Marmaduke Hard Rubber Alto Sax Mouthpiece

These Marmaduke alto saxophone mouthpieces look great.  The tip and rails are thin and even.  The tip matches the shape of my reeds perfectly.  I used a Ishimori Woodstone 3 reed on these clips and both mouthpieces played great with that reed. The mouthpieces have a slight rollover baffle.  The chamber is about the size of a medium Meyer chamber.

Marmaduke Hard Rubber Alto Sax Mouthpiece

I played the .072 tip mouthpiece first.  This was the 5.  It had a nice crisp brightness to the sound.  Even though the notes were bright and tone was thick and fat in my opinion.  It reminded me of that vintage “Meyer” type brightness and power.  A nice compact powerful tone.

The 6 (.078 tip opening)  had  a slightly darker sound to it for me.  The two clips below are a good example of how increasing the tip size by just .006 can change the sound.  Many times moving to a larger tip can make the sound a bit darker and more open sounding.  The tone sounded a bit rounder and sweeter to me than the 5 tip opening.  The 5 seemed a bit brighter and more aggressive to my ears.

Marmaduke Hard Rubber Alto Sax Mouthpiece

If your interested in trying one of these mouthpieces yourself, visit Marmaduke Mouthpieces and talk to Alex Miyatake yourself or you can also get them at Saxccessories.com.    Thanks so much to Alex for sending me these alto mouthpieces to review.

Marmaduke HR .072 Alto Mouthpiece

Marmaduke HR .078 Alto Mouthpiece

Phil-Tone Solstice Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Phil-Tone Solstice alto mouthpiece looks great right out of the box.  The table, tip and rails look perfect.  The engraving and logo is nothing fancy but it does the job.  It has a slight rollover baffle the declines into what I would consider a small to medium chamber.  The side walls are straight and not scooped like many Meyer type mouthpieces are.  The baffles rollover is right near the tip and very slight.  It does it’s job and then gets out of the way.

Here is a description of the mouthpiece from the Phil-Tone website:

Phil-Tone Solstice Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

I really enjoyed this mouthpieces a lot.  I didn’t read the description on Phil’s site before I played it but the first thing I thought when I played it was “Paul Desmond”.   I actually went into “Take 5″ on the clip.  Later when I went to his site and read that it was modeled after a west coast Paul Desmond type vibe I smiled.  Phil did a great job with this.

The tone is light and on the brighter side.  It does indeed lean towards that Paul Desmond type sound.  When I played it I felt like I should be smoking a cigarette and drinking a Martini  (I’ve seen pictures of Desmond doing this).  The tone has a dryness to it just like you associate with that west coast sound.   The intonation was great and the sound was nice and even throughout the range of the horn.  I did feel  that if I pushed the air too much it would get too bright and edgy for my tastes.  It reminded me of how a Selmer Soloist blows.  If you play soft,medium and loud it is beautiful but if you push it too super loud it can get really bright.  You have to really push it to the  max to hear that though.  To be honest, if you are in to that west coast Paul Desmond sound you probably wouldn’t push it like that anyways…………..

This mouthpiece doesn’t get as big and fat sounding as some other alto mouthpieces I have played but it does what it does really well.  To put it in perspective, I have played other mouthpieces that have reminded me of a Cannonball type sound.  Big, fat and  loud.  Imagine Cannonball playing next to Desmond…………..  One isn’t better than the other. They are just different.  What you like and want to sound like depends on your personal preferences and tastes.

I have played hundreds of alto mouthpieces and this is the closest to a Desmond sound I have ever come.  Well done Phil!

These mouthpieces are very reasonably priced.  Right now, I have 4 of my students playing on Phil’s pieces.   If you like the  Phil-Tone Solstice alto saxophone sound then visit Phil Engleman’s website and check one out for yourself! http://www.phil-tone.com/.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve

Phil-Tone Solstice Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

SAXZ  “Vintage 1950″ Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

This mouthpiece looks great.  The tip and rails were even and well cut.  The baffle was a rollover baffle that declines smoothly into a medium size chamber.

I’m not sure how much of a 1950′s vibe that I felt with this mouthpiece.  It was  a very powerful, full and bright sounding mouthpiece.  The intonation was good and it was very easy to play throughout the range of the horn.

Here are some words about the mouthpiece from Sax-ccessories site that sells them.:

SAXZ  “Vintage 1950″ Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

You can hear the brightness and edge in the sound in the audio clip below.  For me,  it had more of a modern sound although, when I think 1950′s alto players I guess the names that come to mind are Paul Desmond, Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, Bud Shank, Art Pepper and Charlie Parker,  I think most of those guys were probably in there twenties or thirties during the 50′s.  When I think of those players sounds I do think of a brighter alto sound so I can see where this could have a 50′s vibe to it.  It certainly could be a great lead alto mouthpiece because of the brightness and power it has.

“Sax-ccessories” in CA is carrying SaxZ mouthpieces and some other accessories. Brian at Sax-ccessories was kind enough to let me borrow this mouthpiece and a few others to review. If you like the SaxZ 1950 alto mouthpiece sound visit his website and check one out for yourself! http://www.sax-ccessories.com/ .

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve

SAXZ  “Vintage 1950″ Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Kanee Vintage New York Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

I received a 6 and an 8 tip opening for these alto  saxophone mouthpieces.  Each saxophone mouthpiece looked great out of the box.  The rails were even and thin and the tip rails matched up to the shape of the reed tip perfectly.  These seem to be made from a different hard rubber than the Kanee custom models that I have reviewed before (At least, it looks different anyways.)  The custom series hard rubber is shiny and smooth whereas the vintage series has a texture to it.  They look similar to the texture and feel of the Aizen mouthpieces that I have reviewed previously.  They actually have a bit of that vintage hard rubber smell to them.  I’m not sure what that smell is from but I have smelled it here and there on a variety of vintage mouthpieces.  If you put the Kanee mouthpieces up to your nose you can smell a similar smell.  The New York model has a medium baffle that slides down into a medium chamber.  The inside does indeed look similar to a New York Meyer type of baffle and chamber.

I played on the 6 tip opening first with a Woodstone 3 reed. The tone was bright and focused sounding.  It had plenty of volume when I pushed it and had a tone that was reminiscent of a great bebop sound to my ears.  It reminded me of a Phil Woods, Richie Cole type of sound.  More on the brighter side of the tone spectrum.  I like how the notes really sung out and seemed to resonate fully.

Kanee Vintage New York Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The 8 tip opening was of course a bit more open but it was strange because the reed that I used on the 6 didn’t seem any harder on it.  Usually, when you jump up a couple of tip sizes a reed will feel more stiff.  In this case, I could tell it was more open but the reed played with a similar stiffness and resistance to the 6.  I think there is a difference in the way the facing curve is laid out between them.

I ended up choosing a Rigotti Gold 3 light for the 8.  To me the 8 could be played louder because of the larger tip.  When a tip opening is bigger, you can blow a lot more air through it when you want which will make it louder.  The sound was more spread and not as bright as the 6 tip opening but still plenty loud when you pushed it.  The 6 tip opening had a brighter more laser beam type tone and the 8 had a louder but more spread  tone to my ears.

Keep a look out for the Kanee Vintage series.  They should be out on ebay and specific dealers around the world.  These are a great alternative for a vintage Meyer type sound without the vintage Meyer price tag!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.  if you try one of these Kanee mouthpieces yourself feel free to write a review with a star rating below.   Thanks, Steve

Kanee Vintage New York 6 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Kanee Vintage New York 8 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

SaxZ David Sanborn Model Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Man, I wish I had this mouthpiece when I was a kid.  When I was in junior high school, one of the first alto players I listened to was David Sanborn.  I remember going to the library and getting the album “Voyeur”.  That was the first time I listened to Dave Sanborn.  It blew my mind because his sound was so different than the alto players I had listened to until then.   I remember trying to play along with him and copy his sound.  I spent many hours each day trying to get down his licks and sound.   I did get many of his licks down but his sound was always very elusive for me.  I knew nothing about mouthpieces back then and had no idea that there were different kinds.  I didn’t know that you could sound different by choosing another mouthpiece.  I actually remember going through a stage where I was playing a Caravan mouthpiece for classical auditions and I was still trying to get that Sanborn sound out of it.  That was rough! (this Caravan had one of the darkest tones) The reason I would have loved this mouthpiece is that it propels you into the neighborhood of  that raw Sanborn sound without too much effort.

I feel like the “Sanborn” sound is more of an extreme sound tone wise.  It is very raw,bright,edgy and tough sounding.  It’s right in your face.  What Michael Brecker did for the tenor sound,  Sanborn did for the alto sound.  It’s not a middle of the road type of sound.  If you are going for  that type of sound you have to be bold and unapologetic about it.  You have to play with confidence!

Here are some words about the mouthpiece from SaxZ:

The mouthpiece does indeed look to be a replica of a metal Dukoff mouthpiece.  As you can see in the pictures, there is a slight blemish on the baffle.  I’m not sure if it came from the factory this way.  The baffle is high and even and angles down into a medium small chamber.  The high baffle and smallish chamber are what speed up the air and give a brighter more powerful sound to the tone.

SaxZ David Sanborn Model Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Personally, I don’t play with this type of alto sound.  I haven’t played too much of this style since high school when I started getting into Phil Woods and Cannonball Adderley.   Recording the clip below did take me back though.  You can check out the clip and if you like that sound and style then you should give this mouthpiece a try.  I have to warn you that this clip is a bit louder and brighter than others I have done.

“Sax-ccessories” in CA is carrying SaxZ mouthpieces and some other accessories. Brian at Sax-ccessories was kind enough to let me borrow this mouthpiece and a few others to review this week.  If you like the David Sanborn sound visit his website and check one out for yourself!  http://www.sax-ccessories.com/ .

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve

SaxZ David Sanborn Model Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Ishimori Woodstone Super Custom Hard Rubber Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Over the past few months I have heard of Ishimori Woodstone mouthpieces from a number of players on the web. They were all raving about how good these mouthpieces were which really peaked my curiosity. I had a problem though, when I searched around for these mouthpieces I couldn’t find them anywhere except for the Ishimori site in Japan and the whole site was in Japanese (I am not fluent in Japanese).  I gave up after that but then a month later I heard another player raving about them again.  This time I decided to try contacting Ishimori directly through their website. I sent them an email asking about their mouthpieces and a few days later received a courteous response from Norikiyo Yaguchi who handles Overseas transactions for Mr. Ishimori. He was nice enough to send me 5 mouthpieces to review- 2 alto, 2 tenor and one soprano mouthpiece.

The is a beautiful hard rubber mouthpiece.  It has a 6 tip opening.  I’m not exactly sure what that measures but it plays like is around a .072-.076 to me.   It has a perfect looking facing curve and tip. The baffle is medium and slopes down into the medium chamber.  If you look at the baffle from the front it looks to be curved on the sides.  Like the baffle is the bottom part of a circle if that helps. The sides of the baffle roll up smoothly into the curved sidewalls.  There’s not an edge or flaw anywhere inside the chamber.  Everything is smooth and silky.

I used the same Woodstone #3 reed that I played on the Woodstone  A11 review I did earlier and at first it was a little stiff to play.  After a few minutes though it really opened up and played fantastic for me. I’ve played two great New York Meyers in my life and I would say that this played very similar to those two I played.  It has a nice resistance to it while blowing.  The resistance is just enough to let you shape the sound and mold it.  I notice that I tend to bend notes and play more blues on mouthpieces with that perfect resistance.  I do that in the clip below.

I had trouble describing the sound as bright or dark.  It was sort of in the middle for me.  Kind of a Phil Woods and Art Pepper meets Cannonball kind of sound to it.  If I had to think of a modern player I would say Jesse Davis.  I guess where it takes you is up to your own personal sound.  I was left feeling like I needed to play it some more.  I thought it sounded killer as I played it but I had this feeling like there was a connection between the mouthpiece and I that could really take me to another place.  I felt very at home with this mouthpiece.  Very comfortable.  The first lick I play on the clip kills me.  I just love that sound.

The intonation was right on all over the horn.  The great thing I have noticed about the resistance I talked about earlier is that it allows me to play with the intonation much more easily.  For example, my middle E on my Selmer Reference Alto is very sharp. About 25-30 cents if I don’t adjust it. When a mouthpiece has some resistance to blow against then I find it easier to bring that note down into pitch when I need to.  All the other notes on the horn were close to perfect for me.

Ishimori Woodstone Super Custom Hard Rubber Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

I hope to have some more clips and reviews up in the next few days of the rest of the Ishimori mouthpieces I have so stay tuned for those. Every mouthpiece and reed that I have received from the Ishimori company has been perfect. They pay attention to the smallest details and it is obvious when you see and play their products.  Believe it or not, I have played about 40 of their Woodstone reeds and haven’t found a bad one yet. They all played great right out of the box!  That is certainly a testament to Ishimori’s quality control and customer service!

“Sax-ccessories” in CA is carrying Ishimori reeds, mouthpieces and some other accessories. It is the only shop at present where people can buy the reeds and the mouthpieces in the U.S.  http://www.sax-ccessories.com/  .  If you like the clips below contact Sax-ccessories and give them a try.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.  Thanks, Steve

Ishimori Woodstone Hard Rubber 6 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Ishimori Woodstone A11 Silver Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Over the past few months I have heard of Ishimori Woodstone mouthpieces from a number of players on the web.  They were all raving about how good these mouthpieces were which really peaked my curiosity.  I had a problem though, when I searched around for these mouthpieces I couldn’t find them anywhere except for the Ishimori site in Japan and the whole site was in Japanese.  (I am not fluent in Japanese)  I gave up after that but then a month later I heard another player raving about them again.  This time I decided to try contacting Ishimori directly through their website.  I sent them an email asking about their mouthpieces and a few days later received a courteous response from Norikiyo Yaguchi who handles Overseas transactions for Mr. Ishimori.  He was  nice enough to send me 5 mouthpieces to review- 2 alto, 2 tenor and one soprano mouthpiece.  This is the first one I played because it was the first box I opened.

The mouthpiece is beautiful.  It has a perfect looking facing curve and tip.  The baffle is high and slopes to and even edge where it then slopes down into a medium to small chamber.  It has a big black plastic bite plate that came with a mouthpiece patch on it for extra protection.  The bore end of the mouthpiece is covered with black hard rubber that has a scroll type design on it that looks great.  Underneath the black hard rubber end is the metal of the mouthpiece so don’t worry, it won’t break on you.  I am told that they added the hard rubber to soften the sound a bit.

To be honest, when I first saw the baffle on this mouthpiece I made an assumption that I was going to hate it.  I have tried dozens of high baffle mouthpieces that have played horribly.  They would squeak and chirp and sound ridiculously bright.  I was thinking this would be the same with a baffle that high.  I was very surprised when I played it.  It had a brighter powerful sound but it wasn’t overly bright to my ears.  I actually really liked it.  It kind of reminded me of a Warren Hill type of sound.  Kind of a fatter Sanborn type alto sound. Not so bright that you couldn’t play straight ahead but I do think it is great for that smooth jazz kind of sound.  You can hear that I was leaning to that type of sound in the clips below.  I wouldn’t say this mouthpiece is for everyone but if you are looking for a brighter more focused modern alto sound this would be a good choice.

The mouthpiece came with a Woodstone #3 reed on it which was perfect for this mouthpiece.  The first clip has reverb on it.  I always review these high baffle pieces and talk about how they would sound killer with some reverb.  This time,  I thought I would add some just so you could hear what I’m talking about.  The recording is nothing fancy but I just recorded it with Garageband on my Mac.  The reverb is just the stock reverb that Garageband uses it doesn’t sound studio quality to me but you can get the idea.    The second clip is from the same recording but is totally dry.   I wanted to add a dry clip so you can compare it to the other mouthpiece review clips on my site which are all dry.   I had to edit both clips to shorten them to under 2 minutes so they are slightly different as I had to edit each one separately.  You can hear on the first clip how this mouthpiece could do well in a smooth jazz type of gig.

Ishimori Woodstone A11 Silver Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

I hope to have some more clips and reviews up in the next few days of the rest of the Ishimori mouthpieces I have so stay tuned for those.   Every mouthpiece and reed that I have received from the Ishimori company has been perfect.  They pay attention to the smallest details and it is obvious when you see and play their products.  Believe it or not, I have played about 40 of their Woodstone reeds and haven’t found a bad one yet.  They all played great right out of the box!

“Sax-ccessories” in CA is carrying Ishimori reeds, mouthpieces and some other accessories. It is the only shop at present where people can buy the reeds and the mouthpieces in the U.S.  http://www.sax-ccessories.com/  .  If you like the clips below contact Sax-ccessories and give them a try.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.   Thanks,   Steve

Ishimori Woodstone A11 Silver Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece with Reverb

Ishimori Woodstone A11 Silver Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Dry-No Effects

“The story really begins with our initial conversation, in which Bird’s daughter Kim and I talked about the venture between RS Berkeley, Drake and Beverly Getz, while sharing stories about the influence her father had on my education and career. After a few conversations, Kim had expressed interest in the project and told me she had Bird’s white mouthpiece in her possession. She offered to host a face-to-face meeting with our team to discuss the project in greater detail and I accepted without hesitation.

With an amazing sense of accomplishment and excitement, I contacted my friend Tim Ries to discuss the magnitude of the situation. After all, Charlie Parker was an icon, personifying the conception of the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist. With Tim’s tireless dedication towards RS Berkeley, I felt it would be valuable to have him accompany us to the meeting. On the other hand, I knew Tim wouldn’t want to miss out on pursuing anything related to Bird.

A gracious host, Kim welcomed Aaron Drake of Drake Mouthpieces, Todd Feldman of RS Berkeley, RS Berkeley Endorser, Tim Ries and myself into her home on a snowy February day. As we sat and talked in Kim’s living room, she politely excused herself for a few minutes and came back stating, “I have something I want to show you.” With a red saxophone case in her hands, she carefully placed it on a coffee table that Bird had once owned. As my heart pounded, we opened the case and discovered Bird’s Super 20 King Alto Saxophone and white mouthpiece. As exhilarating as this was for me as a Charlie Parker fan, we examined every aspect of the case and its contents. We were intrigued to find a number of used reeds played by Bird himself, as well as two neck straps. Although one neck strap was damaged at some point, we were able to see where Bird repaired the strap, tying knots in key areas, providing himself with consistent and accurate horn placement. Considering Parker passed in the fifties, his saxophone and accessories were in meticulous condition. In what ended up becoming a historical event for us, we spent a good part of the day watching, listening and seeing personal Parker family treasures, including videos of Bird playing, a recording he made at the age of sixteen, personal interviews and family photos. One of the most exciting items we observed was an original portrait Bird painted himself. The painting, a portrait of Bird’s late daughter, Pree, was his interpretation of what he envisioned her to look like when she was older. As our five hour meeting came to end, we expressed our sincere appreciation to Kim for sharing her family’s history with us and for providing us with Bird’s white mouthpiece.”

Bird Legend Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Les Silver had Aaron Drake of Drake Mouthpieces copy Bird’s mouthpiece as close as possible.  Les sent me 3 mouthpieces to try a 4* (.060), 5* (.070) and a 6* (.080).   The 4* is the copy of Charlie Parker’s mouthpiece.  The 5* and 6* are adjusted to have bigger tip openings.  I have heard that Charlie Parker had two white mouthpieces.  One was a Runyon 22 and the other was a Brilhart Streamline.   I’m not sure which this is a copy of.

The mouthpiece is white and looks great.  It has a medium baffle that slopes down into a small to medium size  squarish chamber.  The table, tip and rails look great on all three mouthpieces.

The coolest thing about these legend series mouthpieces is knowing that they are replica’s of the original.  I love to close my eyes and think of Parker while I played them.  It’s as close as I will ever get to being in a room with him and trying his mouthpiece.  Of course, that will never happen but I can still dream about it………………..

The sound of this mouthpiece is on the medium bright side and very focused.  The smaller chamber focuses the air and creates the focused tone.  I played the 4* first and I really felt like it pulled me toward that Parker type of bebop tone.  The focus and brightness of it really lets the accents pop right out which is one of the things that Parker was known for.  On both clips I go into a slower ballad type phrase and you can really hear how the tone just sings out.

When I played the 4* I had to use a Rigotti Gold 3 Medium reed.  To be honest, the reed felt a bit soft on it but I didn’t have any harder reeds on me.  When I tried the 5* the same 3 Medium reed was perfect. I loved the way the 4* and 5* played and responded for me.  The 5* had a thicker sound to me and the 4* had a clearer brighter sound to my ears.

Bird Legend Series Alto Sax Mouthpiece

On these sound clips I’m playing bits and pieces of some Charlie Parker tunes.  Ones a blues and I think I play a bit of Anthropology and Kim at times.

Bird Legend Series Alto Sax Mouthpiece 5*

Bird Legend Series Alto Sax Mouthpiece 4*

If you are interested in trying one of these mouthpieces,  here is a list of the Legend Series Dealers around the world.

United States

Ackerman’s Music – Wyckoff, New Jersey
Orlando’s Wind Instruments – El Monte, California
Pro Music Outlet – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Rayburn Music – Boston, Massachussetts
Sax Alley – Windsor, Colorado
Saxquest – St. Louis, Missouri
Tenor Madness – Waterloo, Iowa
USA Horn – Union, New Jersey
Viking Instruments – Circleville, New York

International

De Saxofoonwinkel – Deventer, Netherlands
Gakkido Inc. – Kochi-shi, Japan
Intrada – Kielce, Poland
Long & McQuade – Pickering, Ontario, Canada
Mariachi Saxophones Store – Moscow, Russia
Marmaduke Mouthpieces – Chiba, Japan
Musik Bruhin – Suhr, Switzerland
Saxophon Service – Berlin, Germany
Won Music – Ahnyang, Gyunggi, South Korea

I received a few of these last week and have had a lot of fun playing them since then. The   “16 degree” in the title refers to the angle of the baffle in the mouthpiece. The 16 degree baffle is a lower height in comparison to the 12 degree mouthpieces I reviewed earlier.

Warburton A Series 16 Degree Alto Sax Mouthpiece

The Warburton 16 degree alto mouthpiece looks great. The baffle, rails, chamber and tip are perfect. The sidewalls of the mouthpiece are straight. The tip lines up perfectly with the shape of the reed tip. The beak of the mouthpiece is probably one of the lowest that I have played in all my years. You can really feel the vibrations through the beak of the mouthpiece, even with a patch on it. I really liked that. The beak even felt smaller to me than my soprano mouthpiece. It might take some getting used to for those of you who are playing a mouthpiece with a high beak. I had no problem with it after a few minutes of playing it.

Here is what the Warburton website has to say about this mouthpiece:

“The 16 degree model has the most traditional sound of the three. The sound is warm with a great core. Ideal for the player looking for the warmest and most lyrical sound.

Highly recommended for players of: Jazz “

The mouthpiece has a darker and rounder tone than the 12 degree baffle.  The tone to me seems a bit sweeter, rounder and fuller.  It might lack some of the highs in the sound that the 12 degree has but I think that makes the tone prettier. The baffle in it still gives it some good punch and power.  This was my favorite if I had to choose between the 12 and 16 degree.  I felt more comfortable playing this mouthpiece also as I think it is closer to the sound that I like.   When I was playing it I heard almost a Kenny Garrett type quality in the sound.  I’m not saying you’ll have Kenny Garrett’s sound if you play this mouthpiece but I heard some of that quality in the tone.

Warburton A Series 16 Degree Alto Sax Mouthpiece

Even though this is a lower baffle than the 12 degree, I still feel this would be a great all round mouthpiece to use on alto.  I wouldn’t use it for classical obviously but for pop and jazz  it would be great.  If you want to find out more about these great mouthpieces visit the Warburton Website for more info. Let me know what you think below. Thanks, Steve

I received a few of these last week and have had a lot of fun playing them since then. The  “12 degree” in the title refers to the angle of the baffle in the mouthpiece. The 12 degree baffle is a lower height in comparison to the 8 degree mouthpieces but not as low as the 16 degree.

Warburton A Series 12 Degree Alto Sax Mouthpiece

The Warburton 12 degree alto mouthpiece looks great.  The baffle, rails, chamber and tip are perfect. The sidewalls of the mouthpiece are straight.  The tip lines up perfectly with the shape of the reed tip.  The beak of the mouthpiece is probably one of the lowest that I have played in all my years.  You can really feel the vibrations through the beak of the mouthpiece, even with a patch on it. I really liked that.  The beak even felt smaller to me than my soprano mouthpiece.  It might take some getting used to for those of you who are playing a mouthpiece with a high beak.  I had no problem with it after a few minutes of playing it.

Here is what the Warburton website has to say about this mouthpiece:

“The 12 degree model is a good choice for the player looking for a mouthpiece to cover as many styles as possible. Players can shape the timbre most easily on this piece from a beautiful subtone to a screamin’ R&B solo if needed.

Highly recommended for players of: Studio work and Jazz players looking for a warm sound with more projection “

The mouthpiece has what would consider a brighter sound but not like a Dukoff bright. The brightness is countered by the thickness of the tone.  I don’t normally like mouthpieces on the brighter side for alto but this one was fun to play for me.  At the end of the clip I play a little of “Cherokee”.  It sounds fine in that setting I think.  The tone is easy to manipulate and bend which I really like.  The altissimo and intonation were also very good.

Warburton A Series 12 Degree Alto Sax Mouthpiece

This would be a great mouthpiece for you guys who are looking for a nice all round mouthpiece. I could do a pop gig on this no problem and  I think it would handle the “Sanborn” type sound well.  It would also be great for a straight ahead type gig if you were into that bright alto sound for that.  If you want to find out more about these great mouthpieces visit the Warburton Website for more info. Let me know what you think below. Thanks, Steve