This is a new tenor saxophone 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 tenor mouthpieces to try:
VRJT – Jazz Tenor (passaround model)
SSJT – Son of Slant (medium chamber)
NYJT – NY Jazz tenor (prototype – unbanded)
This review is of the Jazz model tenor saxophone mouthpiece.
Jazz Model
If you look at the picture of the 3 mouthpieces above, the Jazz model tenor mouthpiece is the mouthpiece in the middle. The beak has a lower profile to it than the Son of Slant mouthpiece that I reviewed. The body of the mouthpiece is also a bit narrower and is similar to the size of his Ceramic mouthpieces. This mouthpiece seems to have a similar baffle and slightly smaller chamber than the Son of Slant mouthpiece.
This mouthpiece seemed like a cross between the NY Jazz and Son of Slant model. I liked that it was a bit darker than the NY model on the recording but it seemed to have a bit more punch and focus than the Son of Slant model. 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. You can hear that it is a little brighter and more focused than the “Son of Slant” clip but not by a lot.  I really felt more comfortable on the lower beak profile of this mouthpiece. I really like this sound clip the best of the 3 because for me it is a bit fatter sounding than the NY but more focused than the Slant model. I like a mix of fatness and focus in my tenor sound.
For me, all three mouthpiece were great and it is very hard to pick a winner because they each have unique qualities. As I write these reviews and listen to the sound clips I am even more confused about which one I would buy if I bought one…………. I think you could make any of them fit a variety of playing situations but if I was leaning more towards straight ahead playing I would go with the Son of Slant. If I was leaning more towards the Rock and R&B thing but with the ability to play some jazz I would go with the NY. If I wanted a mouthpiece in the middle that could hang on both sides and sound great I would probably go with the Jazz model. Great job Aaron on another great mouthpiece. Visit www.DrakeMouthpieces.com for more details and to order a Jazz model to try for yourself.
Hi, Steve, you sound great on the three, as usual, but I personally like the Jazz model better, it has, as you say, a very balanced cmix of medium brightness and focus, together with a nice overall thickness. I hope you’re able to review the new Drake alto pieces as well, a lot of people are really looking forward to that. Keep blowin’!
Thanks. I did ask Aaron if I could try them so we’ll see.
What’s the tip opening on this one?
Jeremy, I believe all 3 were .105 or 7* if my memory serves me right. Steve
What do you think about vintage Resin compared to ebonite?
I have played plenty of resin mouthpieces and the ones I have reviewed play great. Lots of people think resin is no where close to the sound of hard rubber but when I listen back to prior sound clips I have made of resin mouthpieces they can sound rich and textured in tone just like hard rubber mouthpieces. I don’t know if I could tell the difference between them and hard rubber if I was blind folded. In the past, I have thought that resin is brighter but since then I have played some resin mouthpieces that were pretty warm and dark so I’m not sure. There’s still something about that old vintage hard rubber that can be really special though that is for sure.