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

Website of Steve Neff

  • BLOG
  • SHOP
  • MEMBER’S AREA
    • JOIN
    • FAQ
    • MEMBER LOGIN
    • Member Monthly Lessons
    • Member VIP Area
    • Member-Practicing with Neff
    • Member-Brecker Alternate Fingering Lessons
    • Member-Killin’ Altissimo Lick Lessons
    • Member-Monster Lick of the Day
  • RAVES
  • CONTACT
  • SUPPORT
You are here: Home / Reviews / Mouthpiece Reviews / Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews / Tenor High Baffle Reviews / Mark Spencer Silver Tenor Mouthpiece

Mark Spencer Silver Tenor Mouthpiece

May 5, 2011 by Steve 19 Comments

Here’s a new mouthpiece review of a Mark Spencer Silver tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  I bought this mouthpiece from Bob Franceschini who some of you might know. (He played saxophone with Mike Stern for a number of years).

Mark Spencer is a mouthpiece maker and refacer in Australia that made this mouthpiece especially for Bob Franceschini.  I  emailed Mark about it and he told me that he makes each mouthpiece unique for the specific player.  This one has a .118 tip opening and a high baffle that drops into a cavernous chamber.  Bob Franceschini likes the larger tip openings and needs to be able to wail on the type of gigs he does.

Mark Spencer Tenor Sax Mouthpiece

Here are some of the things that Mark Spencer said about this mouthpiece in our emails to one another:

“This one I made for Bob quite deliberately in the knowledge that he was in the Stern band, playing some heavy fusion and so of course it is fashioned to respond well in his hands in that context. You would find quite a different piece with Julien Wilson (I recommend 2007 “Trio: Live”) yet the tip opening is the same as is the chamber – Julien is full of subtones and subtle, colourful allusion. I’m not making excuses for the piece – in fact I was very happy with that piece for the context it was headed into, and it may well serve someone well outside of the original intended context, but it would only be fair to the listener/player to know that there is no single Mark Spencer mouthpiece.

I work everything by hand and along the way I play the piece a lot. The differences are quite subtle but I guess they help lead a player is the way I think about it. To say the baffle is just ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ is oversimplified as there is quite a lot that can be achieved in baffle shape. If you were to carefully measure even the one you have you would find that the baffle is nowhere near as high in relation to the reed as your eyes suggest – actually the difference between the highest point of the baffle and a regular early Babbit Link STM rollover is very little. The difference between the rollover of a link and the removal of some of that earlier rollover material, and the subsequent drop to a lower floor than the STM makes mine visually deceptive. There is no way you could get enough fat out of a truly high-baffled mouthpiece in my opinion. I started as a devotee of mid period Coltrane who wanted the additional punch that Turrentine had. There really isn’t any part of me that would be happy to sacrifice body and fat for the sake of loud. That said, some players who don’t use much throat in their technique do struggle to get a good sound out of my pieces. That’s another, longer, story. Some would dismiss Turrentine as bright. But I wouldn’t: “Live at Minton’s”; untouchable. Same goes for Julien’s “Club de Esquina”.

Those of you who know me, know that I don’t stray over a  .110 tip opening very often.  I was pretty nervous about buying this mouthpiece.  Originally Bob told me it was a 8* which was cool but then when I emailed Mark he thought it was a .123 which made me really nervous.  That was way too big of a tip compared to what I am used to. Later, Mark looked in his records and emailed me back that it was a .118.  This made me feel  better but I still had never played anything over .115 that I  liked so I was still apprehensive about it.

When I first received the Spencer mouthpiece,  I slapped a 2 1/2 reed on it that was on another mouthpiece and tried to play it.  It sounded awful!  Hard too play and all tubby sounding.  It felt like I was blowing into a cavern.  I quickly took that reed off and found a new one which was much better.  No tubbiness and easier to play.   After 15 minutes I was out of breath, feeling dizzy and my mouth hurt.  These are common symptoms that you experience when you jump to a large tip opening.  I had been playing a .105 tip so this was a pretty big jump.  I was ready to throw in the towel and try to sell it but then I decided to give it another day or two.

The next day I played the mouthpiece for a few hours.  Wouldn’t you know it, the mouthpiece felt and played great.  It didn’t feel that large after awhile.  My mouth wasn’t hurting and I wasn’t getting dizzy.  I loved it and told Bob I would be keeping it.

As you can see from the pictures, this mouthpiece is a beautiful work of art.   The one unique thing I have to point out is the baffle.  I have never seen a baffle like this before. It sort of reminds me of those water slides you go down at the water park.  It angles down and then scoops up and then back down again.  It finally terminates with a straight drop into a massive chamber.  If a mouthpiece has a high baffle I like seeing a pretty big chamber after it.  I’ve learned over the years that I like that combination.  I have no idea how this baffle shape affects the sound but this mouthpiece doesn’t play nearly as bright as I thought it would when I looked at the baffle.

The sound of this mouthpiece is huge!  The trick for me is putting enough air through it.  My 100% airstream on my .105 tipped mouthpieces feels like it’s about 60% on this one.  To get to 100% I really really have to blow.  When I do that the sound is huge and full.  It feels like the whole room is filled with sound.  I haven’t taken this mouthpiece on a gig yet but I think it would crank.  I still would like to spend a month playing it until I’m used to the bigger airstream to see what it can do and where it can go for me.  I have played this mouthpiece for two extended teaching days where I taught for 7 hours straight.  Basically, I’m playing much of the 7 hours demonstrating things for the students.  At the end of both days I couldn’t stop playing the Spencer mouthpiece.  I just kept playing it for another hour diggin’ the sound.  It’s like I got into a groove with it.

Mark Spencer Tenor Sax Mouthpiece

As you can hear on the sound clip below, this mouthpiece can get nice and bright when pushed.  It’s not a thin bright at all though.  It’s nice and fat sounding.  When I lay back, it can handle some straight ahead playing also and sounds killer for that.  The trick again for me is finding that new level of air support.  The more I play it  the closer I will get.  I would say that this is maybe one of the loudest mouthpieces that I have played to date.  I like the fact that it can be super loud but doesn’t lose it’s tone at all.

Some tricks that I have discover with this mouthpiece that help in playing a bigger tip are:

1.  Take slightly more mouthpiece and roll my bottom lip out a little bit more.  This lets more of the reed vibrate and it responds easier.

2.  Placing the ligature a little bit closer to the front of the reed seemed to make it easier to blow for me.  I’m pretty sure I’m not imagining this.

3.  The reed played best when it was exactly lined up with the tip of the mouthpiece. Too far back and it felt sluggish, too far ahead and it felt too hard to blow.  there is a magic spot right in the middle.

4.  Reeds last longer for me on a bigger tip.  A reed that would have died already on my .105 tip is lasting a couple of weeks on the .118.  It plays as good as when I put it on.

Take a listen to the Spencer sound clip below.  Let me know what you think.  Thanks, Steve

https://public.neffmusic.com/Mark%20Spencer.mp3

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Bob Franceschini, Mark Spencer, saxophone mouthpiece, tenor sax

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. AvatarSheridan Farrah says

    May 6, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    Steve,
    With this being such a larger tip than you normally play on a regular basis, do you see yourself sticking with this size tip (this piece in particular, which btw you sound AMAZING on) or do you think you’ll go back to playing something in the 7* – 8 range?

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      May 6, 2011 at 10:55 pm

      Thanks Sheridan. I’m not sure to be honest. My problem is that I try so many mouthpieces it’s hard to jump to a .105 from a .118 and back again. I do want to stick with this for awhile to see what happens when I really connect with it. So far I’ve had a few moments where I was in love with it. I want to see if I can get that all the time. To know the potential that a mouthpiece has you have to spend a lot of time with it……………..

      Reply
  2. AvatarTarsis says

    May 6, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    It sounds very nice to me, Steve. I just would love to hear you play a very open Link to compare. It would be interesting.

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      May 6, 2011 at 10:57 pm

      I have a .115 EB link here now that I was thinking of doing a review of. It’s a super high baffle though……..really bright in the high end for me. I was thinking of sending it to Brian Powell to see if he can bring down the baffle just a smidgen. I haven’t decided on that. To be honest, there are so many variations from link to link that you never know what you will get.

      Reply
  3. AvatarPeyton says

    May 7, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    This mouthpiece sounds incredible! It has so much depth and character. It sort of has a dark mystic side to it. Very cool!

    Reply
  4. AvatarBoB Franceschni says

    May 11, 2011 at 9:14 am

    Steve,
    Your 4 points are right on the money dude. Playing a bigger tip piece for many years now I have found it to be awesome and a pain at the same time.. It affords you a bigger tone and expanded dynamic range and there is a certain vibe you can get only with the more open pieces.. Griff, Wayne, Rollins, Ernie, Bergonzi, Lovano, and Lockjaw being among my favorites. The draw back is that it is more taxing and physically demanding. If I lay off playing for more than a few days, I’ll need a nice long practice session and a couple of nights of playing in a row to get back into shape.
    BTW , I find that I can always come down to smaller tip pieces, if
    i need to.. No problem and almost no adjustment time for that.. You just have to move up in reeds strength a little. There are definitely situations where the bigger pieces are too much.. or just curiosity to try out different pieces etc.. don’t sweat that.
    I think you are sounding pretty f***ing soulful on the Spencer! Rock, BF

    Reply
  5. AvatarStephen LaBrooy says

    May 26, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Great sound as always Steve, but that mpc sounds special, a lot of character and individuality, you can really talk with it – shades of light and dark, definately a sound to die for.

    Kindest Regards Stephen

    Reply
  6. AvatarNate says

    August 16, 2011 at 10:53 pm

    Incredible emotion in that clip! I was looking at a Florida STM Link for alto with a 10 facing and I usually don’t play as wide as a 10, but do you think I would be able to grow into it? Thanks!

    Nate

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      August 17, 2011 at 9:12 am

      I can’t say. That’s a personal thing. I know for me a 10 is too huge on alto. My upper limit is around .085 on alto. I think a 100 is around .100. Have you tried it?

      Reply
  7. AvatarPhil says

    January 7, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    That’s a great sound Steve. As you know the guy can really make a mouthpiece, would it be better and more comfortable if he made one for you like this in a 7* or 8? Or do you think some of it’s qualities would be lost in a lower tip size? Best wishes, Phil

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      January 9, 2012 at 2:21 pm

      I did talk to Mark about making me one around .110-.113 tip opening. He was excited to do it but at the time I couldn’t afford it. I’m still hoping to have him make one for me in the future.

      Reply
  8. AvatarGregg Noble says

    April 24, 2012 at 3:39 pm

    Steve
    Where can I find a list of tip openings and prices?
    Thanks! Gregg

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      April 24, 2012 at 4:10 pm

      Do a google search for “Mark Spencer” and “sax mouthpieces” and you should be able to find his website.

      Reply
  9. AvatarKarl Weiss says

    July 7, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    Hi Steve.
    I have a question for you. Is the silver custom model the same as the Model A?
    Is his 110 opening the same, such as the 110 opening of a Ted Klum Focustone or Otto Link mouthpiece?
    How can you achieve the best Mark!
    I can not reach him at his email address!
    With best regards,
    Charles

    Reply
    • stevesteve says

      July 17, 2013 at 9:53 am

      Karl,
      No, the Model A is different than the one I played. If you email Mark he knows which model that is. He said he thought it was harder to play for players with less airstream but I found it great to play. It is very different than a Klum mouthpieces in my opinion. I think sax accessories has a trial policy if you want to try one and send it back if you don’t like it. Not sure what the fee is for that. You would have to contact them. Steve

      Reply
  10. Avatarphilip says

    March 26, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    hello there….do you still own this mark spencer piece?
    if yes,are you playing on it still?
    if no,what was the price you sold it for?
    thanks,philip

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      March 29, 2016 at 7:51 am

      Hi Phillip,
      I sold that piece although it is still one of the ones I regret letting go of. I believe I bought it for 600 and then turned around and sold it for 600. I asked the guy I sold it to let me know if he wanted to sell it so I had an opportunity to buy it back and he said he would. Months later I contacted him and asked if he still had it and if I could buy it back and he said he had sold it to someone else. Very disappointing………

      Reply
  11. Avatarphilip says

    July 6, 2019 at 9:53 pm

    hello steve…
    the mpc is on ebay now….i am not the seller…
    good luck…
    cheers,philip

    Reply
  12. Avatarphilip says

    July 6, 2019 at 9:54 pm

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/SPENCER-METAL-TENOR-118-SAXOPHONE-MOUTHPIECE/383036663243?hash=item592ec3a5cb%3Ag%3AtbYAAOSwFbFdH0h6&LH_ItemCondition=4%7C10

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Primary Sidebar

Cart

Subscribe to the Neffmusic Newsletter for the latest reviews and best deals delivered straight to your inbox every month. Join now and you will also receive my 40 Ultimate Michael Brecker Licks free!

Select list(s) to subscribe to


Thanks for joining!


NEFFMUSIC PRINTED BOOKS

Testimonials

Thank you so much for the great job you are doing to help further our jazz studies. Though I make my living as a repairer of musical instruments I am a student of jazz and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a big band and a combo for the last several years. As my children began to leave “the nest” I had decided to dedicate the next half of my life to a more serious study of the sax but I didn’t know exactly how I would go about doing this until a friend of mine turned me onto your si… Read more
Jon

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
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
For anyone living in remote areas away from live jazz sax teachers, Neff is the way to go. In fact this is a great resource for anyone seriously interested in mastering the sax. I’ve never been disappointed in a lesson.
Oliver
I just joined Neff Music last month. I can’t tell you how excited I’ve been to be able to pick back up on lessons. I’ve been in a rut and you got me out! I’ve especially appreciated the Lesson Path section. It was so clear I knew exactly where to jump in and start. Many many thanks!
Karin
It is so refreshing to have a great player, who can provide lessons and examples in a manner which is understandable to most any enthusiastic saxophonist who is ready to improve. not just the, do this, do that, memorize this, memorize that… while all that is absolutely necessary, you go on to give reasons and examples to explain and validate why you have to do all of these things, the benefits, if you will… that is the key for me, you tell, explain, demonstrate, explain some more, you give perso… Read more
Cedric

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 would like to say that in the last year my sax playing has progressed loads from your lessons. I have had a sax for about 20 years and dabbled with lessons from a few teachers and have learnt very little from them. As you have said in your lessons many teachers tell you to use the blues scale and leave it there, not even showing you the resolution points!!. I am now believing I can in time become a good improviser.
Thanks again,
Shane
Shane
I have found your videos and publications inspiring and your contribution to the world of saxophone playing is immense. Paul
Paul

Hello Steve,

I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin

Featured Video Lessons

  • The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor $9.99
  • 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
    Rated 4.90 out of 5
    $9.99
  • 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!
BECOME A MEMBER TODAY AND SAVE BIG ON EACH LESSON!

Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz & Funk
Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz & Funk-Thirty 5 Star Reviews!!!

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

  • Mastering Altered Pentatonics (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Dino Govoni
  • Mastering the Bebop Scale Review-Blues in All Keys Lesson 1
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Steve Nye
  • Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Mark White
  • Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Mark White
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Christopher Lutyk

Jazz Improvisation Books

Mastering Altered Pentatonics
Mastering Altered Pentatonics
Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz & Funk
Devastating Dominant Lines for Jazz & Funk
Mastering the Minor ii-7b5 V7b9 Bebop Scale
Mastering the Minor ii-7b5 V7b9 Bebop Scale
Dominant Bebop Scale Book
Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale
Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale-Book 2
Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale-Book 2
The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer (Major)
The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer (Major)
Mastering Major Diatonic Patterns
Mastering Major Diatonic Patterns
Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz & Funk
Devastating Minor Lines for Jazz & Funk-Thirty 5 Star Reviews!!!
Mastering the Blues Scale Vol. 2-Dominant Chords
Mastering the Blues Scale Vol. 2-Dominant Chords
Best II-V-I Patterns Book
Best II-V-I Patterns
Approach Note Velocity Book
Approach Note Velocity
Mastering the Blues Scale Vol. 1-Minor Chords
Mastering the Blues Scale Vol. 1-Minor Chords
Major Bebop Scale Book
Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound

Footer

Recent Comments

  • Steve on Hard Rubber Otto Link 7* Tenor Mouthpiece
  • Giuseppe C. on Eye-Opening Boston Sax Shop Heritage Tenor Saxophone Neck Review
  • Ralph Jarmon on Hard Rubber Otto Link 7* Tenor Mouthpiece
  • TK on Phil-Tone Rift Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Giuseppe C. on KPoudavoff Zimberoff Dukoff Hollywood 6* with Dexter Gordon’s Facing Curve Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Top rated products

  • The Dorian Mode Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Cool Piano Voicings Lesson 1
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Best II-V-I's Overview Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Straight No Chaser-Jazz Articulation Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Overtones-The Path to Altissimo Lesson
    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 © 2023