Today I am reviewing another great mouthpiece by Rafael Navarro. This is a metal silver plated Bebop Special model. I have reviewed most of Rafael Navarro’s tenor models in the past but I’m always excited when I can try a new one! The Navarro Bebop Special hard rubber model is the mouthpiece that Bob Mintzer plays and I didn’t even know there was a metal version of the Bebop Special until now. I have a Skype student I see once a week that bought it and played it for a lesson. I asked what his new mouthpiece was and when he said it was a Navarro Bebop Special I assumed he was making a mistake and it was some other model as I had never heard of a metal BBS mouthpiece. He was correct and it is indeed a Navarro Bebop Special model metal mouthpiece.
Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Silver Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
My student was nice enough to lend me this mouthpiece for this review for which I am very thankful. As with all Navarro mouthpieces, the craftsmanship is excellent. The silver plating on the mouthpiece was so perfect and reflective that I found it a bit hard to take pictures of. (I kept seeing myself in the reflections on the mouthpiece taking the picture……..)
The body of the mouthpiece has ridges in it that are reminiscent of a few Freddie Gregory metal mouthpieces I have owned over the years. I’m not sure if the ridges serve a purpose in any way sonically but they look kind of cool. (Although a pain to clean when you have to get gook out them for the picture………..)
Like all Navarro mouthpieces, The table, rails, tip and baffle are about as perfect as you will ever see. This is a used mouthpiece so there is a little bit of wear on the table but the rest of the mouthpiece looks perfect.
Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Silver Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Navarro Bebop Special tenor mouthpiece is a 7* tip opening which is a .105. It is about the same outer dimension size as an Otto Link metal mouthpiece. The bore and chamber of the BBS (Bebop Special)was also similar in size to a metal Otto Link.
Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Silver Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I tried a bunch of reeds on the Bebop Special but found the Rigotti Gold 3 Light to be the best for me. A Selmer 404 silver ligature fit perfect so I used one of those also. The baffle has a flat part near the tip that descends toward the chamber in a straight angle. It hits a semi-circle shaped edge and then descends at a greater angle into the chamber.
Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Silver Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
As I first looked at the Bebop Special, I found myself thinking that it would probably lean to the brighter side because of that first stage of the baffle. I was surprised when playing it when I found that it was a lot darker than I thought it would be. When I pushed it, the tone became brighter but sort of leveled off at a midrange point if that makes sense. Many times, I talk about mouthpieces being dark or bright or right in the middle. The Navarro Bebop Special metal mouthpiece sounded really dark when played quietly. It was lush and full and robust………but pretty dark. When I pushed it, however, it would kind of creep up to that middle point between dark and bright for me. It wouldn’t go full blown bright like many pieces do but seemed to stay at that halfway point between dark and bright.
Now, that being said, on the day I recorded this, I was really in love with this mouthpiece. I probably played for 4-5 hours and I was coming up with all sorts of creative ideas. I was really digging the sound, which is what inspires my creativity. I was going back and forth between the two sides of my brain, “I have to buy this” and “You have enough mouthpiece already!” The fact was that I was intrigued by this mouthpiece. It has what I would consider a very unique sound to it……….
Although it doesn’t get overly bright it is plenty powerful in a midrange kind of way. The low end is full, textured and full of character. The high end and altissimo is round and fat but not overly bright also. The evenness between notes was very good and inspired me to play fast as the notes blended together so smoothly and evenly. The only thing that slowed me down was how good the held out notes sounded……….
Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Silver Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Metal Tenor Mouthpiece was a complete joy to play. If you like the sound of the clip below and the mouthpiece catches your interest then give it a try. You can contact Rafael on his website. Thanks again to my Skype student who let me try this…….he knows who he is……… (If you ever want to sell it let me know…………)
If you order one from Rafael, tell him Steve sent you………….
Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Rafael Navarro Bebop Special Silver Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
