Geller Blackbird Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Today, I am reviewing an original and uniquely designed alto saxophone mouthpiece named the “Geller Blackbird” that I received from Max Geller in Munich, Germany.

Max reached out to me a number of months ago to see if I was interested in trying his new Geller Blackbird ebonite tenor and alto saxophone mouthpieces.  The drawings and mouthpiece photos he sent me of the designs of these two saxophone mouthpieces intrigued me enough that I was very curious to try these two mouthpieces out.

I have already reviewed the Geller Blackbird tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I was very impressed with and today I will be reviewing the Geller Blackbird 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

As I wrote in the Geller Blackbird tenor saxophone mouthpiece review, what intrigued me about the design concept of the Geller Blackbird mouthpieces are the original and unique designs of both of these mouthpieces.  The Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece  has a very unique body design and the mouthpiece baffle and chamber are like nothing I have ever seen before.

As you look at the photos in this review, you will probably agree that the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece has a very beautiful, flowing, modern and futuristic look to it.  Yes, the design and shape of this mouthpiece is different than what I am used to, but I am very curious to see how this mouthpiece will perform for me.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here’s a quote from the Geller Mouthpiece website about the Geller Ebonite Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpieces:

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece came well packaged and protected from Germany.  The Blackbird mouthpiece comes in a well made thick white box with a “G” gold logo on the lid and “Geller Ebonit” printed in gold below the logo.

The bottom of the box has the tip opening of 6 listed as well as more exact tip measurements of 1.90 mm/.075 inch.   Below the tip opening, the facing length is listed as 22 mm as well as the description of the chamber as an “oval chamber”.

Inside the box, the Blackbird mouthpiece is nestled in a luxurious thick black velvet bag that has a red velvet interior.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece is absolutely beautiful to look at as you take it out of that lush velvet bag.  The ebonite and gold are smooth and shiny with not an imperfection, fingerprint or smudge anywhere.

The tip, rails and table look flawlessly made and my alto sax reeds lined up with the tip rail pretty closely.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird alto sax mouthpiece has a beautifully smooth medium high and long baffle profile.   The baffle has a very unique shape to it as you can see in the photos.  It is not just a flat baffle but has a fluid shape to it.  The shape is almost like water was flowing down from the tip into the chamber and was immediately frozen solid into that fluid shape.

Unlike the Blackbird tenor sax mouthpiece which had straight sidewalls, the Blackbird alto sax mouthpiece has scooped out sidewalls.  The chamber is described as “oval” with the top of the chamber scooped out slightly and the bottom of the chamber also scooped out slightly.

I would describe the Geller Blackbird chamber as a large chamber as it looks larger than a Meyer medium chamber when I compare the Meyer chamber and the Blackbird chamber side by side.

Geller Blackbird6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece also has a gold shank to it that looks smooth and beautiful as well.  As you can see in the photo below, the gold shank is not just sitting on the end of the mouthpiece but the gold plated brass is designed to line a good portion of the bore of the mouthpiece which I would think would take a lot of craftsmanship and artistry to create.

Max describes the gold plated shank this way on his website:

“Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpieces by Geller-Ebonit are provided with a gold-plated brass stud, which creates an extremely direct connection to the instrument.”-Max Geller

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Whereas the Blackbird tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a lower beak profile compared to most hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces, the beak profile of the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece felt similar in height to the beak height of a typical Meyer alto saxophone beak. The beak height felt very comfortable for me.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Max Geller also sent a beautifully crafted gold ligature with the Blackbird alto mouthpiece.  The contact points of the ligature to the reed are two raised bars.   The ligature is not flimsy and bendable but made of thick brass.

Although the screw does tighten and loosen the ligature to a degree, my one complaint about the Geller gold ligature is that it is pretty tight on the mouthpiece body even with the screw all the way loosened.  You can slide the ligature about 75% down the mouthpiece table and reed before it tightens pretty firmly around the mouthpiece body.

If you wanted the ligature placed more towards the back of the reed, you would have to push the ligature on further and my guess is that it would put marks on the body of the mouthpiece which really would be a shame for such a beautiful looking mouthpiece.

Geller Gold Ligature for the Blackbird Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

When first trying the Geller Blackbird alto sax mouthpiece, I noticed immediately that my normal stock of alto saxophone reeds were too soft for the Blackbird 6 alto sax mouthpiece.  The .075 tip opening isn’t much smaller than my preferred .078-.080 alto sax tip preference, but what makes a harder reed more necessary is that 22 mm facing curve on the Blackbird alto mouthpiece.  I don’t think I have another alto saxophone mouthpiece in my collection right now with that long of a curve on it.

A longer facing curve usually means that a harder reed will feel and blow softer than on a shorter curve.   *For more information on facing curves you can see my article called “Sax Mouthpieces: The Length of the Facing Curve” where I compared five alto sax mouthpieces with facing curves between 20mm and 23mm.

I usually use Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong, 3 light or 3 medium alto saxophone reeds on alto sax mouthpieces with tip openings between .075 and .085 but for the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece, I had to use a Rigotti Gold 3 1/2 medium alto saxophone reed.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

When first playing the Geller Blackbird 6 alto sax mouthpiece, my first impression was that the Blackbird has a medium bright crispness to the tone that was at the same time very solid and stable sounding.  The Blackbird could sound light and sweet and then with more air added could sound more dense and fat sounding.

For me, the Blackbird tone kind of sat between a Phil Woods kind of vibe (light and sweet) and a Cannonball kind of vibe (fat and powerful).  As it traveled between those two sounds, it never stopped sounding beautiful to my ears.

I loved playing my old reliable bebop lines on this mouthpiece as well as traveling away from that bebop sound and just improvising freely.  The tone was moldable and flexible enough to really keep my interest while playing and even more so when I listened back to the sound clips.

The low notes were full and fat and the high notes did not get thin and edgy but retained a solid tone that was round and full sounding.  The Blackbird mouthpiece responded immediately and easily to vibrato and I found it to be very expressive sounding.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

I also found the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece to have a unique “singing” tone in the upper register of the saxophone.  The tone was light, playful and expressive at softer volumes but became fuller and more concentrated at louder volumes.  When more air is added the tone tends to get more Cannonballesque with a toughness to it with it’s solid fat core tone.

The tone was even and smooth throughout the range of the saxophone and you can hear how the fast lines sound connected and smooth.  This connection and smoothness between notes just inspired me to play faster and faster……..

The intonation was very good and the articulation was clean and precise as you can hear from the many bebop lines I played on the recordings below.

Two specific points on the recording I would like to point out:

• 2:29-2:48 of the first sound clip- At this point in the recording, I start playing “All Blues”.  It wasn’t planned but for some reason I started playing it.  I feel like this section is a great example of how beautiful the Blackbird can sound.
• 2:54-3:23 of the first sound clip- At this point in the recording, I put more air through the saxophone and the tone of the Blackbird changes from light and pretty to more dense and serious sounding.  I like how the tone just gets fatter and more round.  It still doesn’t lose that beauty to the sound and you can still hear that “singing”quality in the high notes as I add vibrato. The tone in this section of the recording is just a bit more “in-your-face” and aggressive sounding to my ears.

For the second clip, I recorded a short clip with reverb added to it so you can hear what the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece might sound like with reverb added.  This is actually very close to how it sounds if I played it in my garage or in my basement.  I love how the Blackbird sounds with the reverb, but it sounds just as good on the first sound clip with no effects in my opinion.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

To wrap up this review, I am very impressed with the Geller Blackbird tenor saxophone and alto saxophone mouthpieces.  These are both unique mouthpieces that provide the player with what I think is a beautiful sound.  I really enjoyed playing these two mouthpieces because they gave me an experience and sound that I loved experimenting with and exploring.

If you read this review, listen to the clips, and decide the Geller Blackbird Ebonite alto saxophone mouthpiece is worth a try, you can purchase one on the Geller website.  click here!

Congratulations to Max Geller for designing and creating a beautifully well crafted alto saxophone mouthpiece that is indeed unique and original.  In this day and age where they say everything has been done and there is nothing new, Max Geller has thought outside the box and created mouthpieces that are different from all the rest in my opinion.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you get a Max Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece, be sure to come back and let us know what you think in the comments below……..Thanks!!

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotii Gold 3 1/2 Medium Reed-No Effects

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotii Gold 3 1/2 Medium Reed-Reverb Added