SYOS Take the A Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Today, I am reviewing another tenor saxophone mouthpiece from SYOS mouthpieces in France.  This is the SYOS “Take the A” signature model 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece which is modeled after the old SYOS Chad LB model which I reviewed in the past (Chad LB SYOS mouthpiece review).

The SYOS company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene a number of years ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces.  I must admit, that at first, I was very skeptical of plastic 3D mouthpieces, but after reviewing quite a few SYOS mouthpieces (20 SYOS mouthpiece reviews to date), I have come to respect the SYOS business model and the quality and playability of the SYOS saxophone mouthpieces I have played.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

This “Take the A” signature model tenor saxophone mouthpiece I am reviewing today is dark blue and is an 8* tip opening.  Although, I requested the 8* tip opening and the dark blue color for this mouthpiece review, the SYOS “Take the A” tenor sax mouthpiece can come in any of nine tip openings from 5-9 and in a variety of ten attention getting colors.

As I wrote earlier, the SYOS “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece is based off of the SYOS Chad LB model that I first reviewed years ago SYOS Chad LB Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review.  The Chad LB model is no longer in production as Chad has moved on to create his own line of mouthpieces but the SYOS “Take the A” is the same design and specifications as the original Chad LB model.  Here is what SYOS writes in the description of the “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece:

“Our best seller is back! This mouthpiece has changed its name but not its quality! Based on the mouthpiece we designed a few years ago for Chad Lefkowitz-Brown (Chad LB), this mouthpiece will give you edge and power with a nice amount of brightness.”-SYOS website

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Before we get to the playing of the SYOS “Take the A” tenor sax mouthpiece, let me give you a few tidbits of info from the SYOS website on these SYOS saxophone mouthpieces.

First of all, you have three choices when you visit the SYOS website and order a sax mouthpiece.  You can order a “SYOS Signature Mouthpiece” which is basically what the mouthpiece that the player whose name is on the mouthpiece plays.

If, however, you want to be unique and are on a quest to find your own unique sound, you might want to pick the second choice of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS which I have to say looks like a pretty cool process.  Here’s what you do on the SYOS website:

1. First, you choose what saxophone you play. Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bari Sax
2. Second, you choose whether you are a beginner, intermediate or professional sax player
3. Third, you choose what type of music you play (you can pick more than one category)
4. Fourth, this is the coolest part, you choose your sound preferences.  There is a slider for tone that goes from very dark to very bright.  You can choose where in that tone spectrum you feel you would like to be.  There is also a slider to choose how powerful you want to be.  The slider goes from soft to powerful.   Now here’s the coolest part because as you are reading this you might be confused about how you might choose what you want or you might be confused about what your preferences are.  SYOS gives you a bunch of examples with sound clips!   How cool is that?  The following list of player are listed and rated for tone and power. Ben Webster, Chris Potter, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Wayne Shorter. (Can I just point out at this point,  how awesome Chris Potter must feel about being included in this list!)
5. You click “Submit” and wait by your mailbox for your custom mouthpiece that will answer all your dreams to be delivered.

A third option, is that you can order a SYOS Originals saxophone mouthpiece.  They make three mouthpieces for each saxophone (soprano, alto and tenor saxophone) called Smoky (darker and warmer), Steady (medium) and Spark (brighter and louder).  I have reviewed all of these SYOS Originals saxophone mouthpieces in the past and they were excellent.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here is a few comments about the material SYOS mouthpieces are made from in case you are curious:

We use ABS plastic to craft our mouthpieces: this material allows us to get the highest degree of precision, with an improved resistance and durability. And you can get that in 18 colors to build a perfect style on stage!

The plastic we use to make Syos mouthpieces has been certified non-toxic in laboratory (EN 71 and CE 1907/2006 standards). In fact, the same kind of plastic is used to make toys for children, which can be put in mouth without any risks. At the opposite, with the “ebonite” plastic, some sulfuric acid releases are observed when the mouthpiece is old, which gives it a yellow-green color.

And finally, here is a quote about the manufacturing process and how the minute details affect your tone which I found interesting:

For wind instruments, it’s the internal geometry of the bore that gives all the acoustic properties. We work at 1/100th millimeter to adjust the shape and the length of the baffle, the chamber section and size, the tip opening, the facing length… We study and compute the effect of all these parameters on the sound, to predict the timbre of each combination of them.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Ok, so let’s get to the “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece I received. The “Take the A” mouthpiece came in the usual SYOS drawstring bag and was well protected in the package it came in.  SYOS sent a dark blue slide on ligature with the mouthpiece as well although I used a Vandoren Optimum ligature on the mouthpiece for the sound clips just because I like to have the ability to move the ligature around and adjust the tightness of it.

The “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece felt really light as you would expect a plastic mouthpiece to feel.  The table had a little bit of texture to it that you can see with the eye but the table feels smooth to the touch when I slide my finger over it.  Whatever process they use to make these sax mouthpieces does leave some slight texture marks on the mouthpiece.  You can see fine lines going across the table and fine lines going down the baffle as if the machine that cut the mouthpieces left these lines on the plastic.  This texture does not effect the sealing of the reed to the mouthpiece on all the SYOS mouthpieces I have reviewed so I personally wouldn’t worry about it.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The SYOS “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks well made.  The table, rails and tip rail look even to the eye.  The curve of the tip rail matches pretty closely with the curve of my tenor saxophone reeds.  The outside corners of the tip rail do extend a tiny bit further than the width of the reed but it is nothing to be concerned with as the reed passes the suction test perfectly.

The baffle is what I would consider a high baffle that is about 5/8ths of an inch long.  At that point, it meets a curved edge and then the baffle continues at a greater angle down towards the rear of the mouthpiece chamber.  That baffle slope, through the chamber, has a slight curve to it from side to side and the baffle floor narrows as it descends towards the baffles termination at the rear of the chamber.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I would describe the mouthpiece chamber as a medium or even medium-small chamber.  From the bore end of the mouthpiece, the chamber looks smaller than a typical Otto Link sized chamber.  When you look from the front of the mouthpiece, it is pretty easy to see how the baffle cuts through the chamber floor to make the chamber even smaller.  The mouthpiece chamber is definitely smaller in diameter than the bore of the mouthpiece.  The sidewalls are scooped out nicely from the tip heading towards the chamber area.

There is an engraved S (SYOS) on the top of the sax mouthpiece and a “Take the A Mouthpiece” signature on the side of the saxophone mouthpiece.  Usually, the tip opening is marked on the bottom side of the shank of the mouthpiece on SYOS mouthpieces but this mouthpiece does not have a tip opening engraved on it for some reason.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The first tenor saxophone reed I tried on the SYOS “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece was a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong tenor saxophone reed. That is usually the strength reed I would use on an 8* tip opening but that reed was way too soft for me.  I next tried a Rigotti Gold 3 light reed which played very nicely.  The first two recording below were recorded with this reed.

The second two sound clips were done with a slightly harder Rigotti Gold 3 medium tenor saxophone reed.  I included these sound clips because the 3 medium reed played nicely as well and gave the tone and response a bit of a different flavor that some might like better than the 3 light reed.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I have to admit, I don’t remember much about the SYOS Chad LB model since I reviewed it a little over four years ago (before Covid was a word in our vocabulary). I remember that the Chad LB model was pretty bright and powerful when pushed and that it played easily for me but that is about it.

Since I don’t remember the details about that mouthpiece, I am not going to try to compare the new “Take the A” SYOS mouthpiece to the old one except in generalities.  I will take SYOS’s word that it is the same design as that old Chad LB model tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I found the tone of the SYOS “Take the A” signature tenor saxophone mouthpiece to be similar in power and brightness as I remember the old SYOS Chad LB mouthpiece being.  The tone had a substantial mass to it that I found tough sounding and thick when pushed.

The higher baffle and smaller chamber definitely gives the “Take the A” mouthpiece a ton of power and focus when the mouthpiece is pushed.  One of the best attributes of this mouthpiece is that the high notes and altissimo notes didn’t get all thin and weak sounding.  They still retained a thick, full core to their tone and sounded meaty and strong.

Usually, mouthpieces with this type of baffle and chamber have a low end that is wanting, but the SYOS “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a focused and fat low range of the saxophone that I really enjoyed.  When the low end is played with volume the low notes are thick, full and focused.   On the other end of the spectrum, the low end could also provide a lush sub-tone that was very beautiful and expressive.

The intonation was excellent and within normal parameters and the tone was even and balanced throughout the range of the saxophone.  The articulation was clean, immediate and nice and smooth when playing fast jazz lines with jazz articulation.

SYOS “Take the A”  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I do play a few more R&B style lines on these sound clips and I think the SYOS “Take the A” saxophone mouthpiece would absolutely kill on those types of gigs. It has the power and crisp brightness to really cut through the mix in those loud playing situations in my opinion and the altissimo range of the sax just cranks!

As usual with my reviews, I have included two sets of sound clips below.  Each set of sound clips has a clip with reverb added which I usually prefer for high baffled mouthpieces and one clip that has no reverb on it so you can hear how the SYOS “Take the A” sounds dry (without effects of any sort).

I personally prefer the sound clips with reverb as that sound is most likely what I would use in a live playing situation.  The reverb sound clips also give you an idea of how the SYOS “Take the A” might sound in a big hall, bathroom or garage with a robust natural reverb going on.

SYOS Take the A  8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

If you like the sound and look of the “Take the A” signature model tenor saxophone mouthpiece by SYOS, you can find them at the SYOS website.  (Neffmusic also gets a small commission from each sale when you use this link which helps support this website).

The SYOS “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great mouthpiece that can really wail for modern pop and funk playing but also can be flexible enough to play in a jazz setting if you like a brighter jazz tenor saxophone tone (Ex. Bob Berg, Michael Brecker and Chad LB).    Check out my sound clips below of the SYOS “Take the A” tenor saxophone mouthpiece and decide for yourself if it might be worth a try for you.

If you have played or end up playing a SYOS “Take the A” Signature tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below.  Thanks,   Steve

*I introduce the clips by stating that this is the “Take the A Train” tenor sax mouthpiece but that is incorrect.  The correct name is the “Take the A” mouthpiece.

SYOS “Take the A” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-Reverb Added

SYOS “Take the A” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed-(Same clip as above but with no effects added)

SYOS “Take the A” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Medium Reed-Reverb Added

SYOS “Take the A” Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Medium Reed-(Same clip as above but with no effects added)