I have an Ishimori Woodstone hard rubber tenor sax mouthpiece to review and play for you today. This is a 7* tip opening (.105) hard rubber mouthpiece. I have been eagerly wanting to play one of these Ishimori mouthpieces for quite a while. I reviewed an 8 tip last week and wanted to try a 7* to see how it compared.
Ishimori Woodstone 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Mouthpiece
Over the past few months, I have heard of Ishimori Woodstone mouthpieces from a number of players on the web. They were all raving about how good these mouthpieces were which really peaked my curiosity. I had a problem though, when I searched around for these mouthpieces I couldn’t find them anywhere except for the Ishimori site in Japan and the whole site was in Japanese. (I am not fluent in Japanese) I gave up after that but then a month later I heard another player raving about them again. This time I decided to try contacting Ishimori directly through their website. I sent them an email asking about their mouthpieces and a few days later received a courteous response from Norikiyo Yaguchi who handles Overseas transactions for Mr. Ishimori. He was nice enough to send me 5 mouthpieces to review- 2 alto, 2 tenor and one soprano mouthpiece.
This tenor sax mouthpiece is beautiful. It has a perfect looking facing curve and tip. The baffle is medium low and slopes down to a medium to large sized chamber. The shape of the baffle is similar to the classic Otto Link Slant Signature mouthpieces that play so great. The baffle slides smoothly and evenly down into the chamber and there’s not an edge or blemish anywhere. Absolutely perfect looking.
The sound of this Ishimori 7* is dark and rich sounding to my ears. The tone seems to be more compact and thicker than the 8 I tried last week. It has a sweetness to the sound that I really liked. The subtone was beautiful sounding and was very easy to attain. To me it has that dark rich sound that is a classic tenor sound. (Think Hank Mobley) Compared to the .110 tip Ishimori I reviewed last week I felt like this .105 and a tighter more compact sound to it. I also felt like it was a bit darker than the .110. Now when I go back and listen to that clip I feel like the .110 has more of a spread and hollow sound compared to this .105. Listen to both clips and I think you can hear what I’m talking about.
Ishimori Woodstone 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Mouthpiece
I used a Woodstone #2 1/2 reed on it which was perfect for this mouthpiece. As you listen to the clip below, I think you can hear the rich thick sound this piece has. This would be a perfect mouthpiece for those of you who like that “slant” link type sound and want to sound great on a jazz set. It’s on the darker side of things but at the same time it is very rich sounding which I really loved.
The intonation was also great on this mouthpiece as it has been on every Ishimori mouthpiece I have tried so far.
Every mouthpiece and reed that I have received from the Ishimori company has been perfect. They pay attention to the smallest details and it is obvious when you see and play their products. Believe it or not, I have played about 40 of their Woodstone reeds and haven’t found a bad one yet. They all played great right out of the box!
Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Ishimori Woodstone 7* Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
About Steve
Steve, you sound really great on this piece, it’s one of your very best tenor clips.
Hi Steve
I love your Mouthpiece Reviews !
What I would like to know…the Ishimori Tenor Chamber is smaller than
the typical large Link chamber more Medium ??
Because I look for more centered/focused Sound on the Tenor.
Thanks Tom
I don’t have the Ishimori with me anymore and I didn’t compare to a typical link mouthpiece so I am not sure. Sorry. I would consider it close to a great slant link type sound though.
Hello Steve,
Where can I buy Ishimori products?
Ted
Did you try Sax-ccesories listed in the review? They are the only place I know of in the US. Steve
Thanks, got it.
-Ted
where is the 8 tip review
On the top right of the site is a search box. If you type in “Ishimori Woodstone Tenor” it will come up in the results. Steve
Lol I saw it, wrote too fast, great MPs, I have a 7 was considering an 8* any advice, also considering Ambika
No advice to give. They are great mouthpieces. Some people love the more open tip openings. I prefer a 7*. Anything over 8 usually feels too spread and hollow to me depending on the baffle. I like a nice core to the sound and feel like I lose that when I go past an 8. Everyone’s different though……. Steve
the only reason for the 8* was a deal, typically i like a .098, how do you compare the darkness with Ambika,
Hi Steve, I’m juggling up between this mp and the Theo Wanne Slant Sig 2, just wondering which one you found more comfortable as I recall you saying the Slant Sig had a low beak profile? Also I love Stan Getz’s sound, and could probably attain something similar more easily on the Slant Sig 2, just wondering your opinion about this as well.
Thanks,
Finn
Finn, I found these two mouthpieces to be very similar in sound. I like the lower beak profile of the TW Slant so I felt more comfortable on that but that is mostly because I am a metal mouthpiece player on tenor for the most part…….
i have a 7, and it is sweet, dark and clear, well made good on the low notes