I sent Joe Giardullo an email asking if I could review one of his mouthpieces.  Joe sent me an email back asking a bunch of questions.  What was I looking for?  What sax did I play? What tone or sound concept was I going for?……..I really wasn’t looking for anything but was just curious about his mouthpieces.

Soprano Planet Missing Link Soprano Sax Mouthpiece

We emailed back and forth a bit and Joe got a bit of an idea of what I liked I guess because I received a “Missing Link” in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  It’s been a crazy month so to be honest it has been sitting on my desk for the last 2 weeks.  On Monday I decided to give it a play.

The mouthpiece looks great.  The table, rails and tip all look even and perfect. It has a rollover baffle that descends smoothly to a medium chamber.  I call the area at the bottom of the baffle the chamber. The hole going into the bore I call the throat.  The Missing Link’s chamber is larger and deeper than a Riffault and Selmer Super Session that I have on hand. The throat is slightly smaller than my customized Riffault and larger than the Super Session. The throat looks to be almost egg shaped rather than perfectly round.

Here is what Joe Giardullo says about the Missing Link mouthpiece on the Soprano Planet website:

“The genesis of the Missing Link was my desire to create a piece that would have some of the characteristics of the best “slant signature” Links and also the best characteristics of the rare “squared oval” design of the early Babbitt Links.

The throat is large but not huge, the chamber is medium and the piece plays with a beautiful glow, it jumps throughout the range and it plays with a light, even resistance from bottom through the altissimo.

The roof has a very carefully designed, long rollover-style baffle, but it is so integrated as to be almost unnoticeable to the eye.

The end result is a revelation. I could tell you about it but here is what a few recent clients wrote about their “Missing Link”………….(you can visit the site to read the many reviews)

Soprano Planet Missing Link Soprano Sax Mouthpiece

I played the Missing Link with a Vandoren Java 3 1/2 reed that I had been playing on my Theo Wanne Gaia mouthpiece.  There are no tip opening marks on the mouthpiece but the 3 1/2 reed played perfectly on it.  I emailed Joe later and he told me it was a .057 tip opening.

I really loved this mouthpiece.  It has a sweet singing tone to it.  The intonation on it was about as perfect as I have seen on a soprano mouthpiece.  I have never played a Otto Link Slant soprano mouthpiece so I can’t talk about how it compares.  The tone was nice and crisp while still being round and full sounding to me.  It is darker and more round sounding then my Gaia that I have been playing for the last year. Because it has a  smaller tip at .057 and doesn’t get the volume of the larger tipped Gaia but I really loved the tone and roundness of it.

On a side note,  Joe told me that he decided to go with the smaller .057 tip because he has found that Yamaha 62 sopranos accept air differently than a lot of horns and that blowing too much air through them doesn’t really work with them.  You have to have a  mouthpiece with a certain balance to really make the Yamaha 62′s really sing………I found that interesting as I had never heard that before.

I recorded this clip with the soprano bell pointed right at the microphone.  It was about two feet from the mic.  I have never been totally happy with the soprano recordings because recording from the bell can make some notes have a different timbre and tone.  It can also sound brighter when recording this way.  Even having said all that, I am pretty happy with the sound on this recording.  Yesterday I played it in a large hall for about 6 hours and it sounded killer in there with the natural reverb.

Soprano Planet Missing Link Soprano Sax Mouthpiece

If your interested in trying one of these mouthpieces yourself, visit Soprano Planet and talk to Joe Giardullo yourself.  He will be more than happy to set you up with the perfect mouthpiece for your soprano saxophone.  Thanks so much to Joe for sending me this “Missing Link” to review.  This one is staying with me………………

Soprano Planet Missing Link Soprano Sax Mouthpiece

Ishimori Woodstone Hard Rubber Soprano 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 soprano sax mouthpiece is another  example of Ishimori’s beautiful work. It has a perfect looking facing curve and tip. The baffle  slopes straight down to a small sized chamber.  The chamber looks to be a similar size as my Selmer Super Session soprano mouthpiece (It also looks similar to a Lamberson FMaj7 I reviewed a few months ago)  The hole at the end of the chamber is small like the Super Session but it opens up to a larger bore area where it slides on the cork of the soprano.

 This is a great example of an easy to play soprano sax mouthpiece. The sound is crisp and brilliant.  It reminds me of the sound I got from a Lamberson FMaj7 soprano mouthpiece I played and reviewed here a  few months ago.  The response is immediate when I was playing it.  Usually, I have to play a soprano mouthpiece a bit to get used to it but this one was so easy to play that I just put it on and went for it.

Ishimori Woodstone Hard Rubber Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece

I played on a Vandoren Java #3 soprano reed on the clip below.  I tried a 3 1/2 at first but it was too hard and stiff for me.  The 3 played great.  The smaller chamber really focuses the sound to a laserbeam type focus.   You can hear that each note as a strong core to it.  The recording has some variances in tone but this is more because of recording the soprano from the bell more than an affect of the mouthpiece.

The intonation was also great as it has been on every Ishimori mouthpiece I have tried so far.

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 clip below contact Sax-ccessories and give them a try.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.  If you have any questions feel free to post them also and I will be happy to answer them.   Thanks, Steve

Ishimori Woodstone Hard Rubber Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece

Lamberson F Major 7 Soprano Sax Mouthpiece

This mouthpiece doesn’t have any numbers on it but I am told that it is a .070 tip.  It has what I would consider a medium high baffle that ends in a squeezed circular chamber.  The chamber is quite a bit smaller than my Theo Wanne Gaia mouthpiece.

The Lamberson F Major 7 played easily with a Vandoren Java #3 reed.  It has a nice center and focus to the tone because of the higher baffle.  The intonation was great.  It had a sweetness to the sound that I really loved.  Also, the notes have a certain depth and thickness to them that I really liked.  This mouthpiece is more resistant than the Gaia but like have said in other posts,  this is a healthy nice resistance that allows the player to shape and mold the sound.   I recorded this about 2-3 feet in front of my soprano bell.  I’m not totally convinced that this is the best way to record soprano because the different notes have a different timbre depending on what’s coming out the bell at the mic but that’s what I’m doing until I find a better way.

If you like the sound of this mouthpiece check out  http://lambersonmouthpieces.com/ .  I’m not sure if Fred Lamberson is still making mouthpieces but if you are lucky enough to run across one give it a try!

The tune for this month (December 2010) is  “My Favorite Things” by Richard Rogers.  Of course for sax players, probably the most famous recording is that of John Coltrane’s.  It’s hard to even play the tune without having thoughts of Coltrane on it.  I recorded this version with a track from Jamey Aebersold’s Volume 90 Odd Times.  This is a great Aebersold  to have because it has some common tunes on it that are played in odd time signatures.  This version I am playing on is in 11/4.  You would think this would be hard but it seems like the tune just seems to fit perfectly with this time signature.  For most of the solo I’m playing around with some blues scales,approach notes,3 tonic chromatisisms and the dorian scale.   If you have any interest in any of these sounds or ideas feel free to check out my lessons on these subjects found at my lesson store. I’m using a Theo Wanne Gaia 7 soprano mouthpiece with a Vandoren Java #3 1/2 reed on a Yamaha YSS-62 soprano saxophone. There’s a tiny bit of a squeak in the sound because of a dry reed when I start but that soon goes away as the reed gets wet.   Enjoy!  Let me know what you think.    Steve

The design of this mouthpiece has been modeled after the Otto Link Slant model, with a few modifications to help facilitate better stability of pitch and greater projection.  The floor slope has been raised and extended. Amazing warmth and depth to the tone with a great expressive range.  Featuring beautifully under cut walls and a chamber dimension larger than the shank diameter with a carefully contoured roll over baffle.

Drake Son of Slant Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece

This mouthpiece has a .065 tip opening which is what I prefer on soprano.  It has a pretty large chamber in it.  Larger than most of the soprano mouthpiece I have tried.  The only mouthpiece I have tried with a bigger chamber was a Morgan 6LC mouthpiece that I tried once. The bigger chamber gives it a bigger fatter sound in my opinion.  Not bright at all, more on the dark side of things in my opinion.  At the same time it has a nice ring to the tone that I really enjoyed.  If I had to pick one word to sum up the sound of this mouthpiece it would be “sweet”.   Check out the Drake website for more info on this soprano mouthpiece.   Let me know what you think.    Steve

When I first opened the package my first thought was that this mouthpiece had a larger chamber.  I was a bit nervous when I saw this because I haven’t really dug large chambered soprano mouthpieces up to this date.  Some of them were good but just not my thing. I prefer the focused tone and projection of a small chambered soprano mouthpiece.   It was larger than my Selmer Soloist and Riffault mouthpieces but not as large as some of the other large chambered soprano mouthpieces I have tried.  I was curious to try it.

Theo Wanne Gaia Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece

When I played it, I was surprised to find that my Vandoren Java 3 reed felt too soft on it. I have been using these on my Riffault soprano mouthpiece that is a .065 and they offer a nice resistance. On the Gaia they felt softer. I opened up a new one and put that on and it was a little better. If I buy one of these I think I might have to go with 3 1/2 Java reed.  From the moment I played it I loved it.  It has a focused sound that is midway between bright and dark but the bigger chamber gives it a nice fatness and thickness to the sound that I loved.  The baffle is a high rollover  which means that’s it’s high up near the tip and then rolls down into the chamber.  The rollover baffle gives the mouthpiece some nice punch and power.  The intonation is as perfect as I have seen on my Yamaha YSS-62 Soprano.  I was actually surprised how in tune it was.  Every note was right on.

I played it for 5 minutes before I recorded this clip and it was a joy to play. Very easy for me to play.  The low notes sound fat and kind of grainy to me which I love and the high notes are controlled, fat and thick sounding.  It’s a great mix of the full fat sound that projects and fills the room.   In this clip, I’m messing around with the changes to “There Will Never Be Another You”.  I felt right at home with this mouthpiece. I’m hoping I can buy this one I am trying. If not, I will be buying one soon enough. Great work Theo!  Check out www.theowanne.com to get one yourself and watch the video of Theo talking about this mouthpiece!

Warburton Soprano Mouthpiece

• Appearance:

The tip and rails of this mouthpiece are perfect.  The tip curve is slightly different than the shape of the Vandoren Java reeds I use but it makes no difference in the way it plays.  The baffle looks to be slightly lower than my Selmer Super Session and the chamber slightly larger. It’s a little smaller than my other soprano mouthpiece on the outside and my Vandoren Optimum ligature wouldn’t fit on it.  I had to use a LAW ligature that I had in my ligature box.

• Tone:

It seems to have a fatter bigger sound to me than the other soprano mouthpiece I have tried.  I think the bigger chamber allows this to happen. It is in no way a large chambered mouthpiece but it is slightly larger than  others I have played.

• Intonation:

Nothing stuck out intonation wise.  It was good and within the normal spectrum for this Yamaha soprano.

• Control:

This was a very easy mouthpiece to play and control.  It is very even sounding up and down the horn.

• Volume:

Volume was great on this mouthpiece also.  It played soft to very loud easily. Up high I had to be careful that the high notes didn’t get to bright and higher volumes but that is normal for this soprano.

I really enjoyed playing this mouthpiece.   The tone has a nice ring to it.  From what I have heard the tip opening of this 6J is a .065.  It is very easy to play with a Java 2 1/2 reed.   This piece is a lot easier to play in the second register than my SS J. It seems like there is less resistance to it than the Super Session. Maybe it’s just the smaller tip opening.  I haven’t seen many of these around lately so if you are lucky enough to stumble upon one  give it a try.   I’m fiddlin’ around with  ”On the Sunny Side of the Street” on this clip.  Let me know what you think.    Steve

I really liked this soprano mouthpiece a lot also. It has a more focused sound to it but I don’t hear it as being too bright or getting thin at all.  The intonation was great on it as well as the notes being even up and down the horn. I think the ceramic material gives a little bit more of a ring to the sound than you get from a hard rubber mouthpiece.

I really liked this soprano mouthpiece a lot. It has a fat thick sound to it that I really enjoyed.  The intonation was great on it  as well as the notes being even up and down the horn.  I think the ceramic material gives a little bit more of a ring to the sound than you get from a hard rubber mouthpiece.