxophone mouthpieces ever, while keeping costs to a minimum. Each one has a magic of its own, and each one gives you a unique and beautiful tone and response that makes it a joy to play!”-Brian Curry
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of white biocompatible dental resin. This material is brand new to me and I don’t think I have played a mouthpiece made out of this material before. Here is what Brian Curry at GetASax writes about the material.
“GS Mouthpieces are made of a premium biocompatible dental resin, and printed at an especially high resolution. You don’t see messy print lines everywhere, because the print is so high quality! This dental resin is designed to be in your mouth, so it’s ideal for a mouthpiece.
The density and the hardness are almost identical to vintage hard rubber! So GS Mouthpieces vibrate like hard rubber and feel familiar and comfortable to play. The resin is also extremely durable. I have dropped the prototypes on hardwood again and again, and they just bounce and are fine. They even survive being dropped onto concrete (for a while)! So if you’re hard on equipment, this mouthpiece should be able to take quite a beating and hold up well over time.”-Brian Curry
Brian actually asked me if I would make a video of me dropping his GS RESO mouthpiece on a wood or even concrete floor to show how durable it was. Although, he seemed excited about the prospect of me doing this, everything in me said that I can not be a part of such an abhorrent experiment.
In a video call we had, he suddenly chucked one of his GS RESO mouthpieces behind him into the room while we were talking. I think I gasped out loud. He then went back, picked it up and showed me that it was undamaged.
Nevertheless, I have been diligently protecting every mouthpiece I have come in contact with for the last 20 years. It is a habit built into my very nature by this point and I can’t go against my protective instincts! Maybe Brian will make a video of himself doing this, but I will refuse to watch it. There’s enough anxiety in the world with the pandemic going on, I don’t need to watch people dropping saxophone mouthpieces on concrete. That would just push me over the edge……
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a 7 tip opening which is a .100. Although I am used to 7* tip openings on my mouthpieces, the 7 tip opening of this RESO mouthpiece feels totally comfortable to me.
The facing curve of the GS RESO tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a copy of a Freddie Gregory 7 facing curve that Freddie used on a Freddie Gregory Mark II model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Brian Curry owns. Brian told me that he loved the facing curve on the FG Mark II and copied it to his Reso mouthpiece exactly to get the 7 tip opening. Each facing is measured at ten points to make sure that it is even and consistent throughout.
The GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye. The tip, rails and table look even, flat and well crafted. The tip rail is nice and thin, and it’s shape perfectly matches the shape of the saxophone reeds I used on it.
Now, spare me a moment of grumpy old man complaining. The one downside of the GS RESO sax mouthpiece in my mind is the white color. This is just an old man issue of mine, but I find it extremely hard to position a tan colored saxophone reed on a white sax mouthpiece. It’s probably also an issue with me needing reading glasses as I get older, but I had a hard time seeing that white tip rail clearly while trying to place the reed perfectly on the mouthpiece…… Bottom line, it isn’t the end of the world. I just found myself having to find better light and put my reading glasses on……(grumpy complaining over……)
The baffle of the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a low rollover. It is short baffle and looks to be about 1/4 of an inch approximately before it rolls over and descends down at an angle into the large chamber. The floor of the baffle during the decent has a side to side curve to it. Since Brian Curry opened this Reso model up from a 5 tip opening to a 7 tip opening, he took special care in keeping the baffle as much like the original baffle in relation to the tip opening as possible.
The baffle ends at the mouthpiece chamber where it looks like the bottom of the chamber floor is scooped out to be a little lower than the bore. The opening to the mouthpiece chamber looks to be a large sized chamber that is similar in size to a typical hard rubber Otto Link sized chamber. The roof of the mouthpiece chamber under the table is a medium thickness.
The sidewalls are scooped out from where they start near the tip all the way to the chamber where they expand out to round out the chamber. I typically like scooped out sidewalls because they seem to go hand in hand with a fatter more round tenor saxophone tone in my opinion.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The diameter and beak profile of the GetASax GS RESO tenor mouthpiece is very close to the diameter and beak profile of a typical hard rubber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece. All of my ligatures that fit comfortably on hard rubber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpieces fit on the GS RESO model tenor sax mouthpiece perfectly.
The weight and consistency of the dental resin feels more substantial than the weight of other materials like Delrin mouthpieces I have reviewed in the past. As I hold the GS RESO tenor mouthpiece in my hand, the weight feels similar to a hard rubber saxophone mouthpiece. You can see in the photo below that the weight of the original and reproduction are pretty darn close! *This photo is of the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece.
Weight of a GetASax GS RESO FG Special Model next to an Original Otto Link Reso Chamber-now that is close!
The GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece played really great with the first reed I put on it which was a Roberto’s 2 1/2 hard saxophone reed. The reed played so well, that I didn’t even try another saxophone reed on the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece. I was perfectly content with how this reed sounded, responded and performed for me. I actually recorded the sound clips below soon after I put the sax reed on and started playing.
I recorded the sound clips in one take and just played my saxophone for what I thought was a few minutes. When I got done and turned off the recording, I was surprised to find that the recording was 22 minutes long! Whoa, I guess I was enjoying myself! I cut the sound clip down to under 5 minutes so it is more manageable to listen to but I was sad to see much of that 17 extra minutes tossed out.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a warm balanced tenor saxophone tone that leaned to the darker side on the tenor saxophone tone spectrum. The tone is thick, round and warm in my opinion. Although I would describe it as having a darker tone, it does have some sparkle and brightness to make the tone more vibrant. This is important because I have found that a mouthpiece that is too dark with no brightness, sparkle or highs in the sound will sound pretty dead to me. The GS RESO is not that dark but has some beautiful vibrant textures within the tone that make it captivating to listen to in my opinion.
An interesting point about the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece is that I felt like the tone was heavily influenced by my bottom lip. I know this mouthpiece is reported to have a copy of a Freddie Gregory facing curve and I can’t help but smile when I think of the great Freddie Gregory tenor sax mouthpieces I have owned and played in the last 20 years. Freddie was a true artist and I had a few moments playing the GS RESO mouthpiece today where I thought of him. (Freddie Gregory unfortunately passed away in 2014 and is greatly missed in the saxophone world )
Back to the subject, my bottom lip. I felt like the GS RESO’s sound and playability was very influenced by that bottom lip of mine. There was times where I had the most vibrant and resonant sound when suddenly I felt like the tone was inching brighter and edgier. I quickly realized my bottom lip was to blame and after adjusting it to be more loose and free the vibrant and resonant tone I wanted came back quickly. I attribute this to Freddie Gregory’s facing curves as I remember having the same experience on some of his Mark II tenor sax mouthpieces that I owned.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The low notes on the GS RESO saxophone mouthpiece were full, thick and robust with a tone that was rich and beautiful. The tone seemed especially warm down low as if the edges of the tone were soft and pillowy. I tend to play with quite a bit of sub-tone down low on the tenor sax but the tone of the low notes sounded so nice and round when playing normally that I didn’t feel the need to sub-tone as much.
The high notes have a round beauty to them that I loved also. At around the 3 minute mark of the first sound clip, I play a repeated line from the bottom of the saxophone to the top of the saxophone and I love the lush tone of the first low note of each line as much as the last beautiful roundness of each high note I end the line with. It’s stuff like that that really makes me love a mouthpiece!
The intonation on the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece was very good and the RESO mouthpiece was a great match for my Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone (from the 50’s). I would imagine the GS RESO tenor mouthpiece would be a great match for any vintage tenor saxophone like a Selmer or Conn since it is a reproduction of a vintage tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
The evenness and smoothness of notes throughout the range of the saxophone was nice when playing fast lines. The character and warm tone seemed to blend well as I played faster lines throughout the low, mid and high range of the saxophone. I think you can hear this smoothness in the fast technical lines I play on the sound clips below.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The altissimo register of the saxophone was easy to produce on the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece and the notes were easy to control and manipulate.
Many people send me emails asking for mouthpiece advice on what sax mouthpiece to get for altissimo and this review is a great example that it is not about the saxophone mouthpiece and baffle but about the sax player and his abilities. The GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece has a short rollover baffle in it but I found the altissimo register very easy to play.
The GS RESO mouthpiece had a good amount of power when pushed but the tone still remained fat and round to my ears. I would say the volume was about 7 when pushed on my 1-10 volume scale. It did get a little bit brighter in tone when pushed but the brightness seemed more like a midrange brightness that a high end brightness if I were to relate it to the effects of EQ on a sound. I think you can hear this clearly in the second sound clip below.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
In this second sound clip below, I play louder and with more force and I honestly felt like the GS RESO mouthpiece came to a hard stop for me at about a 7 volume. I couldn’t push the mouthpiece louder than that. I think that is just the nature of the mouthpiece and why you hardly ever see a tenor sax player in a loud Top 40 band playing a Reso Chamber saxophone mouthpiece. (At least I never have…….) A 7 volume level is great for most playing situations but I am just mentioning it for those of you that play in super loud bands and like to push your saxophone to 11! *I will note that there are tons of videos and recordings of Seamus Blake and Ben Wendell playing in pretty loud bands (Kneebody for example) so if they are on Reso Chamber mouthpieces then it is certainly possible…..
I try to give a good range and variety of saxophone sounds and textures in the two sound clips below so that you can hear the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles. I always feel like the sounds clips speak louder and say way more than all of my ramblings so hopefully the sound clips by themselves will give you a good idea about how this saxophone mouthpiece plays and sounds.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
In my opinion, the GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great tenor mouthpiece for those of you looking for a sax mouthpiece with a tone that leans to the round warmer side of the tenor saxophone tone spectrum but has some kick and a little bit of brightness when you push it. It is a great hard rubber jazz mouthpiece that would be incredible for straight ahead jazz playing. It’s lush full tone is also incredible for ballads as I try to demonstrate a bit in the first sound clip below.
If you are interested in the GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece you can purchase one from Brian Curry at GetaSax.com. Just click on this link and choose your preferred tip opening in the “choose option” drop down menu next to Facing/Model. The mouthpiece I am reviewing today is a 7 tip opening but Brian offers tip openings from 5-8*. *Special Note: Brian just let me know that they will also be offering an exact copy of the original JA (Joe Allard) 5 Otto Link Reso Chamber for you guys that are always complaining that you can’t find tenor mouthpieces in smaller tip openings!Yeah!!
Brian has said he has about 750 saxophone mouthpieces in his collection and that he would put 20 of those mouthpieces in the “holy grail” category. He is hoping to release reproductions of many of these “holy grail” saxophone mouthpieces in the near future which I am very excited about! Stay tuned…….
If you try a GetASax GS RESO Model tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thoughts, comments or questions on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
P.S. I am also working on a review of the GetASax RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece that should be out later this week.
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Roberto’s 2 1/2 Hard Reed-No Effects Added
GetASax GS RESO Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Louder more Bluesy Lines with altissimo-Roberto’s 2 1/2 Hard Reed-No Effects Added
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
It looks like December is “Reso” month here at Neffmusic as I have three reproductions of Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpieces sitting on my desk to review this month.
I have already reviewed the James Bunte ARC that is a reproduction of an Otto Link Joe Allard Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece as well as the GetASax GS RESO7 tenor saxophone mouthpiece that is a precise replica of a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber sax mouthpiece.
The GetASax GS RESO comes in two versions and today I will be reviewing the other version which is the GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* model tenor saxophone mouthpiece, that is a replica of another Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece that was refaced by the great Freddie Gregory and is only available in the 7* tip opening when ordering from GetASax.com.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to the Vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber that Freddie Gregory refaced
The GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a very precise copy of Brian Curry’s favorite Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece, which was refaced by the great Freddie Gregory to a perfect 7* tip opening. Brian Curry is the owner of GetASax and has over 750 saxophone mouthpieces in his collection so when he says that this is a replica of one of his favorite saxophone mouthpieces, we should pay attention.
I have never played an original Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece just because they are so darn expensive ($1500+ dollars) but these new reproductions from GetASax are only $199 which is a great deal for a copy of a world class vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece!
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a Vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber (Case they are sitting on is uneven)
The most notable player that I know that played an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor mouthpiece for many years was Seamus Blake. If you check out any of his recordings from the 1994-2017 time period, I believe those are all on an Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor sax mouthpiece. In all of these recordings, Seamus has a very distinctive and personal tenor sound. (I believe Seamus Blake plays on a hard rubber Ted Klum tenor sax mouthpiece now and I heard that he switched to the Klum after he dropped his old Reso Chamber mouthpiece on a gig and it broke.) *I was also informed by Brian Curry that Ben Wendell and Joe Lovano also play Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpieces.
Here is how Brian Curry describes the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece on his website at GetaSax.com:
“The big idea here is to let you experience the magic of the best mouthpieces I have ever played, for a price that makes them widely accessible for the first time.
This mouthpiece is a very precise copy of my personal Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor mouthpiece, which was faced by the great Freddie Gregory to a perfect 7*. It’s medium dark, but not too dark, with moderate focus, and gets punchy without thinning out when pushed. Balanced and responsive, it’s one of the best all-around tenor mouthpieces I’ve played. Even if you normally play brighter pieces, the GS Reso is worth having in your arsenal. It’s ideal for jazz, beautiful on ballads, and can handle burning bebop tenor lines like a champ. The facing is just right. Subtone is effortless, response is quick. Altissimo pops right out. It’s very free blowing and takes air extremely comfortably. The 7* .105″ tip opening is very comfortable. Newer players can easily manage it with a 2.5 reed. And for pros, it slots right in with a Rigotti 3 light to 3.5 medium. (I like the Rigotti 3 light personally.)
The computer model we developed for the Reso is accurate down to .001” compared to my original Reso Chamber. Each mouthpiece gets carefully hand faced, precisely measured, and tested, so that it really is totally right! Bottom line: You get the equivalent of a $1500+ vintage mouthpiece for only $199. People keep saying we should charge more, but the whole idea from the start has been to make the best mouthpieces widely accessible, not to maximize profits. A lot of people have never played a really good mouthpiece. It’s time to change that.
Using cutting-edge tech, we went through over 50 prototypes so that now every one of these sounds like the original.
Finishing:
Each GS Reso gets carefully hand faced and finished before coming to you. This is super important. The magic of a mouthpiece is in the facing. If you buy a generic, mass-produced mouthpiece, chances are the table is not flat and the facing is uneven between the side rails. As a result, the reed vibrates unevenly. It feels stuffy and dead, resistant, and all-around disappointing to play. SO many people have this problem, whether they know it or not. I don’t know how many players I’ve helped to get their first actually good mouthpiece, and all of a sudden playing is fun!
Since we flatten the table, you get an easy reed seal. There are no print lines or marks messing up the facing. It’s smooth and perfect like a boutique mouthpiece. The facing is also finished by hand, which is a BIG plus. I’m really picky about this, so I learned to do it myself so I could be sure these pieces were actually the same as the great facings on the original mouthpieces.Each facing is measured at ten points to make sure that it is even and consistent throughout.
Mouthpiece facings are unforgiving. Small problems can make a big difference in playability. Unlike any other mouthpiece of its kind or anywhere near its price, each one of these GS mouthpieces goes out the door only when it is faced just right. Every one is as good as the best mouthpieces I have played.
I have been collecting mouthpieces seriously for over ten years now, and I have been saving the very best ones over that time. I currently have about 750 pieces, and of those there are about 20 that I think are in that Holy Grail category. Those are the mouthpieces that will be coming out in the GS Mouthpieces line. Keep an eye on this, if you want to put together a collection of the best playing saxophone mouthpieces ever, while keeping costs to a minimum. Each one has a magic of its own, and each one gives you a unique and beautiful tone and response that makes it a joy to play!”-Brian Curry
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece (Case they are sitting on is uneven)
The GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of white biocompatible dental resin. This material is brand new to me and I don’t think I have played a mouthpiece made out of this material before. Here is what Brian Curry at GetASax writes about the material.
“GS Mouthpieces are made of a premium biocompatible dental resin, and printed at an especially high resolution. You don’t see messy print lines everywhere, because the print is so high quality! This dental resin is designed to be in your mouth, so it’s ideal for a mouthpiece.
The density and the hardness are almost identical to vintage hard rubber! So GS Mouthpieces vibrate like hard rubber and feel familiar and comfortable to play. The resin is also extremely durable. I have dropped the prototypes on hardwood again and again, and they just bounce and are fine. They even survive being dropped onto concrete (for a while)! So if you’re hard on equipment, this mouthpiece should be able to take quite a beating and hold up well over time.”-Brian Curry
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece
This GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a 7* tip opening which is a .105. The facing curve of the GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a copy of a Freddie Gregory 7* facing curve that Freddie used on the original Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Brian Curry owns. Each facing curve of the GS RESO FG Special mouthpieces is measured at ten points to make sure that each mouthpiece produced is an accurate reproduction of the original Freddie Gregory facing curve.
The GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks great to the eye. The tip, rails and table look even, flat and well crafted. The tip rail and side rails are nice and thin, and the tip rails shape perfectly matches the shape of the saxophone reeds I used on it.
Since I have already reviewed the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece, I wanted to post this description from Brian Curry on the differences between the GetASax “GS RESO” model tenor sax mouthpiece and the “GS RESO FG Special” tenor sax mouthpiece:
These mouthpieces are based on my two favorite Otto Link Reso Chamber tenor saxophone mouthpieces. We started here, because the Reso is one of the tenor sax mouthpieces I know best, so I could easily tell if we had really reproduced the magic of the original or not.
This gets slightly confusing, but the two Reso chamber mouthpieces we scanned are quite different from each other. You can get either model of GS RESO, depending on what you order. It works like this: If you order the copy of my personal Freddie Gregory 7* tenor mouthpiece which is the GS RESO FG Special, then you get the first model that only comes in a 7* tip opening. If you order ANY other tip opening, or even a non-Freddie 7* facing, then you get the second GS RESO model. You can put your preference in the order notes.
What are the differences? The Freddie-faced 7* Reso is shorter and smaller around, and the other one is a beautiful original 5 tip that is significantly longer and also a little thicker around. We modeled ALL of the other tip openings using the longer, original 5 tip Reso as the starting point. Why? Because it’s a more typical Reso Chamber, it’s a normal length, and it has a nice baffle. My personal Freddie Reso is shorter, darker, and has less baffle. Plus it’s better to model the tip openings using the 5 tip. You could get one or both. They sound different from each other, the longer GS RESO being a bit brighter (but still dark) because of having more baffle. Also, if you find yourself pulling your mouthpiece out on the cork, you will want the longer GS RESO model, as it is significantly longer, and lets you pull out more.-Brian Curry
The baffle of the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a low rollover baffle. It is a short baffle and looks to be about 1/8 of an inch before it rolls over and descends down at an angle into the large chamber. The floor of the baffle during the decent has a side to side curve to it.
Brian Curry describes the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece as having less baffle than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece and I could see that when comparing the two mouthpieces side by side. The GS RESO FG Special has less of a rollover to the baffle and the baffle rollover is a little shorter than the GS RESO mouthpiece baffle.
Besides the difference in baffles between the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece and the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece ,there are also some other differences worth noting between the two mouthpieces:
The GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece has a shorter rollover baffle and the angle of the baffle looks a little lower than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece.
The GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece has a wider window than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece.
The GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece has thinner side rails and a thinner tip rail than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece.
The GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece has a thinner roof to the chamber than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece.
The GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece is shorter in length by about an 1/8 of an inch and is slightly thinner than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece.
The baffle ends at the mouthpiece chamber where it looks like the bottom of the chamber floor is scooped out to be a little lower than the bore. The opening to the mouthpiece chamber looks to be a large sized chamber that is similar in size to a typical hard rubber Otto Link sized chamber and looks to be the same size as the GS RESO tenor mouthpiece I have already reviewed. The roof of the mouthpiece chamber under the table is thinner than the GS RESO mouthpiece roof thickness.
The sidewalls are scooped out from where they start near the tip all the way to the chamber where they expand out to round out the mouthpiece chamber. I typically like scooped out sidewalls because they seem to go hand in hand with a fatter more round tenor saxophone tone in my opinion.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece
The diameter and beak profile of the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece is very close to the diameter and beak profile of a typical hard rubber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece. All of my ligatures that fit comfortably on hard rubber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpieces fit on the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece perfectly.
The diameter of the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece is little thinner than the GS RESO mouthpiece that I have already reviewed but the same ligatures fit on both mouthpieces. The GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece is also about an 1/8 of an inch shorter than the GS RESO model tenor mouthpiece.
The weight and consistency of the dental resin feels more substantial than the weight of other materials like Delrin mouthpieces I have reviewed in the past. As I hold the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece in my hand, the weight feels similar to a hard rubber saxophone mouthpiece. You can see in the photo below that the weight of the original and reproduction are pretty darn close!
Weight of a GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Model next to an Original Otto Link Reso Chamber-now that is close!
I found that the Freddie Gregory facing curve of the GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece seemed to prefer a slightly harder reed than the GS RESO 7 tenor mouthpiece did. On the GS RESO 7 review I used a Robertos 2 1/2 hard saxophone reed that I found perfect for that mouthpiece but those reeds all felt too soft on the GS RESO FG Special 7* tenor sax mouthpiece. My favorite saxophone reeds on this mouthpiece were a Robertos 3 soft saxophone reed and a Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 Light reed which are both harder than the saxophone reed I used on the GS RESO 7 mouthpiece review.
This surprised me because I thought the 7* tip opening of the FG Special mouthpiece would need a slightly softer reed than the 7 tip opening GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece. I can only assume that maybe the Freddie Gregory facing curve on the GS FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece is more efficient for some reason.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece refaced by Freddie Gregory
The GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a warm balanced tenor saxophone tone that I found to be sightly darker than the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece I have already reviewed. It is honestly hard to make a direct comparison between both GS RESO mouthpieces because I used a harder reed (Roberto’s 3 Soft) and an even harder reed (Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 Light) on the GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I’m not sure if the differences in tone I noticed were due to the mouthpiece differences or the reed differences.
The tone is thick, round and warm in my opinion. Although I would describe it as having a darker tone, it does have some sparkle and brightness to make the tone more vibrant. I found the Roberto 3 Soft saxophone reeds to give a tone that seemed to be more round, with soft edges to the tone. The harder Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 Light saxophone reed seemed to have more of a defined perimeter around the tone. I also felt like the harder reed had a bit more overtones and texture to the tone as well as a bit more edge than the Roberto’s saxophone reeds.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece
The low notes on the GS RESO FG Special saxophone mouthpiece were full, thick and robust with a tone that was rich and beautiful. The tone down low seemed more pillowy and round with the softer Roberto’s 3 soft saxophone reed and more complex and rich with the harder Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 Light saxophone reed.
The high notes were full and round but the edges of the tone didn’t seem as round as the earlier reviewed GS RESO tenor mouthpiece. That mouthpiece played incredibly well with a softer Roberto’s 2 1/2 hard tenor sax reed so I think a lot of the softer, rounder quality of the tone might be attributed to the effect of that softer saxophone reed as well.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece
The intonation on the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece was very good and the GS RESO FG Special sax mouthpiece was a great match for my Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone (from the 50’s). I would imagine the GS RESO FG Special tenor sax mouthpiece would be a great match for any vintage tenor saxophone like a Selmer or Conn since it is a reproduction of a vintage tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
The evenness and smoothness of notes throughout the range of the saxophone was nice when playing fast lines. The character and warm tone seemed to blend well as I played faster lines throughout the low, mid and high range of the saxophone. I think you can hear this smoothness in the fast technical lines I play on the sound clips below.
The altissimo register of the saxophone was easy to produce on the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece and the notes were easy to control and manipulate.
Like the GS RESO tenor sax mouthpiece review, The GS RESO FG Special mouthpiece had a good amount of power when pushed. I would say the volume was about 7 when pushed on my 1-10 volume scale. It did get a little brighter in tone when pushed but the brightness seemed more like a midrange brightness rather than a high end brightness if I were to relate it to the effects of EQ on a sound. Even at the mouthpiece’s top volume, I felt like the GS RESO FG Special still retains a darker warmth to the tone. I think you can hear this clearly in the sound clips below.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece
On the sound clips below, I try to give a good range and variety of saxophone sounds and textures so that you can hear the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece perform in different styles with two different saxophone reeds.
I recorded one sound clip with a Roberto’s 3 Soft tenor saxophone reed and another sound clip with a harder Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 Light tenor saxophone reed. The Rigotti Gold saxophone reed was a harder reed than I usually play on a 7* tenor saxophone mouthpieces but it played easily and I know that those of you that like harder reeds might like this sound clip more.
As has been my habit lately, I have added some slight reverb to both clips for those of you who like to check out the sax recordings with reverb added also. I try not to put a lot of reverb on the clip, but just enough to thicken the sound a little bit. The reason I think reverb is good to add to the clips is that you can get an idea of how the sax mouthpiece might sound in a room with natural reverb like a garage or in a recording studio with some effects added.
GetASax GS RESO FG Special 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece next to a vintage Otto Link Reso Chamber Mouthpiece (Case they are sitting on is uneven)
In my opinion, the GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great tenor sax mouthpiece for those of you looking for a mouthpiece with a tone that leans to the round warmer side of the tenor saxophone tone spectrum. It is a great hard rubber jazz mouthpiece that would be incredible for straight ahead jazz playing. It’s lush full tone is also incredible for ballads as I try to demonstrate a bit in the sound clips below.
If you are interested in the GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece you can purchase one from Brian Curry at GetaSax.com. Just click on this link and choose the “7* FG Special” in the “choose option” drop down menu next to Facing/Model. *Special Note: Brian just let me know that they will also be offering an exact copy of the original JA (Joe Allard) 5 Otto Link Reso Chamber for you guys that are always complaining that you can’t find tenor mouthpieces in smaller tip openings!Yeah!!
Brian has said he has about 750 saxophone mouthpieces in his collection and that he would put 20 of those mouthpieces in the “holy grail” category. He is hoping to release reproductions of many of these “holy grail” saxophone mouthpieces in the near future which I am very excited about! Stay tuned…….
If you try a GetASax GS RESO FG Special tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thoughts, comments or questions on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
