Today, I am posting a battle royal, fight to the death, comparison between six Theo Wanne tenor saxophone mouthpieces that I have already reviewed here at Neffmusic. Here are the six Theo Wanne mouthpieces doing battle in round one today with links to their reviews:
Theo Wanne Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Lineup (From Left to Right-Ambika 3, Lakshmi, Gaia 3, Gaia 4, Durga 5, Shiva 3)
- Ambika 3 (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece
- Lakshmi (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece
- Gaia 3 (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece
- Gaia 4 (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece
- Durga 5 (8 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece
- Shiva 3 (8 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece
For this Battle Royal-Round One, we are starting with 8 bars from the ballad entitled “My One and Only Love”. Each tenor sax mouthpiece gets the opportunity to show off while playing the A section of this popular jazz ballad. We have asked the mouthpieces to retrain from their creative impulses and to play similar lines and ideas for this round so that they could be judged purely by their sound, tonal shade (brightness and darkness), tonal texture, power, articulation, intonation and all-round general vibe……..
Theo Wanne Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Lineup (From Left to Right-Ambika 3, Lakshmi, Gaia 3, Gaia 4, Durga 5, Shiva 3)
All six Theo Wanne tenor sax mouthpieces entered the ring using their corresponding Liberty ligatures. They were all recorded at the same distance from the mic with the same microphone and settings.
The Ambika 3, Lakshmi and Gaia 4 tenor sax mouthpieces all used the same Roberto’s Winds 3 soft tenor saxophone reed. Interestingly enough, that same reed would not work on the Gaia 3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece and a new Roberto’s Winds 3 soft reed had to be used on the Gaia 3 tenor sax mouthpiece.
The Durga 5 and Shiva 3 tenor sax mouthpieces played best with a Roberto’s Winds 2 1/2 hard tenor saxophone reed as the 3 soft reed felt too hard on the 8 tip opening of these two mouthpieces.
I rarely do head to head comparisons between saxophone mouthpieces so this Battle Royal-Round One between the Theo Wanne contenders was quite interesting. As a disclaimer, I will state that I spent very little time getting used to each mouthpiece before recording. I just put on a reed, blew on it to see if it felt good, and then recorded.
Theo Wanne Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Lineup (From Left to Right-Ambika 3, Lakshmi, Gaia 3, Gaia 4, Durga 5, Shiva 3)
If you like the sound and look of any of these beautiful tenor saxophone mouthpieces by Theo Wanne, you can find them at Theo Wanne’s website. I have agreed to be an affiliate for Theo Wanne so if you purchase a Theo Wanne tenor saxophone mouthpiece from a link here in the review, I will receive a small commission on the sale at no extra cost to you. (This helps to support my site and keep the saxophone related reviews, articles and transcriptions coming to you…..).
Here are some of my subjective observations from playing these six great Theo Wanne tenor saxophone mouthpieces back to back:
- Ambika 3 (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece– This was definitely the darkest tenor mouthpiece of the six mouthpieces. The tone is rich and thick. It didn’t seem as loud to me but that is probably because there is less brightness in the tone. The upper range notes didn’t get a lot brighter in tone as they did on some of the other mouthpieces. The intonation was really locked in for me on this one. The tone had a nice dark focused core to it.
- Lakshmi (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece-The Lakshmi was brighter than the Ambika 3 but sounded more complex and rich to my ears. Like there was more complexity to the tone. The tone seemed like it had more diffused edges to it which makes it sound more spread and buttery sounding than the other mouthpieces.
- Gaia 3 (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece-The Gaia 3 sounds immediate fatter to me than the Lakshmi but there is a bit of edge in the tone I wasn’t a fan of. The runs seemed a bit more uneven to me than the other mouthpieces.
- Gaia 4 (7* tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece-The Gaia 4 has the fatness of the Gaia 3 but some of the richness and complexity of the Lakshmi. It also loses that edge in the tone I didn’t like on the Gaia 3 track. The fast runs seemed more even and smoother than on the Gaia 3. It seems to have more solid stable core to the sound where as the Gaia 3 has a sound that felt like it might break at times. Perhaps not as stable of a tone when compared to the Gaia 4. The tone seemed more locked in as far as intonation and the center of the tone to me.
- Durga 5 (8 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece-The Durga is brighter than the first four mouthpieces and you can immediately notice a more in your face presence to the tone, as if I was standing closer to the mic, although I wasn’t. It does have some more edge to the tone especially in the upper register. The palm keys seemed brighter and bit thinner than I liked. I loved the presence of this mouthpiece though.
- Shiva 3 (8 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece– The Shiva 3 is interesting because I think I subconsciously sub-toned more on it than the other mouthpieces to keep the power, brightness and edge in control. You can hear at the :14 mark where I put a little more air through the horn and the note gets much louder, brighter and edgier immediately. I found the Shiva to be too bright and edgy for my tastes on this ballad.
This is a show down, so for me, if I had to rate these in order of preference for this ballad:
- Gaia 4
- Lakshmi
- Ambika 3
- Durga 5
- Gaia 3
- Shiva
The Gaia 4 and Lakshmi are really a toss up. They both sounded great but had different tones. The Gaia 4 had a thicker core and heartiness to the tone and the Lakshmi having a more smooth and pretty tone. The Ambika was beautiful also but darker than I usually like. The Durga 5 sounded great but was brighter than I like. I did love the presence of tone with the Durga 5 and it reminded me a bit of Michael Brecker’s “in-your-face” bright tone when he played “My One and Only Love”. The Gaia 3 and Shiva just had more brightness and edge than I like. Edge is cool when I can turn it on and off but I am not a fan of edge popping up in the tone when I didn’t call for it. I do not like that at all.
I guess I could also see the Gaia 4 and Lakshmi tied for first place and the Ambika 3 and Durga 5 tied for second place depending if I wanted to go brighter or darker with my tone.
So, those are my personal impressions. Let me know what you think in the comments below whether you agree or disagree with my opinions.- Steve
Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Which one is the winner of this round in your opinion? Do you hear a difference? I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
My One and Only Love (A Section)
Theo Wanne Ambika 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Theo Wanne Ambika 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Roberto’s Winds-3 Soft-No Effects
Theo Wanne Lakshmi Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Theo Wanne Lakshmi 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Roberto’s Winds-3 Soft-No Effects
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Roberto’s Winds-3 Soft-No Effects
Theo Wanne Gaia 4 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Theo Wanne Gaia 4 7* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Roberto’s Winds-3 Soft-No Effects
Theo Wanne Durga 5 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Theo Wanne Durga 5 (8 tip) Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Roberto’s Winds-2 1/2 Hard-No Effects
Theo Wanne Shiva 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Theo Wanne Shiva 3 (8 tip) Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Roberto’s Winds-2 1/2 Hard-No Effects
Just a casual listen, but the only one that jumps out as sounding better, and the only one that sounds substantially different, is the Gaia 3. I hear a fuller sound in the low register notes at the beginning of the sound clip. I think it would be fair to describe it as slightly brighter, slightly more contemporary. It seems like “bright” can be akin to an insult in the saxophone world—but that’s not the intention here. I just prefer it in this instance.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the sound clips.
Hello!
I came up with a similar choice of mouthpieces.
Maybe I would try a little harder reed to get some more core to the sound and less thin sound on the palm keys and altissimo register.
Really great great review. Very interesting !
Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll see if I can make a harder reed work on the next round. Steve
Hi Steve, very cool test. In general I found the TW metal pieces to sound too thin in the upper register. For this ballad I prefer the GAIA 4.
The Gaia 4 was one of my favorites as well. I love the Lakshmi but there is something about the Gaia 4 and Durga 5 that just speaks to me………
Exactly the same for me. I own a Gaia 2 and the problem is that upper register is way too thin and sharp. Apparently Gaia 4 now is softer there and lakshmi as well sounds darker than mine. Anyway good job Mr Wanne!
I really enjoyed the Lakshmi… Gaia 4 would be a close 2nd for me. Thanks for this Steve !!
Ironically, I was just listening to Coltrane’s rendition of this song this afternoon. I liked the Gaia 3 best. I thought the tone was fullest and most consistent. This is an interesting test because when I think of Theo Wanne mouthpieces, ballads don’t come to mind.
The Shiva sounded the best to me, although everything you play sounds like you and so all the sound clips have a similarity, a “Neff-tone” to them. They’re all just slight variations on your core sound.
Thanks for all your hard work, we appreciate it
Thanks, Dave! Your comment got me thinking about my “Neff-tone”. The truth is that that is what sounds good to me so when I try a mouthpiece that doesn’t get me any where near that tone, I either work with it until I get it close or I don’t review the mouthpiece because I feel it doesn’t work for me. It would be interesting for me to post more clips of mouthpieces where I don’t get my standard “Neff-tone” as you have labeled it……..now you have me thinking……..
Hi Steve,
For me they all sound great, i liked to sound of the Gaia 4 the most.
Im a link/ ponzol player.
I think the Gaia 4 was the mouthpiece with the most rugged and tough sound. It sounds more thick and beefy in tone to me.
For what I perceive from computer, in order of preference:
1) Lakshmi,
2) Ambika, in an another ballpark, for fullness and darkness of sound, even if less powerful,
3) Durga for brilliance and a certain fullness at the same time),
4) Gaia 4 ,
5) Gaia 3 , little difference with Gaia 4, difficult to say which is best
6) Shiva.
Thanks, Giuseppe! It’s so interesting how everyone has different opinions about which mouthpiece is the “best” mouthpiece.
Ambika still had some edge but a darker spread sound, nice. Lakshmi and Gaia 3 we’re both the most focused and middle of the road in this bunch. Gaia 4 was nice with that more spread to the sound and the crispness. Durga was the surprise to me as I was all set for bright and it still had a bunch of bottom to the sound, very cool. Shiva was what I expected. Depends on the music, but for a ballad like this I would like the Ambika or the Gaia 4, I know…weird? And I would not turn down a Durga if someone wants to give me one either. I know that’s not happening. All this based upon my headphones, tablet, barometric pressure and solar flares too. Thanks Steve!
Thanks, Alan. I appreciate your thoughts and impressions of the sound clips. I was surprised by the Durga 5 as well. When I was playing it, I thought it was a bit too bright from behind the horn but the recording of it sounded really great to me.
Hi Steve,
“Neff-Tone”. Sounds like a new custom mouthpiece line. Ever think about designing your own?
Hahaha! Yes, I have thought about it. Neff-Tone is a little too close to Phil-Tone though……..
They all sound the same to me . Maybe through better speakers I might have more of a chance in hearing a difference .
Better speakers definitely help. There is a world of difference between listening to these on my iPhone versus my laptop, versus my desktop with Klipsch speakers. They’re not even that great of speakers but I can hear so much more than with my phone or laptop. I’m saving up for much better speakers for Xmas………
The other huge factor is our ears. So many working sax players have so much hearing loss in certain ranges of their hearing that I don’t know if they can hear the actual sound they are listening to. I’ve heard of guys getting hearing aids and then they realize that every mouthpiece they have is way brighter than they thought they were. This might be the case for me as well…..
Hi Martin,
you’re right: my computer’s audio broke and I had to put two external cassettes bought for six euros in a Chinese shop…
When I listen to audio clips on other people’s devices the sound seems much richer!
I apologize to Steve if my comments may appear, for this reason, imprecise!
They all sounded great, but I thought the Gaia 3 was perfect for this.
Many interesting comments and observations, especially about the ‘Neff’ tone. I’d guess that Mr Neff would go for different tones on different horns, though.
I found the Gaia 4 to be very round at bottom, but not as clean at higher pitches compared to the Durga 5. I thought the Durga 5 was the most focused, bright, and clean, even if not the most suitable mpc for this tune. For this tune, I thought Gaia 3 best application overall, but if an edge is desired, then Durga 5—I mean who is the player playing to, an audience or one person selected in the audience? I thought the Lakshmi and Ambika showed little difference between each other, and less distinguishing, more ordinary, tonally compared to the other three.
Looking forward to your thoughts and Part 2, Steve !!
Thanks for the reminder! I totally forgot to post my thoughts as I said I would. I have them all written out. I’ll see about posting those and getting busy with Round 2. Any requests for a Round 2 topic? Polka?
Polka would be lovely !! Looking forward to it 🙂 Cheers Steve
Latin would be awesome!
Interesting test for sure. It seems from most of the comments, I am an outlier here. I’m a rocker; I growl the majority of my notes, and the SHIVA 3 fits my tone like a glove. Not as bright as a Rovner Deep V or Runyon w/spoiler; but nasty, edgy and aggressive enough PLUS it can play more melodic when needed. That versatility is a bonus!
Ace, That is totally cool. We are all different and have different tastes. Maybe it is my hearing loss but every time I play a mouthpiece that is super loud and super bright, I feel like I’m taking more months or years off the life of the hearing I have left. I totally understand different sax players liking different sounds and mouthpieces though.
It has been my contention to judge mouthpieces by the usual points of interests for sure but more important to me than all else was to not to be a mouthpiece player but a sax player. By that I mean a lot of times that I have tried various types of mouthpieces, but found myself worrying about the way I played each mouthpiece in order to make it work rather than just the enjoyment of playing the saxophone without thinking about the mouthpiece. I always enjoy the new posts on your site, Steve and am so grateful for your hard work and expertise!
Great Theo Wanne showdown Steve. I agree with the many comments that you pretty well controlled and dialed in the Neff-tone on each mouthpiece. I’ve played a Gaia 4 for well over a year and it is my “forever” mouthpiece (I hope) so I am sure I’m biased to say that the Gaia 4 stood out for me on this battle round. Big thick yet projecting sound, which is why I love it. But I was impressed by the Ambika as well. Looking forward to hearing the next battle round.