This is a new mouthpiece by Morgan Fry. Morgan Fry is a great mouthpiece refacer over in England. He is now making his very own mouthpieces and has a few different models listed on his website. This tenor sax mouthpiece is called the Rhodium Large Chambered mouthpiece. Brian at Sax-ccesories in California was nice enough to send me this mouthpiece to review for you today.
Morgan Fry Rhodium Large Chamber Tenor Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece I received to review is a 7* and is absolutely beautiful. Everything about it is perfect. The silver plating is smooth and reflective. It’s almost like looking in a mirror (you can almost make me out in the pictures with my camera……….) The table, rails and tip look perfect. The rails and tip are about the best I have ever seen. The baffle is a high rollover with a bit of a scooped descent into a large chamber. The side walls are scooped out everything is as smooth as silk in there. Not a ripple or flaw anywhere.
Morgan Fry Rhodium Large Chamber Tenor Mouthpiece
Here are some words about the mouthpiece from Morgan Fry’s website:
“The quintessential jazz mouthpiece
- Flexible, brilliant sound
- Rich, balanced tone
- Fast, even response
- For everything from jazz to funk and pop styles
Concept and construction
Redesigning the round chamber for the modern player–
- Medium-large round chamber
- Medium length rollover baffle
- CNC Machined from solid brass bar
- Fully hand finished by Morgan Fry
- Rhodium plated for an enduring beauty
- Standard size — fits any ligature for an Otto Link
”
Morgan Fry Rhodium Large Chamber Tenor Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece was easy to play with a Woodstone 2 1/2 tenor reed. It came with a Rovner ligature but in general I don’t like those too much. They tend to make the tone darker and duller in my opinion. I put on a silver Selmer 404 ligature and that immediately brightened up the tone and made it a bit more vibrant and alive.
In my opinion, the tone of the Morgan Fry Rhodium is a good mix between dark and bright. There is an aspect of the tone that sounds darker to me but at the same time I heard a nice ring and vibrancy in the tone. The mouthpiece has a nice compact and focused sound to it and is very very smooth sounding from note to note. When you listen to the sound clip you can hear the smooth and even sound between the notes in the runs. The high notes really sang out. Down low it sub-toned nicely. The intonation was great.
The altissmo was easy to get once I adjusted my throat and voicing position to get it. It’s very similar to getting altissimo out of an Otto Link. Some of you might see the higher baffle profile and think this is more like a Guardala or Berg type mouthpiece but that is not the case. This was like playing a really great Otto Link in my opinion. More like a florida link because it had more punch and power like the florida links had. Not as bright as an “Early Babbitt link though.
I gave this mouthpiece a 3.5 rather than a 4 for volume……..not because it wasn’t loud but more because I felt like I could only get so much air through it and then the volume would hit a max level. I couldn’t push it louder. Don’t get me wrong, it was plenty loud, but……..I like to have that option to push it into overdrive if I need to. I’d be interested in perhaps trying an 8 in the future since I can usually push more air through a slightly larger tip opening.
Morgan Fry Rhodium Large Chamber Tenor Mouthpiece
I really enjoyed playing the Morgan Fry Rhodium Large Chambered mouthpiece. If you have been looking for a great florida link type sound out of a modern mouthpiece I would definitely put this mouthpiece on your list of ones to try.
If you like the sound of the Morgan Fry visit the Morgan Fry website for more information.
Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Morgan Fry Rhodium Large Chamber Tenor Mouthpiece
Like a Florida link but slightly brighter. Superb construction. Very flexible for jazz / R&B.
Having seen the price of other mouthpieces on the market the Large Chamber Rhodium, IMHO is good value.
Hello
i own the 8* version now for nearly a year: i like most, that the tone is very versatile- regarding the sound definately there with the great links, which are much higher priced. yes, easy top notes and yes, for volume there are still louder mouthpieces, even in 8* ( in a Rock/POP setting i use my LAW Buzzer8*) so in from Latin, Modern Jazz, Pop Ballads to classical- Swing BigBands this is my main mpc now. (Just for classical playing i use an old Vandoren- happened once last year!)
Can you compare this to the Barone SNY?
Austin, The Barone SNY is brighter and has more power when you push it. The Morgan Fry mouthpiece was darker and maybe a little sweeter sounding from what I remember. I couldn’t get the volume and edge out of it that I can get out of the SNY.
Hi Steve,
thank You a lot for another great review! This brought my interest to Morgan Fry and I ended with a Rhodium plated Jazz+, what could be thought of as a power-version of the piece You tested here. The Jazz+ still has a “Link-ish” vibe but clearly more dynamic properties with some brightening-up when forced.
My experience with Morgan Fry mouthpiece reset=Terrible comunication;Half a job for full price;No receipt sent.MS.
Sorry to hear that Martin. Morgan has always been a great communicator with me and I have never had any problems with him. The work I have seen of his has been exceptional……….
I love the sound! What sax are you using in this play test?
David, it’s a Selmer SBA.
Morgan made me a Jazz+ 7* Rhodium over 1 year ago. It’s my main playing piece. I love it, great linkish vibe but you can really push it when playing funk gigs.. One of the most versatile pieces I own. I have a Theo Wanne Gaia hard rubber 7* which is my second go to piece.. Love them both, Gaia is a little darker and tonality is pretty much the same through out the range of the horn.. MF Jazz + definitely more versatile as it gets brighter when pushed, but you still have that nice wide spread with a fundamental core sound 🙂 Flexible and lush… love it 🙂
Hello Steve,
Great sound as usual, are you playing the Super Vintage from Morgan Fry or is it the Original?
Jean Noel
Hi Jean, I’m not sure which model it was. I think I was just told it was a Morgan Fry Large Chamber at the time. Steve
Rhodium?
I ask: is this mouthpiece built with Rhodium as a material?
If the answer is “yes”,
has anyone read “Rhodium” on English Wikipedia, in particular under the heading “Precautions” and on Italian Wikipedia, in particular under the heading “Precauzioni”?
Giuseppe, I have had this discussion before about Rhodium. From what I understand, Rhodium plating is very dangerous in it’s unstable form so is when a mouthpiece maker is working on it they have to be very careful. When the plating is hardened then Rhodium is very safe and stable. I am not a chemist but that is what has been told to me in the past. Steve
Thanks for the reassurance and hope that those who work take a lot of precautions for themselves.
Giuseppe.