Here’s a brand new mouthpiece review for you. You probably have never heard of this brand. I had never heard of them before a couple weeks ago. I received an email from someone from China asking if I would be willing to try some of their mouthpieces and post a review of them. I was a bit curious so I said sure. A little while later I received a package with 7 mouthpieces in it. Four alto mouthpieces and three tenor mouthpieces. The first mouthpiece I chose to play was this one which is the darker of the three. It is called the Custom O7 model. Here is the description directly from the Kanee brochure that came with it:
“Kanee O Model mouthpieces successfully copied the style of the Florida Otto Link mouthpieces. It has a traditional sound which is rich, plump and forceful.The O series mouthpieces have a more complicated inner construction compared with other Kanee models. It combines a short medium baffle and chamber with a large angle slope.”
The O7 model I have is said to have a medium long facing curve and I believe the tip opening is close to a .105 tip.
Kanee Custum O7 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This mouthpiece was a complete joy for me to play. It played great with a Java #3 reed and it really played amazingly with my Marc Jean ligature which seemed to brighten it up nicely for my tastes. It has a darker hard rubber link type sound to it that could get some nice volume when I pushed it. It didn’t get too much brighter when played loud but kept that nice fat dark core that was nice and rich sounding to me. I loved the texture of the sound. It was dark but had a crispness to it that was cool. The baffle and chamber do remind me in many ways of a slant Otto Link. You can see the slight rollover baffle in the picture. After the slight baffle the baffle angles into the chamber at a stady rate of decline almost to the rear of the chamber. The tip and the rails look even and balanced and I had no problems at all with any of the reeds I used on it. The shank of the mouthpiece has a brass ring around it which I always like to see on a hard rubber mouthpiece.
To be honest, I was quite surprised by this piece. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming from China but this is a quality piece that is as good as many of the hard rubber tenor mouthpieces that I have had through here. I can’t speak for the quality control until more people have these in their hands but the sample I have here is outstanding. To be honest, I played this mouthpiece a ton as well as the V7 model which is the next review. I probably play 50 standards on this over the last week and was really diggin the sound coming out of my horn. Check out the sound clip and let me know what you think. Feel free to visit the Kanee website for more info at www.kaneemusic.com.
About Steve
Hi Steve, Great sound with this one!! I really enjoyed it. It has a pretty dark tone but a very beautiful one.
Hi Steve,
Listened to both this and the V7, I actually think the sound on this one is more centered and a little brighter. You sound great on this piece!
Wow, really! I have to listen to the clips again. I didn’t think the O7 was brighter at all. I played them both again today and again thought the O7 was darker. Thanks for the input. I’ll listen to the recording. Steve
07 is definitely brighter to my ears. Neither one sounds like they have much power if pushed, but that could be just the style you played in. Any comment on that?
Marshall
I don’t remember thinking that at all. They had as much power as a good hard rubber link.
Hi guys, this is Kane Lee, the founder of Kanee Music, the manufacturer of HR mouthpieces, now I post to offer FREE trials as new product launching, anyone who take interested our mouthpieces, could feel free to participate our pass around on SOTW at http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?147957-Kanee-Hard-Rubber-Mouthpieces-Pass-Around, by simply replying my tread. I shall add you in and arrange pass. Thanks. Kane