• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Website of Steve Neff

  • BLOG
  • SHOP
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • RAVES
  • CONTACT

Search Neffmusic

You are here: Home / Reviews / Mouthpiece Reviews / Alto Mouthpiece Reviews / Drake Vintage Resin Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison

Drake Vintage Resin Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison

July 14, 2010 by Steve 20 Comments

I thought I’d put up a comparison post of the three Drake vintage resin alto saxophone mouthpieces I received today.  I will be doing a separate review for each mouthpiece but I thought that if I played a simple melody on all 3 next to each other you could hear the differences better.  On these clips I’m playing  the first 16 bars of “Stella By Starlight”.  Nothing fancy, just the melody.  Hopefully, you will be able to hear the differences in the tone of each mouthpiece.  Let me know what you think……………………

From Left to Right: NY Jazz, Jazz,Contemporary

Drake Contemporary Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

https://www.neffmusic.com/images/mp3/Drake%20Comtemporary%20Clip.mp3

Drake Jazz Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

https://www.neffmusic.com/images/mp3/Drake%20Jazz%20Clip.mp3

Drake NY Jazz Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

https://www.neffmusic.com/images/mp3/Drake%20NY%20Clip.mp3

Which one do you like the best? (Poll Results)

  • NY Jazz Model (57%, 56 Votes)
  • Contemporary Model (19%, 19 Votes)
  • Jazz Model (16%, 16 Votes)
  • They all sound the same to me……….. (8%, 7 Votes)

Total Voters: 98

Filed Under: Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, alto mouthpiece, contemporary, Drake Mouthpieces, NY Jazz, vintage resin

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. AvatarDuncan says

    May 1, 2013 at 8:18 pm

    Hi Steve!
    I currently own a Jody Jazz HR mouthpiece, and a Jody Jazz DV NY mouthpiece, both for alto. I’m heading off to college, so I was thinking of selling both and using part of the money to order a Drake mouthpiece. I’m wondering – in your opinion – which mouthpiece would be ideal for me to order. The problem I have with the DV NY is that it’s almost too free blowing, and I struggle to keep an evenness across the registers. The upper notes tend to get too punchy, while the lower notes are too bright and harsh. I like the HR much better, both in feel (I like a little more mouthpiece in my mouth) and resistance. Altissimo notes are easier to produce as well. The only thing I don’t like as much is the overall tonal quality. It’s not bad, per se, but the DV NY has a smoother, rounder sound, at least in the middle register where the sound is easily produced. Sorry, long question.

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      May 7, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      I think the Drake NY Jazz model is my favorite of all the Drake mouthpieces I have tried. I would strongly suggest trying it first before selling your existing mouthpieces as you don’t want to get rid of them in the hopes of finding a replacement. Find a replacement and then sell them. Good Luck. Let me know how you make out.

      Reply
  2. AvatarErik Cloud says

    September 7, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    I can’t find much about the Drake NY Jazz tip openings on their website. I know you played a 6. Have you tried the 5 & the 7 also? Which tip opening is your favorite?

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      September 7, 2013 at 3:17 pm

      Erik, I just tried the 6. It was a perfect tip opening for me on alto.

      Reply
  3. AvatarBill Scavotto says

    April 26, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    I bought the Jazz but now I wish I bought the NY Jazz.I think it has a richer fuller tone and sound.I hope I can exchange it.I did think the NY required a little more effort to play however

    Reply
  4. AvatarRoberto Iriarte says

    June 30, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Steve, Thanks for sharing so much knowledge and samples with all of us. I just picked up the Drake Jazz 7 for Alto to add something new to my Meyer 5 and Otto Link HR 6*. The 7 plays very easy for the size; easier than the Link 6*. Your review is spot on. The Drake plays great in all registers and has amazing intonation. I can now think about the music instead of the piece.

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      July 2, 2017 at 9:25 am

      Roberto, That is great to hear. I love it when a player like yourself tries a mouthpiece I have reviewed with good results. Have fun with the new mouthpiece! Steve

      Reply
  5. AvatarJuanvi says

    May 18, 2019 at 2:26 pm

    Hola estoy buscando una Drake NY Jazz alto, sabéis
    de alguien que venda?

    English Translation:

    Hi, I’m looking for a high NY Jazz Drake, you know
    of someone who sells?

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      May 19, 2019 at 11:01 pm

      https://www.drakemouthpieces.com/

      Reply
  6. AvatarDong Dong says

    May 19, 2019 at 8:46 pm

    Hi Steve!
    Do these three mouthpieces have ceramic rings?

    Reply
  7. AvatarJeffrey Newton says

    January 26, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    Steve, do you like the NY Jazz Drake > the Phil Woods Drake? Regardless, how would you compare these two pieces? Thanks….

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      January 27, 2022 at 9:43 am

      Jeff, I love both of those pieces! I’ve owned two Drake NY Jazz pieces and they are one of my favorite alto mouthpieces I have played. The Drake Phil Woods I also loved just as much. The difference to me is that the NY is not as bright as the Phil Woods model and in my opinion has a fatter sound. That is what I loved most about it, that fatness to the tone. Reminds me of that Cannonball Adderley fat round tone. The Phil Woods I found brighter, more focused and more powerful and aggressive in my opinion. Both great mouthpieces in my opinion. Hope this helps! Steve

      Reply
      • AvatarJeff Newton says

        January 27, 2022 at 10:19 am

        Thanks, Steve! That was exactly the type of information that I was looking for! Perhaps the “fatness” of the NY Jazz versus the Phil Woods is due to a slight enlargement of the chamber size (although both are “medium”)?

        Apparently both Cannonball and Phil used NY Meyer #5s…

        My alto is a 5 digit Mark VI, so it has a darker sound than the later ones do. The Phil might be the better choice to brighten it up a bit.

        Reply
      • AvatarJeff Newton says

        January 29, 2022 at 5:47 am

        Steve –

        I have a Vandoren V16 7M mpc, as well as a stock Meyer mpc that’s about 10 years old, also a 7. My horn is an early 5 digit Mark VI with a short bow – it’s a darkish horn (darker than the 130,162 that I used to own).

        On this sax, the Meyer sounds darker than the Vandoren, takes less air, and is less flexible. It appears that the tip opening is smaller, but I’ve not measured it.

        Comparing the Drake Phil Woods and the Drake NJ Jazz, it sort of sounds like a Phil Meyer versus a Cannonball Meyer – a difficult choice indeed!

        Would you say the Phil takes less air than the NY Jazz? That the tip openings run equal between the two? Thanks…

        Reply
        • SteveSteve says

          January 31, 2022 at 9:48 am

          I didn’t notice an air difference but I played these two mouthpieces like 5 years apart from one another so it’s not like I played them side by side.

          Reply
          • AvatarJeff Newton says

            January 31, 2022 at 10:01 am

            Hi Steve –

            Aaron Drake just replied: “the NY Jazz is a bit more free blowing than the Phil Woods. They are comparable in terms of brightness.”

            Aaron also stated that the facing curve of the Phil Woods is a “42” …
            which, at 1/2 mm per number, equals a 21 mm curve (per Aaron’s explanation).

            He can make a longer facing curve if the customer so desires.

            Reply
            • SteveSteve says

              January 31, 2022 at 10:18 am

              Interesting. He knows best! I seem to remember the Drake NY Jazz as having a longer facing curve and that’s what I loved so much about it. Longer facing curves can really fatten up the sound in my opinion. It also tends to make it a little more free blowing for harder reeds than a shorter curve.

              Reply
          • AvatarJeff Newton says

            January 31, 2022 at 10:07 am

            Hi Steve –

            I now see that Meyer also currently offers a “Connoisseur” model of the NY reboot … a Cannonball replica, replete with the gold band around the end of the shank. Cannon’s was because his had a crack there, but you have to hand it to Meyer for authenticity here! Maybe this one’s even fatter sounding?

            Reply
            • SteveSteve says

              January 31, 2022 at 10:20 am

              No idea. I have reached out to JJ Babbitt a few times on their website but they have never responded to me unfortunately. With the amount of sax players that come to my site every month to read the reviews you would think they would want to get their mouthpieces reviewed here…….

              Reply
              • AvatarJeff Newton says

                January 31, 2022 at 4:17 pm

                Hi Steve –

                Yes, one would think. I only discovered the Cannonball “connoisseur” model whilst shopping online stores for NY Meyer reboots, and came across it (it’s more expensive than the “regular” NY Meyer roboot, too). My guess is that it’s roughly equal to the Drake NY Jazz in terms of “Cannonballish”
                big, fat, round components, and not as assertive, focused and bright as the Drake Phil Woods. Hopefully J.J. Babbitt sends you one!

                Reply

Leave a Reply to Jeff Newton Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Steve Neff

Cart


NEFFMUSIC PRINTED BOOKS

Testimonials

Your lessons on playing the blues is so clear . I have been through many books on blues playing and not one of them explains as clear as your lessons . Most of them say “Play the same blues scale over all three chords of a 12 bar blues ” Its very misleading .     Thanks
Martin
I’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
Nick
Thanks so much for putting all this great learning material out there. I don’t often have the time to take a lesson with a teacher, so the ability to download lessons is really invaluable. My playing has improved enormously (I think :)) – and the lessons are so varied there’s always something to be inspired by. Incredible value too!
Roger
Hi Steve, I live in a gorgeous but rural area of Oregon-no music store within 80 miles. Your lessons are my lifeline!  Truly the best there are anywhere online. Love your playing. Love your teaching.  Thanks again. Ed
Ed Woodmansee
First, I’m really excited about your materials! This site is a vast resource for any aspiring (and maybe already inspired) jazz musicians. I’m not a sax player, I play mandolin and fiddle, but have been learning jazz and playing weekly with a quintet for the past 6 months and have been struggling with all of the issues you get into in your lessons. I bought several books and lessons and plan to continue with some others as soon as I organize my practice routine. Thanks again for a great site … Read more
Tony Galfano
I’ve been downloading your lessons for 4 months now (20 lesson) and I have noticed tremendous growth in my playing thus far! I’m so happy that I stumbled upon your site!
Bob

I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P

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….

John Leclerc

Steve,

I have played for many years and have enjoyed going “back to the basics” in some of your lessons!  You have such a gift for explaining concepts.  As I have gotten older, some of the basic things have gotten muddled because I just play, not knowing why.  As I refresh myself with “why”, it increases my confidence and expands my playing.  Thank you so much for using your gift!  You are a blessing!

Julia
Hey Steve, I’m a 22-year-old from Australia. I thought it would be worth saying. You’re an absolute legend. I can’t thank you enough. You have helped me rekindle my love for the saxophone and music as a whole. All the best for the future, your work doesn’t go unnoticed. PS. I am loving your devastating minor lines pdf.
Sapph
Hey Steve! I hope you and your family are well.  I’m just writing to say thank you so much for all the resources you have made available to the saxophone community. I have been using your material for many years and I always come back to it… in fact I just took a break from practicing to write this…( reviewing “CreatingModern II-V-I Lines with simple pentatonics”.) I am, and continue to be, one of your raving fans! Blessings to you and your family this holiday season! Wishing… Read more
Gerry Aylward

Hello Steve,

I have not received my alto yet but have already gone through 14 lessons. I love your approach, style, knowledge and competence. I now regret so much to have stayed away from playing the sax for the past 45-50 years…(I am 65).  But It is never too late to get back to your first love. After 23 years in compuer sciences and 22 years in finances…I am now back to music for the rest of my life.

Doing some research on the net, I found this:

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?1… Read more

Claude
Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray
I have NEVER seen material like yours.  Amazing!!
Jerry
Just to say thanks for your advice and lessons.  I’ve just read your amazing story.  I really appreciate what you do in regards to teaching.  I have bought a couple of your lessons and frankly they’re undersold.   I’ve learned much more with these two lessons than with 2 years of sax teachers.   Thanks so much………..
Mike
I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith
I am a music book junkie and I have to say that your books are the most clear, user friendly, and helpful books I own.  They are my absolute favorites and I only wish I had them years ago.  I wouldn’t change a thing about the experience I had in acquiring my degree at Berklee, but my playing has perhaps grown more in the time I’ve spent buried in your books and lessons.  Keep up the great work!!! Thanks, John
John

Steve, just a note to say thanks.

I’ve been playing a long time, but your material, laid out in such a thoughtful way, helps me to understand concepts in a new and deeper way.

You are a true gift to the jazz community.

60 lessons and going strong,

Kevin Ledbetter

Kevin Ledbetter
I want to let you know that your instructional material is transforming my playing.  It is an immense pleasure to learn and play now, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. The instructional material I got from you is by far the best of any I own (and I have over 100 books, DVDs, and what not). I literally can’t thank you enough! Deric
Deric
Two years later I began a search for a sax teacher and happened to come across Steve Neff when I was searching YouTube for sax teachers.  I went to neffmusic.com and was very impressed with the lessons Steve Neff was offering.  The concept of selecting lessons was an approach that I thought was unique and purchased a few lessons.  I liked the lessons so much that I signed-up for a 6 month package. I was very happy with all the lessons I selected.  I also purchased Steve’s book Mastering the B… Read more
Michael

I am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.  I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more bite sized way.

Milton
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil

Steve,  Just want to say thanks for all you are doing for all of us. I’ve learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

If you can give some tips on One Note Samba, Ceora, and Wave… that would be cool.  I really like learning how you apply your concepts to actual songs!

Have a great year,

Kevin Ledbetter

I've learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.
I’m an experienced player in the pop/soul/funk areas of music and, previously, classical.  Over the decades I’ve been playing, I’ve always felt that I could do what I needed in those styles of music.  However, recently I began to feel limited by my use of the same old licks. When I discovered Steve Neff’s website, and heard the audio examples based on the exercises in his books, I realized they were what I needed.  I purchased all of them and have been working on them since.  It’s very hard work… Read more
Paul

Featured Video Lessons

  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $19.99 Original price was: $19.99.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
  • The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor $9.99
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 4.91 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson
    Rated 4.75 out of 5
    $9.99

Now over 600 video and audio lessons to choose from!

Free Lessons

  • Free Lesson on The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer-Major Keys
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering Altered Pentatonics
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Blues Scale Volume 1 & 2
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale and Language Book 1 & 2
  • Free Video Lesson on Approach Note Velocity Book

Recent reviews

  • Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson by Noah
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) by Andy
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Russ
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Timothy
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Ray Holland

Footer

Recent Comments

  • Leo on Phil-Tone Tenor Mouthpiece
  • Randy Cosby on GetASax GS Supersonic 50s Dukoff 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Brian at GetASax on GetASax GS Supersonic 50s Dukoff 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Brian at GetASax on GetASax GS Supersonic 50s Dukoff 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Steve on GetASax GS Supersonic 50s Dukoff 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Top rated products

  • Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
  • Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1 The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Invitation Tune of the Week-Invitation
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99

Product tags

alto sax alto saxophone approach notes audio lesson bebop scale beginner beginner saxophone blues blues licks blues patterns blues scale blues scales diminished scale dominant chords ear training fundamentals II-V-I improvisation jazz improvisation jazz lines jazz patterns jazz sax jazz saxophone jazz standard jazz standards licks Mastering the Blues Scale Michael Brecker modern improv modern improvisation online lesson patterns playing outside practice habits reading music sax basics sax lessons saxophone scales smooth jazz steve neff tenor sax tenor saxophone video lesson video lessons
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • SUPPORT

Neffmusic © 2005–2025