The best think you can do for a link like this is send it to get refaced.  There are many great refacers out there.  They measure your mouthpiece to see how it measures up and then fix it so that it plays as well as it can.  This mouthpiece was refaced by Brian Powell who opened it up to a .115 from it’s original .095.  A friend of mine sent it to me to see what I thought of it.

I have to say upfront that I think this is one of the loudest metal links I have ever played.  This mouthpiece has some serious volume to it.  It’s not that bright kind of loudness that a link with a baffle might have but more of a medium husky kind of volume.  I think because of the .115 tip I could put a lot more air through it than my other .105 and .110 tips.  It felt that way anyways.

I played this mouthpiece for a few hours and it felt really comfortable to play although I did notice that my embouchure was getting mighty tired by the end.  I think I was subconsciously putting more pressure on the reed to push it closer to the tip of the mouthpiece so that it felt more like a .105-.110 tip to me.  That can sometimes happen when you move to a bigger tip.

The mouthpiece has what I consider a brighter than average link sound to it but not overly bright.  Like most mouthpieces with a bigger tip,  it tends to have a bigger more spread sound to it that has a little more of a hollow quality to it. (As opposed to a smaller tip that to me has a more focused, compact and centered sound to it.)  This was a great mouthpiece and I’m glad I had a chance to try it.  I think I will still stick with my .105 tip openings though………..Let me know what you think.

I was trying to keep the recording on the more laid back side because I was afraid I would clip the mic levels.   I really enjoyed playing this piece. For the sample I’m messing around with Sugar.  This piece makes me want to play a tune like that!  Listen………….

They both have substantial baffles in them which gives them some extra power and brightness. the 5 is my favorite to play in my garage with an echo.  It reminds me of my Jon Van Wie Otto Link with a baffle in it. Recording it with the microtrack it sounds a bit bright but I think in a recording studio with some reverb it would sound killer.  I’ve been playing these 3 mouthpieces for the last week trying to decide which one to keep and which ones to sell.  Let me know if you hear a difference in the recordings and have an opinion.
Listen………​

Florida Link 7* no USA (refaced by Theo Wanne?)

Florida Link 5 (refaced to .105 by Brian Powell)

Florida Link 8 (refaced to .105 by Brian Powell)

I’m pretty sure you can’t hear a difference between it and the other recordings of it on here but in person and playing wise it’s a huge difference.  It has more volume than it did before and the recording kept clipping when I would play loud so I had to back a few feet away to record it.  I’ve played this piece for a week now. This is without a doubt my main piece.  Don’t worry, I’ll never stop trying other pieces!  Thanks Brian. Again!!
listen………..

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I have one of Brian’s new Bergonzi resin pieces on order.  I’ve loved everything I’ve gotten from Brian Powell so I thought I’d give that a shot too.  This clip is a bit quiet because my family is sleeping and I couldn’t wail on it but it’s a cool little diddy using some approach notes and blues scale type ideas.
listen…​……….