Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece

This is a new hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece by Aaron Drake.  Aaron has started a new series of mouthpieces called the “Masters” series  where he copies the favorite mouthpieces of the great players alive today.  So far, he has made mouthpieces for Dave Liebman, Jerry Bergonzi and Pete Christlieb.

I have been a fan of Pete Christlieb’s since around 8th grade.  That was the year that my parents took me out to California on vacation.  They happened to take me to the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson  and that  was the first time I heard Christlieb play.  I was just getting into the saxophone at that time but I still knew this guy was smokin”.   Later at Ithaca college, Pete Christlieb was the guest artist one semester.  I got to play in the big band behind him and I remember being in awe of how much this guy could swing. (I still have that concert on cassette tape but haven’t listened to it since that day because I don’t have a cassette player anymore……)

I remember at that time learning that he played on an old Berg Larsen.   He had a huge sound.  It filled up the room and was big and powerful.  I remember thinking at the time, that I had never heard a tenor player be as expressive as Mr. Christlieb was.   He was scooping and bending notes all over the place………..  (It was around this time that I bought my first tenor saxophone……..I had only played alto until this time)

When I heard that Drake mouthpieces was making a copy of Pete Christlieb’s mouthpiece I wanted to try one immediately……………….

Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece

This is what the Drake website says about the Christlieb model:

Pete Christlieb MASTER SERIES Tenor Mouthpiece

This model is based on the very same “Bullet Chamber” design that Pete Christlieb has played for over 50 years.  The specially calibrated baffle is contoured to create an “aliveness” to the sound that is even through all the registers.  The addition of the long silver plated banding on the shank helps to focus the core vibrational frequencies and generates greater projection.

“For a guy who has played on the same mouthpiece for 54 years, my new Aaron Drake recreation is incredibly accurate.  The .120” is my favorite.”
– Pete Christlieb

Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece

The mouthpiece looks great. The baffle is a medium height Berg type baffle with the scooped bullet chamber in it.  The mouthpiece has a thinner profile to it than I am used to, but it’s easy to get used to it.  It is a very lightweight mouthpiece.  The silver banding on it gives it a little bit more weight but I think if it didn’t have that it would blow away in the wind………  The bite plate area has a bit of a duckbill shape to it.  I imagine that Mr. Christlieb’s original Berg has a shape similar to this one.  The rails, tip, table and baffle all look perfect.

Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece

The Drake Pete Christlieb mouthpiece played great from the get go.  It has a similar vibe and feel to it as some other great Berg’s I have played through the years.  It is very powerful and the scooped out baffle gives it a thick hearty tone that really carries.  You can hear in the beginning of the recording how thick it sounds.   It also has loads of power when you push it.  At times during the recording I found myself “growling” and going for more of a blues tenor sound.  The mouthpiece was very smooth and even from note to note and was easy and smooth to play fast on.  The last phrase of the clip was about as fast as I’ve ever heard myself play…………The altissimo was very easy to get in comparison to many other “Link” type pieces.  It was fun to play up there on this mouthpiece.

Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece

 If you like the Drake Pete Christlieb sound you can check them out on the Drake website for more information.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve

Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece

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