This is a Warburton A series 16 degree alto saxophone mouthpiece that I am reviewing today. This alto saxophone mouthpiece has an 7 tip opening. It is silver plated and came with a Rovner light ligature. These are made by the great mouthpiece refacer Eric Falcon down in Florida.
I received a few of these last week and have had a lot of fun playing them since then. The “16 degree” in the title refers to the angle of the baffle in the mouthpiece. The 16 degree baffle is a lower height in comparison to the 12 degree mouthpieces I reviewed earlier.
Warburton A Series 16 Degree Alto Sax Mouthpiece
The Warburton 16 degree alto mouthpiece looks great. The baffle, rails, chamber and tip are perfect. The sidewalls of the mouthpiece are straight. The tip lines up perfectly with the shape of the reed tip. The beak of the mouthpiece is probably one of the lowest that I have played in all my years. You can really feel the vibrations through the beak of the mouthpiece, even with a patch on it. I really liked that. The beak even felt smaller to me than my soprano mouthpiece. It might take some getting used to for those of you who are playing a mouthpiece with a high beak. I had no problem with it after a few minutes of playing it.
Here is what the Warburton website has to say about this mouthpiece:
“The 16 degree model has the most traditional sound of the three. The sound is warm with a great core. Ideal for the player looking for the warmest and most lyrical sound.
Highly recommended for players of: Jazz “
The mouthpiece has a darker and rounder tone than the 12 degree baffle. The tone to me seems a bit sweeter, rounder and fuller. It might lack some of the highs in the sound that the 12 degree has but I think that makes the tone prettier. The baffle in it still gives it some good punch and power. This was my favorite if I had to choose between the 12 and 16 degree. I felt more comfortable playing this mouthpiece also as I think it is closer to the sound that I like. When I was playing it I heard almost a Kenny Garrett type quality in the sound. I’m not saying you’ll have Kenny Garrett’s sound if you play this mouthpiece but I heard some of that quality in the tone.
Warburton A Series 16 Degree Alto Sax Mouthpiece
Even though this is a lower baffle than the 12 degree, I still feel this would be a great all round mouthpiece to use on alto. I wouldn’t use it for classical obviously but for pop and jazz it would be great. If you want to find out more about these great mouthpieces visit the Warburton Website for more info. Let me know what you think below. Thanks, Steve
Steve, I must say that for me this is one of your best-sounding alto mpc clips. I’m surprised because it’s a brand and model that I never heard of before. So many great choices today!
Really, that good! I’ll have to play it some more before I send it back. When I listened to the recording after I made it I did think “Wow, that sounds great!”
really nice tone !
I wonder how it sounds with a little reverb and delay, playing a contemporary jazz style. It seems to be a perfect alto sound to me. I’m considering this piece very much to have.
Thanks Steve!