Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece made by the Absolute company. These are made in Italy. This model is called the “Tenorer”. There is also a Tenor AL, Tenor ST and a Tenor + model on their website. You can also find all these models for Baritone,Alto and Soprano saxophones as well. The AL model stands for black anodized aluminum. The ST for stainless steel and I assume the R at the end of Tenor stands for Resin.
Absolute “Tenorer” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
All of these models are priced pretty reasonably. This model is about 147 US dollars. (the exchange rate is always changing so this price will fluctuate somewhat)
The mouthpiece looks great. There is some uneveness in the tip rails but it is very minute and doesn’t effect the playability of the mouthpiece. It has a straight baffle that angles down into a small chamber. I think this is one of the smaller chambers I have seen on a tenor mouthpiece. It looks to be slightly smaller than a Selmer Soloist to my eye. The transition from the baffle into the chamber has a Berg Larsen type scoop to it. The sidewalls are straight and angled slightly inwards as they move towards the small chamber. The effect of a smaller chamber like this can make the sound more powerful and brighter than a bigger chamber as the air flow is “squeezed” through the chamber. My experience with Soloists and other mouthpieces with these smaller chambers is that they can play nice and dark with less airflow but when you push more air through the mouthpiece they can get much brighter and louder. They usual don’t have a big spread sound but more of a focused sound with a tight core to it.
Absolute “Tenorer” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tip opening on this mouthpiece is a 7 which is slightly smaller than I usually like. A Rigotti Gold 3 Medium reed played perfectly on it for me. The diameter of the body is slightly smaller than a typical hard rubber Otto Link sized body. A Vandoren Optimum ligature fit perfectly on it as they are made for hard rubber Vandoren mouthpieces which are also slightly smaller in diameter than Otto Links.
The length of the mouthpiece is longer than an Otto Link which I like because the smaller chamber would typically make the mouthpiece sit further out on the cork to play in tune. With the added length of the mouthpiece it sits where all my other tenor mouthpieces usually do on the cork.
Absolute “Tenorer” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The tone of the Absolute “Tenorer” was focused and sweet to me. It also had a dryness to the tone. The notes seemed very locked in to me and the intonation was excellent. The altissimo was very easy to play. It was very even throughout the range of the horn. At 1:06 on the clip you can hear how it gets brighter when I push it a little more. Then at 1:43 until the end you can hear how it darkens down when I back off a bit.
Absolute “Tenorer” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you are interested in the Absolute “Tenorer” tenor saxophone mouthpiece contact Marco at Absolutesax.com. At 147 this is a great price for a nice playing tenor mouthpiece. I would have no problems recommending this mouthpiece for students who need a mouthpiece that they can use for both concert band and jazz band. A 7* or 8 tip opening would probably give some added volume if you needed that also.
Let me know what you think in the comments below………….Thanks, Steve
Absolute “Tenorer” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Absolute “Tenorer” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Wow, Steve you sound great on that piece! With all the amazing mouthpieces you’ve recorded on, I think I’d put THAT sound pretty close to the top! The dry ” Soloist ” quality is really nice…. I could imagine you getting a Rich Perry sort of vibe out of it quite easily. Have you tried the alto or soprano pieces?
Dave, Thanks. I have some of the Absolute alto and soprano mouthpieces also and hope to get to them this week. I try to take my time with the reviews and play each mouthpiece for a few days before I do the review just so I get a good feel for it. Stay tuned………..
Steve :
Very good sound in this HR mouthpiece. Is it possible that you try the ST mouthpiece ? It looks like is a very good option too.
Thanks for your reviews. They are very useful.
Humbardi
Hi Humbardi,
I’ll see if I can do a review of the ST also. Steve
You sound great on this piece Steve
I also would like to see a review of the ST.
Thank you for all your reviews and the time you put in –
very helpful !!
Thanks JD. I did get a ST mouthpiece from Absolute but the tip opening was just too closed for me. I sent it back with a note on what I thought would be a better tip for me but haven’t heard back from them yet.
Hi Steve, there is an audio clip on absolutesax.com with the Tenor ST and the sound is very good, so this might be really interesting… The too closed tip opening was 0.107?
Hi Walter, The ST I had was a 7*. Those are usually .105 but maybe the Absolute mouthpiece are at .107. I don’t know. It was too small for me. The baffle is very high and long and I felt like I couldn’t get all my air through the mouthpiece. I’ve experienced that before with high baffle mouthpieces. Getting a more open tip gives me more room to blow the air through………..
Thanks Steve for recording such a beautiful test on this mouthpiece. Just when I thought I was done with mouthpiece acquisition for a little while. Now I want one of these too.
Hi Steve — curious if you would recommend this mouthpiece for an intermediate/advanced high school student playing jazz in big band and ensembles. He’s currently playing a Meyer but it’s been recommended to him to change/upgrade his mouthpiece. He solos quite a bit. Any advice? I’d like to upgrade him without going into higher price ranges just yet. They seem to get expensive fast. Thanks.
Amy, I think this would be a good mouthpiece if he likes the sound of it. You didn’t say why he has been advised to change?? I’m assuming maybe it is because he needs more volume for soloing perhaps. If so, this piece can have a lot of volume when you push it……..
Thanks, Steve — I’ve actually been poking around here & on the Absolute site and saw your reviews on the Alto+ mouthpiece. Wondered if you’d tried the Tenor+. Seems like great quality for the price point. My son’s jazz teachers/directors have recommended he move to a metal mouthpiece to improve sound & volume but they are short on recommendations. He currently plays a Yamaha 62ii with the Meyer mouthpiece I mentioned. I also wondered how to gauge what tip opening he should be playing. Really appreciate your advice/experience! Thanks again.
Amy, What tip opening Meyer is he using?
I did try the Absolute Tenor+ and they played great but I kept having problems with my reeds not sealing on the pieces. I know that can be reed related but I have a ton of mouthpieces here that weren’t doing that to me at the time. I sent them back to Absolute to see if they could check them but I haven’t heard back from them. The HR tenor pieces and alto pieces were fine in that regard. It was just the metal tenor pieces I had the issue with. Hopefully, they will send them to me again to review. Steve
“My son’s jazz teachers/directors have recommended he move to a metal mouthpiece to improve sound & volume…”
I know this is an old thread, but it is a myth that metal mouthpieces are louder than hard rubber pieces. Volume is a result of the interior design of the mouthpiece, not the material. It’s a shame band directors are still perpetuating this mis-information.
Soybean, That is true. I have played hard rubber pieces that can knock down walls and metal pieces that couldn’t. It’s all related to the dimensions of the mouthpiece……….
Steve, can you think of any other tenor pieces that have a small chamber and a good sound for jazz. Thanks!
Soybean,
The Selmer Soloists are my first thought. They have a very small chamber and unique sound because of it. You have to be into that sound though. I’ve played many of the alto and tenor soloists and although I really dug the sound, I felt like they kind of boxed me into a corner sound wise that was hard for me to get out of. If you dig the Kenny Garrett, Rich Perry, Joe Henderson sound though, there is nothing better……..
Do you think you can review the stainless Absolute ST? I’m curious if it really IS like a modern day Berg Larsen, as I’ve read on some forums.