Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Today, I am reviewing another new Retro Revival tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Joel Peskin and Bob Sheppard at Retro Revival. This is the Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  This is a high baffled hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece with an 8 tip opening designed in the spirit of the vintage Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpieces of the 1980’s.

If you take a look at the Retro Revival site, you will see that they now have 23 different saxophone mouthpiece models available.  Last time I did a review of a Retro Revival saxophone mouthpiece, they only had seven mouthpiece models listed, so Retro Revival mouthpieces has been very busy since then.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece is based off of the Retro Revival Seventh Avenue South metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece which is describes as a replica of an original 1980’s Guardala Michael Brecker II tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Joel Peskin owns.  Here is some more details about the Seventh Avenue South model that the hard rubber Modern Line Cutting Edge model is based off of:

“The Seventh Avenue South model is a copy of my own personal MB II tenor sax mouthpiece that Dave Guardala made for me when he first started his operation in the 1980’s. He was making these choice tenor saxophone mouthpieces for Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis, Tom Scott and others. 

The Seventh Avenue South tenor sax mouthpiece has tons of power, core, and center. Not just edge. Unlike many other copies that are available on the market this is a direct replica from a hand made and hand picked mouthpiece by its creator Dave Guardala.

The Seventh Avenue South tenor sax mouthpiece blows very free and has a huge sound. The baffle is very responsive and just takes the air and turns out many RPMs of volume and sound! It has a larger chamber behind that hot baffle and you can produce a really warm fat sound or blow the windows open. This mouthpiece is ultra reed friendly and plays very well in tune. It’s a great mouthpiece for Jazz, Latin, R&B, Blues, etc.  It has extreme power and a great tone.”

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here’s a quote from the  Retro Revival website about the Modern Line Cutting Edge hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece:

“The Cutting Edge tenor sax mouthpiece is a powerhouse. This higher baffle, medium shelf design produces balanced harmonics with enough cutting edge needed for any contemporary setting. Based on our Seventh Avenue South tenor saxophone mouthpiece, the hard rubber feel is extremely “reed friendly”, super fast responding and amazingly flexible. So impressive is the ease to produce the most subtle sub-tones to screaming rock volumes. You will discover a very special and fun playing experience with our high baffle design made from the highest quality german hard rubber. You can go anywhere on the Cutting Edge. Precision CNC milled, hand polished and quality controlled. Rovner Cap & Ligature are included.”

*If you are wondering what the difference between metal and hard rubber mouthpiece is or if there is a difference, you can check out this article:  Does the mouthpiece material make a difference? Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison  (That is not what this review is about, but I thought I would add the link for those interested).

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Joel was kind enough to send me a Retro Revival Cutting Edge hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece in an 8 tip opening to review.  The Cutting Edge mouthpiece came in a strong cardboard cylinder to protect it while shipping.  A Rovner ligature and mouthpiece cap were included with the Cutting Edge mouthpiece.

The mouthpiece has RR engraved on the top of the shank of the mouthpiece and “CUTTING EDGE” engraved length-wise on the top of the body.  The bottom of the shank has “Modern Line” and the tip opening of 8 engraved.

The thickness of the mouthpiece is wider than a typical metal Guardala but not as wide as a typical hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  The size of the body looks to be more the size of a hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece or clarinet mouthpiece.

Due to this smaller mouthpiece size, ligatures that fit on typical hard rubber tenor sax mouthpieces would be too large for the Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  The Rovner mouthpiece ligature that comes with it fits fine but if you slide it too far back on the mouthpiece body, there is a danger that the tightening screw on the top of the ligature will make contact with the mouthpiece body and gouge into it when you tighten it, so be careful of that (I have gouged many a hard rubber mouthpiece with a Rovner ligature in my early days of saxophone playing).

I think a ligature built for hard rubber alto sax mouthpieces or clarinet mouthpieces would also work fine on the Retro Revival Cutting Edge mouthpiece.  For the mouthpiece clips below, I used a Vandoren Optimum alto saxophone ligature.  I think most alto saxophone or clarinet ligatures would do the job.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Upon inspection, the Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor sax mouthpiece table, rails and tip look beautiful, even and nicely crafted.   The tip rail is very close to the shape of the different tenor saxophone reeds that I tried on the mouthpiece (Rigotti Gold and Vandoren Java reeds).

The Cutting Edge mouthpiece has a familiar looking high shelf baffle that Guardala mouthpieces were known for back in the day.  The flat shelf of the baffle is 7/8’s of an inch long as it descend at a slight downward angle toward the ending edge of the shelf baffle.  After that baffle edge, the baffle continues at a more aggressive decline into the medium chamber of the mouthpiece.

The bore diameter of the mouthpiece is larger than the chamber diameter and I would consider the chamber to be a medium sized chamber.  The inner side walls of the mouthpiece are straight as they travel to the medium chamber.

In the photos below, it looks like the bore of the mouthpiece is smaller in diameter compared to the chamber but this is not true.  If you look at the photo of the bore (four photos below this), you can see than the bore is wider than the chamber diameter.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor sax mouthpiece played great with a Rigotti Gold 3 Light tenor saxophone reed.  I did try some Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong tenor sax reeds as well but they just felt a little too soft for the 8 tip opening for me.  I think the 2 1/2 Strong sized reeds would probably have felt perfect on an 8* tip opening but for the 8 tip opening, the  Rigotti Gold 3 Light reeds were definitely the best choice for me.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

My first impression of the Cutting Edge tenor sax mouthpiece was that this mouthpiece had loads of power.  It is definitely a brighter mouthpiece that can have a good amount of edge as well when you push it.  The tone was solid, full sounding and substantial from the very first notes on the sound clips.

The volume was impressive in that even as I was playing with about 70% of my air, the mouthpiece was already playing at about a 10 on my volume scale.   That leaves a lot of headroom for volume if you push your air more into that 70-100% range of air.  For that reason, I think this would be a killer Rock n’ Roll, pop or funk mouthpiece.

The Retro Revival Cutting Edge tenor sax mouthpiece can do the Michael Brecker kind of tenor sax sound but it could also do the Clarence Clemons kind of tenor sax sound as well.  It’s just got that wailing and powerful tenor sax vibe when you really lay into it.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The intonation was great for a high baffle mouthpiece and I didn’t have any issues intonation-wise with any of the notes throughout the range of the saxophone.

The Cutting Edge mouthpiece could sub-tone beautifully or you could put your full air into those low notes and really belt them out forcefully.  The altissimo register came out effortlessly and the notes in that range were powerful and could have a brightness and edge if you desire it. The articulation was clean and precise throughout the range of the saxophone with notes coming out immediately and responsively.

Many times, with a high baffled mouthpiece I feel like it is hard to play jazz lines because the volume and power available is so flexible and sensitive to the slightest changes in the player’s air.  Sometimes, with other high baffled mouthpieces, I can feel like I am playing at a 3 volume level and then when I push the air a little bit more,  it feels like I jump to an 8 volume.  I didn’t feel this extreme variance in volume with the Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece though,  the Cutting Edge mouthpiece felt like I could control the volume more gradually and when I pushed the air a little more from a 3, it would go to a 4, then 5, then 6, etc.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Retro Revival Cutting Edge did have a good bit of edge in the tone when pushed which is why I  envisioned it as a cool Rock ‘n Roll mouthpiece or funk tenor sax mouthpiece.   In the first clip, you can hear moment where I push the volume a bit louder and the edge is increased along side the volume.   The 2:32 and 2:53 marks are great examples of this increased edginess when the mouthpiece is pushed.

One characteristic that I really loved with the Retro Revival Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece was how good it sounds with reverb added to the mix.  The second clip has some of the altissimo lines I played in the first “dry” clip with some reverb added and I think the Cutting Edge mouthpiece sounds terrific.  The added reverb just takes the “dry” brightness and edge of the sound and adds the perfect amount of fatness and roundness to the sound.  I think this would be a great tenor sax mouthpiece to play on a gig where you really have to wail as a sax player and can add some effects to the sound to get that “studio” type sound out of it.

The third clip is me simply noodling around with the melody of “Tequila” a little bit.  Notrhing complex or extravagant.  I love the :22 mark of that clip as an example of having a bright edgy sound that is also thick and full sounding.  Many times I categorize that type of tenor sax sound as being strong, tough and rugged sounding.

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great playing tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those looking for a tenor sax mouthpiece that can really wail and cut through on a gig.  It can really scream in the altissimo range of the saxophone but has enough fatness and depth to the sound that it doesn’t get thin in tone like many high baffled metal mouthpieces do in the high end.  I really enjoyed how tough, gritty and “in-your-face” the Retro Revival Cutting Edge tenor mouthpiece could get when needed.  I’ll say it again, if you are looking for a tenor sax mouthpiece to really wail on the gigs you are doing, then the Cutting Edge would be a great mouthpiece to try out.

If you read this review, listen to the clips, and decide the Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor sax mouthpiece is worth a try, you can purchase one on the Retro Revival website.

Congratulations to Joel Peskin and Bob Sheppard for making a wailing well crafted hard rubber mouthpiece reminiscent of a great Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece! Great Job!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you get a Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge tenor saxophone mouthpiece, be sure to come back and let us know what you think below……..Thanks!!

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-No Effects

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-Altissimo Clip with Reverb Added

Retro Revival Modern Line Cutting Edge 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-Tequilla Melody with Reverb Added