Today, I am reviewing the new Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece. The 56 Mark II alto sax mouthpiece is the same design as the 56 Select alto saxophone mouthpiece I just reviewed last week (56 Select Alto Sax Mouthpiece Review) but the 56 Mark II mouthpiece is 3-D printed and at a much lower price point than the hard rubber 56 Select alto sax mouthpiece.
Both the 56 Select and the Mark II alto sax mouthpieces are advertised as capturing the warmth and singing quality of the 1950’s “cool school” of alto saxophone playing in the style of Art Pepper, Bud Shank and Paul Desmond. As someone who listened to a ton of Art Pepper and Paul Desmond when I was in high school (they had a lot of their records at the local library), I was very curious to try these 56 model alto saxophone mouthpieces by Windy City Woodwinds just to see how “cool” they really were………
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Windy City 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece is made in partnership with Windy City Woodwinds and Theo Wanne mouthpieces. Here is a short description of the 56 Select mouthpieces from the Windy City Woodwinds website:
“Vintage soul meets the modern age. Designed in collaboration with Dr. Wally Wallace, The 56 alto saxophone mouthpiece captures the warmth and singing quality of the 1950s “cool school,” combining retro-cues with cutting edge technology. 1956 was an amazing year for jazz. The emerging west coast “cool school” was reinventing the jazz aesthetic and redefining saxophone tone. Records from Art Pepper, Bud Shank and Paul Desmond revealed the power and romanticism of the alto saxophone, captivating a new generation of jazz listeners. The 56 Select alto saxophone mouthpiece will feature: A gentle rollover baffle that improves response and projection. Straight side walls that extend from a medium chamber, giving added core to your sound. Developed and finished in partnership with Theo Wanne.
The latest iteration of the “56” (both Select and Mark II mouthpieces) were further refined in collaboration with Theo Wanne and Dr. Wally Wallace. Theo Wanne was able to take the design of the original “56” mouthpiece to a new level using his years of facing experience. He was able to keep the integrity of the original design, but simply allow more air to pass making it a more powerful mouthpiece and stronger across the dynamic range that the original “56” provided.”-Windy City Woodwinds
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
I received two 56 alto saxophone mouthpieces from Windy City Woodwinds. One was the “56 Select” alto sax mouthpiece that is made of hard rubber that I have already reviewed (56 Select Mouthpiece Review) and the other was a white 3-D printed “56 Mark II” alto saxophone mouthpiece that has the same design but is almost a third of the price of the hard rubber 56 Select model. This is the mouthpiece I am reviewing today. Both mouthpieces have a tip opening of .075.
Here is a description of the PLA plastic material the 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece is 3-D printed with from the Windy City website:
“Windy City Woodwinds chooses to craft their Mark II mouthpieces out of their Canadian PLA plastic because it is a material that is very similar to hard rubber in terms of hardness and density. Furthermore, PLA has the advantage of being able to be used in additive manufacturing processes, which eliminates the need for highly expensive injection molding machines or CNC mills. WCW’s PLA is also food safe and has the added benefit of not being prone to oxidation when left in the sun, which can give traditional hard rubber mouthpieces a yellow hue and cause them to emit an off-putting smell and taste–the result of sulfur used in the hard rubber manufacturing process leaching out during oxidation. Overall, PLA is a strong, safe, and affordable material that has successfully created mouthpieces that rival the quality of their more expensive hard rubber counterparts.”-Windy City Woodwinds
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Both Windy City 56 alto sax mouthpieces came well packaged in sturdy white cardboard boxes with “Windy City Woodwinds and the mouthpiece details listed on the outside of each box. Inside the box, the mouthpieces were well protected with a thick cushion of styrofoam on all sides.
The 56 Mark II mouthpiece looked great as you would expect a mouthpiece to look when made in collaboration with Theo Wanne. The mouthpiece is made with white PLA plastic as mentioned above. The side of the 56 Select mouthpiece has “56” engraved into the plastic and the top of the mouthpiece has the tip opening of 75 and MII engraved into the shank. The top of the 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece body has the Windy City Winds logo of “WCW” engraved into the material.
The 56 Mark II came with a white plastic ring ligature as well as a small white mouthpiece cap that slides over the tip of the mouthpiece. I found the ring ligature to be less than optimal as it only slid on the mouthpiece a tiny bit past where the mouthpiece window ends. I prefer to have the freedom to choose where I place my ligature on the reed and most of the time I prefer a placement further back on the reed. For those reasons, I chose to use a Vandoren Optimum alto sax ligature on the 56 Mark II alto sax mouthpiece.
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece has a great looking table, rails, tip and baffle profile. All these elements look even, symmetrical and beautifully machined. The tip rail is nice and thin as are the side rails as they head towards the tip.
In the sunlight, I could see very fine threads of the plastic material used to 3-D print the mouthpiece sticking out in a few areas inside the chamber and inside the window of the mouthpiece next to the table. In my mind, these are inconsequential and I have seen these leftover plastic manufacturing threads in other 3-D mouthpieces I have reviewed. They can usually be wiped off with a finger or while cleaning the mouthpiece in my experience.
The baffle is what I would describe as a long gentle rollover baffle. It looks to be a medium high baffle and the baffle’s long roll extends all the way to the rear of the medium sized mouthpiece chamber. The opening at the rear of the chamber into the bore has what I would describe as a “horseshoe” shape to it. This entrance to the bore has a long gradual squeeze because the sidewalls are straight and angle in towards the sides of the “horseshoe” shaped exit to the chamber.
The roof of the chamber is thin where it starts next to the window but then thickens substantially as it heads through the chamber towards the top of the horseshoe.
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Since the Windy City 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece is of the same design as the 56 Select alto mouthpiece, I thought that the same reed would perhaps work on both mouthpieces. Hypothetically, if everything is exactly the same, the same reed should work on both mouthpieces. This was not the case though. The alto sax reed I used on the 56 Select mouthpiece review did not get a seal when I tried to use it on the 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece. This tells me that there must be a variation in the facing curve or tables between the two mouthpieces.
I tried a brand new Rigotti Gold 3 light reed on the 56 Mark II and that reed sealed perfectly and played great, so it is not a problem with the mouthpiece but just a difference between the two mouthpieces. All the alto saxophone reeds I tried lined up perfectly with the curved shape of the mouthpiece tip rail.
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Windy City 56 alto saxophone mouthpieces had a very cool vibe to them that I really loved. Dr Wally Wallace describes it as a “cool school” sound and I definitely get that impression from them. I’ve read a few comments on the 56 alto sax mouthpieces describing them as “dark”, and I can agree that the 56 mouthpieces are darker than many alto mouthpiece out there, but I found the 56 alto sax mouthpiece to also be rich and complex in tone while being light and incredibly beautiful sounding. Rather than being described as “dark”, I found them to have a light brightness to the tone reminiscent of Paul Desmond and Art Pepper.
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
I found the 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece to be very similar in tone to the 56 Select mouthpiece in regard to the brightness, focus and crispness of tone. My impression of the 56 Mark II mouthpiece was that it had more of a pure tone that was perhaps a little heavier in tone where as the 56 Select had a tone that seemed lighter to me while having more complexity and texture to the tone.
This could very well just be the difference between these two mouthpieces and not the case with every mouthpiece of the two models but that was my experience. I am curious what others, who have played both mouthpieces, have noticed in regard to any perceived differences.
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The same crisp and fast articulation I noticed on the 56 Select alto mouthpiece review was also present on the 56 Mark II sound clip below. The 56 Mark II mouthpiece articulated very cleanly and crisply BUT at the same time very smoothly. A great example of this is at the 2:35 mark of the recording where I play an ultra fast “Kim” (Charlie Parker). This is probably one of the fastest renditions of those “Kim” lines I have recorded and the articulation was super crisp and clean while also being very smooth and light in my opinion.
The intonation on the Windy City 56 Mark II alto sax mouthpiece was excellent and the range of the horn was even and uniform from note to note making playing fast lines very smooth and even.
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
The other aspect of the 56 Mark II that I really appreciated was how focused it sounds. It is light in tone, but that tone is beautifully focused. I think this has to do with that horseshoe shaped opening and how the air is funneled into that smaller opening in a squeeze that occurs from the top, bottom and side walls. I like to imagine the sound being compressed and focused as the player blows. This tight ball of sound is somehow both focused and concentrated, yet also light and floating.
At the 1:07 mark on the sound clip I start playing a “In a Sentimental Mood” (wrong key, sorry….) and what strikes me is how good the vibrato sounds on the long held notes. It’s very even and easy to mold and shape. When I experience this ease of vibrato control with a mouthpiece, it is usually a sign to me of a perfect balance of resistance in how the mouthpiece blows. If a mouthpiece is too resistant, I am fighting it and working too hard to shape the vibrato. If a mouthpiece is too free blowing, it is hard to keep control of the vibrato. In my opinion, the Windy City 56 mouthpieces have a perfect balance of resistance that lets the player shape and mold the tone easily while having full control of the expression of that tone (vibrato, bends, articulation, dynamics, etc…….).
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
In my opinion, the Windy City 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece is a great, affordable alto saxophone mouthpiece for those looking for an alto saxophone tone with a light, singing resonance to it that is pure and beautiful sounding so that the listener can’t help but be mesmerized by it.
Great job to Dr. Wally Wallace, Kevin Braner, Matt Braner and Neil Xu at Windy City Winds, as well as Theo Wanne for developing and creating a very “cool” sounding alto saxophone mouthpiece at a super affordable price point!
If you like the sound and look of the Windy City 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece, you can find them for sale at the Windy City website. After you check out my sound clip below, check out Dr. Wally Wallace’s informative video on the 56 Mark II mouthpiece below the sound clips.
I have included the clip of the more expensive Windy City 56 Select hard rubber alto sax mouthpiece review so that you can compare the clips without having to switch back and forth between the reviews or have two windows open at the same time. Hope it helps!
If you want to compare phrases and lines that are very close, you can compare:
- Blues-:18 on the 56 Mark II clip to :26 on the 56 Select clip
- Fast Articulation-11:40 on the 56 Mark II clip to :53 on the 56 Select clip
- Arpeggio-1:48 on the 56 Mark II clip to 1:20 on the 56 Select clip
- The Summer Knows-3:02 on the 56 Mark II clip to 1:31 on the 56 Select clip
If you are lucky enough to play a Windy City 56 Mark II alto saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece – Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed
For Comparison-Windy City Woodwinds 56 Select Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece – Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed
Q. What differences do you hear between the sound clips of the two mouthpieces above? Let me know in the comments below……
Video of Dr. Wally Wallace demonstrating the Windy City Woodwinds 56 Mark II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece. I especially love the sweet alto sax tone at the 3:48 mark with a Vandoren Java #3 reed! So beautiful!
My impression, I can be wrong but I have it, listening to the two sound clips of the two models, is that the sound of the hard rubber model is more vibrant, acute, “graceful”, structured, complex, articulated, and “lighter” , “agile”, “airy”, “fresh”: I hope to express well what I feel …
The other more full-bodied and “heavy”.
Giuseppe.
That is a good assessment of what you hear in the clips of those two mouthpieces. I would agree with you and that was my finding as well.
je trouve le 3D moins riche en harmoniques et c’est encore pire avec les 3D Syos.
Translation: I find 3D less rich in harmonics and it’s even worse with 3D Syos.
IMO The 3d printed sounds much better. The Select has a buzz like quality to it, that doesn’t really belong in this style of mpc.