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You are here: Home / Reviews / Mouthpiece Reviews / Alto Mouthpiece Reviews / Alto Medium Baffle Reviews / Phil-Tone Aurora .078 Alto Mouthpiece

Phil-Tone Aurora .078 Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

I received my Phil-Tone Aurora alto mouthpiece from Philip Engleman.  Phil is known as Sigmund451 on SOTW (that’s Sax on the Web).  I was impressed with the mouthpiece just like I was with his tenor piece.  I just slapped a reed on it and it played great.  It has some nice volume to it and a great lead alto type sound.  One of those pieces with a big full sound with loads of power when pushed.

It reminds me of a Meyer type piece with more power to it.  I’ve played piece like this before but I always felt like they were too bright.  This Phil-tone Aurora mouthpiece isn’t in my opinion.  Check out the recording and let me know what you think.  Great job Phil.  I’ll probably be ordering one soon. (Phil can be contacted at: sigmund451@hotmail.com ). Listen………

https://www.neffmusic.com/images/mp3/Philtone%20alto.mp3

 

Disclosure: I have not received any compensation or products for writing this review. I am borrowing this mouthpiece from Phil Engleman who was kind enough to let me borrow it. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces and other saxophone related products that I enjoy and believe will be a good choice for other saxophone players to try also.    Steve Neff

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, aurora, Phil-tone, Phillip Engleman

Steve

About Steve

Steve Neff has been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. He is the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods as well as founding the popular jazz video lesson site Neffmusic.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarDavid Erato says

    August 31, 2010 at 11:36 am

    Just found your website today, I dig your work.

    What kind of horn (alto) are you using?

    I’m looking for a good lead alto type piece to pair with my black nickel Keilwerth. My Ponzol M2 100 facing just doesn’t allow my sound to sit on top of the section.

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      September 1, 2010 at 10:21 pm

      I’m using a Selmer Reference 54 alto. I’m glad you like the site. thanks, steve

      Reply
  2. AvatarMartyn Wood-Bevan says

    April 5, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    I am surprised at the low rating for this piece. It is my favourite Alto piece and is great with my Ref54, Marc Jean ligature and Rigotti Gold 2.5 reeds. I would easily give it a 4 1/2 out of 5. It has genuine flexibility and a confident sound with depth and power. My favourite Jazz mouthpiece at time of going to press!

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      April 20, 2012 at 11:00 pm

      That’s great. I believe you. Phil makes terrific mouthpieces!

      Reply

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I would like to say that in the last year my sax playing has progressed loads from your lessons. I have had a sax for about 20 years and dabbled with lessons from a few teachers and have learnt very little from them. As you have said in your lessons many teachers tell you to use the blues scale and leave it there, not even showing you the resolution points!!. I am now believing I can in time become a good improviser.
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After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

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Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

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First, I want to thank you for all of your great lessons. They are like a “For Dummies” version of all the books on my shelf. The lessons break things down into manageable pieces, and give me the confidence that I’m practicing the right pieces. I’m starting to make progress.   Thank You,   Kim

Kim
I want to say something about Steve Neff’s series of lessons, Beginner Jazz Improvisation. For a couple of years I tried many beginner lessons and my problem was that there was a gap between lessons that were fairly simple and ones that I was not quite ready for and my progress stalled out. That problem was solved with the series Beginner Jazz Improvisation. He guides you step by step along the way and builds a foundation for learning jazz and blues. He leaves no question about what to practice … Read more
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Alfred LaBella
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Michael Byington
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I have been teaching sax and other winds for over 20 years, and you give me that “push” to give my students more!

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Mark Peotter
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Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin
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