This is a new mouthpiece I received in the mail last week from Aaron Drake. Drake mouthpieces have been around for a number of years and Aaron is best known for his Ceramic mouthpieces which I have reviewed here before. Recently, he has updated his website www.DrakeMouthpieces.com and come out with a new line of mouthpieces made out of “vintage resin”. Aaron sent me 3 mouthpieces to try:
VRJT – Jazz Tenor (passaround model)
SSJT – Son of Slant (medium chamber)
NYJT – NY Jazz tenor (prototype – unbanded)
This is the review for the Son of Slant tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Son of Slant
This first review is on the Son of Slant tenor mouthpiece. If you look at the picture of the 3 mouthpieces above, it is the mouthpiece on the left. You’ll notice that it is a bit bigger than the other two. The beak has a higher profile to it than the others also. The thickness of the mouthpiece is about the same as a link and I used my Marc Jean ligature on it. It does indeed have the feel of an Otto Link while I was playing it. The beak dimensions are very similar to my EB Otto Link and other hard rubber links I have played.
I really liked this mouthpiece. It had a nice thick sound to it that I loved. It had some beautiful brightness to it up top and was a joy to play. I like mouthpiece that have a bit of character to the sound. A distinctive sound to them. This Son of Slant mouthpiece reminded me of a few Freddie Gregory Mark II mouthpieces I use to own because of the thickness of the sound and it’s ability to play dark yet brighten up when pushed. I decided to play a little of “My One and Only Love” for all 3 mouthpiece clips so you can compare the sounds of each. Great job Aaron on another great mouthpiece. Visit www.DrakeMouthpieces.com for more details and to order a Son of Slant to try for yourself.
About Steve
Hi Steve,
Are you sure you don´t want to keep it? You sound really good on it.
Hi how would you compare this one the the morgan fry original ebonite
Great vintage sound! It`s a very “tradishional”
Hi Steve, I had a very good day! I tried out the SOS Drake, and I was flabbergasted: it was such a pleasure to play it, instantly. Mind you, my The Martin will be revised in about a week, and I used an old reed;)! I had already seen a couple of your video lectures- great stuff!-but I forgot about the Drake- I intended to buy a Guardala- and now I see your review, also heard some other players on it. And then, on top of this, I succeeded in downloading your transcription of the Brecker licks. Feels like having my birthday!
All the best, many thanks, Ad
Ad, That’s great to hear. Thanks for sharing the good news. Steve
Hi Steve, was this a medium chamber or a large chamber one?
Hi Gerry, I don’t remember after all this time but above the photo it says “SSJT – Son of Slant (medium chamber)” so I guess it was the medium chamber. Steve
What about altissimo, how well does that fair on this piece, I have the same piece in a 7m tip opening with a medium chamber
Elijah, It has been about 10 years since I reviewed this mouthpiece but I don’t remember it having any issues for me with altissimo playing.