The most common question I get asked on this blog and in emails is “Steve, which mouthpiece is the best?” “Which one should I buy”. I probably get 3-4 emails a week asking that question. I always feel bad because I wish there was a simple answer to that. The truth is that many of the mouthpieces I review are great. Any of them would sound amazing if I played them for awhile. I haven’t found one that blows the others away. Even if I did……….each person is different and one I think is the best for me, you might totally hate. As an example, all 9 of the mouthpieces below are great playing alto mouthpieces. I would have no problem playing any of them. All of them are different in there own way but all of them play well and are in tune. Some are brighter, some are darker, some are louder, some prettier sounding, some are fatter sounding, some are more focused, some remind me of Cannonball, some of Phil Woods, some of Sanborn…………… The mouthpiece you like the sound of best and that you can play comfortably is the best one for you.
The mouthpieces I like the best are the ones that I form a connection with. It’s more than just feeling comfortable with it. It’s like I feel like the mouthpiece is just an extension of me. What ever I think of and try to play just happens on the mouthpiece. When I have that kind of connection I love it. I feel like I can play 10 times better than I usually do. That connection very rarely happens the minute I play a mouthpiece (Although once in awhile it does……) but it can happen hours or days later as I play it over and over.
OK, So here is a side by side clip comparison of 9 alto mouthpieces that I have on my shelf right now. I have a V16 refaced by Brian Powell with a super long 23 MM facing curve, an Aizen Jazz Master 6, a Ted Klum Acoustimax .080, an Aizen NY Jazz 6, a Mouthpiece Cafe NYC 6, a modern Meyer refaced by the late Jon Van Wie, a Theo Wanne Gaia 6 and a Aizen SO 6. I have played all of these mouthpieces for many hours. The Aizens are the latest that I just received last week.
In each clip, I’m playing a similar idea. The D Major scale, a little blues riff and some bebop lines from my “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale” book. Nothing fancy just a simple line so perhaps you can hear better how the mouthpieces sound next to each other. I’m using a 2 1/2 Ishimori Woodstone reed on all the mouthpieces and a Vandoren Optimum ligature. I’m trying really hard to play the same from clip to clip so you can judge by the sound and not just by what I’m playing.
I’m hoping this series of clips will help some of you better decide which mouthpiece is for you. Of course……..you never know until you get it and try it. I’ve written some of my initial thought below each mouthpiece. I will add to those or change them as I listen to the clips more. Please feel free to write any comments or questions you might have below. Thanks, Steve
Vandoren V16 .080 refaced by Brian Powell
Fat spread sound with smooth articulation. Kind of fuzzy around the edges of the tone.
Modern Meyer .075 refaced by JVW
Clear and brighter with a hollowness to the sound. Has a sharpness and clarity to the sound.
LAW MCB Alto Mouthpiece .080 tip
Brighter very centered sound. Laserbeam type focus to the tone.
Aizen Jazz Master 7
A little darker fatter more spread sound with smooth articulation. A round full somewhat smokey tone.
Aizen NY Jazz 7
Nice lively bright bebop type of sound. Nice resistance and dryness to the sound.
Aizen SO 7
A little darker super compact clear and focused sound. Super free blowing.
Mouthpiece Cafe Resin NYC 6
Bright but with a nice roundness and soft edges to the tone. Free blowing.
Ted Klum Acoustimax .080 tip
Thick medium bright sound with character to the tone. Nice resistance to blow against.
Theo Wanne Gaia 6
Brighter tone with a nice character and evenness throughout the horn. Some resistance when blowing.
Let me know what you think below. I am always very interested to hear others views and opinions. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer…………(just don’t ask me which is the best one that is right for you) Steve
Thanks for posting this Steve, it really puts these brutes up against each other. You seem to have a pretty similar tone on alto as I do and a pretty similar setup (I play on a CE winds Classic which is to the Reference 54 as an Antigua is to the SA80 II).
I have been long contemplating buying a new mpc, and this really helps. I personally preferred your tone a bit more on the JVW Meyer and the Acoustimax, but I could tell that you truly do like the GAIA 8 better because it sounded a bit closed when you played on the 6 on both clips (including your review clip) and I actually liked the tone of the 8.
Do you personally feel like refaced pieces play more comfortably when refaced to suit your needs than stock mouthpieces, even if they are incredible?
I actually sold that 8. I did like it better but I felt like it was more open than I like. Maybe if I just stuck with it and didn’t try all these other smaller tips I would have gotten used to it more. Yes, refaced pieces play much better than the original without a doubt but………….I would never have a mouthpiece refaced that you consider incredible! Big mistake! What you like about the mouthpiece and what you think is incredible about it most likely is tied to the flaw in it if there is one. What I suggest is getting another piece that is like the one you have and having that refaced and see if it can beat the one you have.
I think I liked the Mouthpiece Cafe the best, but I could be biased as that’s what I played on until switching to a Drake NY.
I wish I still had the Drake NY I tried. That’s another piece that I played that I regret not keeping. I would have liked to see it in this line up.
Steve, my personal alto mpc is the TW Gaia 6 and to be honest I think your clip doesn’t do justice to it, it’s probably the reed that’s not the optimum fit for it. Using the same reed on all these mpsc wouldn’t make much sense to me, since they probably have very different facings. Anyway, much to my surprise, I did prefer your sound on the V16, it’s much fuller and richer. My second favorite was the LAW, which sang very nicely. To my ears, some of the others sounded a little “dead” in comparison, especially the Acoustimax and the Aizen SO.
Yeah, I hear what your saying about the reed. On the other hand I have done clips before with different reeds and people say they don’t know if what they are hearing is the mouthpiece or the reed change. The 2 1/2 worked well on most of the mouthpiece. It was a little soft on the Gaia and the Aizen SO. You can here a harder reed on the SO on the Aizen SO review. The reed felt a touch hard on the Acoustimax for me.It was perfect on all the rest.
i liked the JVW Meyer the best…it had pretty much everything that i like in the sound and sounds like a very versatile piece…..could play ballads or full on funk! JVw’S Work was amazing!! BUT TO BE FAIR YOU SOUND GREAT ON ALL OF THEM!
Vandoren,Theo Wanne and Mouthpiece Cafe.
Blend these together into 1 mouthpiece, and I believe
that would be “perfect” lol
To be honest,you sound great on all and the “best” IMO
on the Mouthpiece Cafe model. (I played a Morgan for years,so I’m prejudice)
Ahh! The search never ends
I feel like my new JVW Meyer is sorta a blend of those 3. Has a nice mix of aspects of all 3.
I like v16 compared to all. Just nice.
Mouthpiece Cafe, Aizen NY Jazz & Theo Wanne Gaia, in that order. I like the “brighter, with rounded sound” concept, which seems to provide an excellent balance. Some mouthpieces just didn’t quite have this – perhaps a little too mellow or safely one- dimensional.
Cool. I have the Mouthpiece Cafe mouthpiece still also. I’ll have to try that one again. It’s been sitting in my mouthpiece drawer for a while………………..I really liked that one when I first got it. You nailed the description. I call it bright but fat sounding. That’s how I thing of them. The Gaia is a bit dryer sounding than the Mouthpiece Cafe piece.
Steve, you have no idea how useful this is. If there was a website like this comparing about 50 of the most common or most sought-after pieces, lai out like this, it would be a godsend. thankyou.
i think your brian powell V16 sounds great but i think what does it for me is the aizen jazz master and the n.y. with the jazz master just having that bit more richness to the tone than the n.y. cheers mike.