10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Today, I am reviewing an exciting new tenor saxophone mouthpiece from 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces that is designed with a new innovative octagon shaped chamber by 3-D technology.  This is the 10mFan Cabernet 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece.   I have already reviewed a number of great 10mFan tenor, alto and soprano saxophone hard rubber mouthpieces in the past that you can find here as well as the great playing 10mFan Fireball alto saxophone mouthpiece that is made with the same 3-D technology as this 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

This will be the first 10mFan tenor saxophone mouthpiece I am reviewing that is made with this new 3-D technology as well as the first tenor saxophone mouthpiece I have ever tried with an octagon shaped chamber so I am very curious to see what Mark Sepinuck at 10mFan came up with in regard to this new Octagon Series Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

Whenever Mark Sepinuck, at 10mFan mouthpieces, comes out with a new saxophone mouthpiece model, I am always really excited to try it out because all of his 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces that I have tried have been great!  Mark is always thinking about how he can meet the needs of the sax playing community with new, uniquely designed and originally crafted saxophone mouthpieces and this new 10mFan Octagon Series of saxophone mouthpieces is no exception to Mark’s standard for using innovative and original designs for each of his saxophone mouthpieces.

Mark sent me a 10mFan Fireball 6 & 7 alto saxophone mouthpiece and a 10mFan Cabernet 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece to try out.  The mouthpieces came well packaged in sturdy cardboard tubes to protect them during shipping.  This review is of the 10mFan Cabernet 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The first surprise about these mouthpieces as I unpacked them was how solid and weighty they are.  Many of the other 3-D mouthpieces on the market that I have reviewed have been very light in weight compared to hard rubber mouthpieces of the same size and shape but these new 10mFan Octagon Series mouthpieces felt as solid and weighty as a hard rubber saxophone mouthpiece to me.

Here’s a description of the new 10mFan Octagon Series saxophone mouthpieces from the 10mFan website:

“The most revolutionary and proprietary saxophone mouthpiece chamber design in the marketplace!   If you know anything about saxophone mouthpiece design, most of the magic happens at the chamber!!!

That’s why all of my German barstock 10MFAN hard rubber sax mouthpieces play different than any of the vintage saxophone mouthpieces. They don’t blow like a Link or a Berg or a Meyer or any other sax mouthpiece, because of the internal designs, including the chambers. They may not appear super different to you, to your eye, but there’s a lot going on there.…. and that’s why my sax mouthpieces sound and blow like 10MFAN mouthpieces, and NOTHING else.

I wanted to take that further with these 3-D printed mouthpieces, and actually do a super unique chamber design with a totally different shape, size, and  added “chamber panels”, that have never been attempted before in the mouthpiece world.

These are saxophone mouthpieces using state of the art 3-D technology and design. These are not done on cheap home machines.  These mouthpieces have real weight (they actually weigh more than my hard rubber mouthpieces), a truly unique octagon chamber with “chamber panels” all around on the inside of the chamber, and are 100% infill, so they are stable. This proprietary design concept has never been done in the saxophone mouthpiece world, and it continues to carry on with my 10MFAN design commitment to innovation over imitation.

I have tried many different shapes with the chambers and the octagon chamber was a dream come true. Those of us who got to try these designs here with both a normal round chamber and octagon chamber felt the same exact way too. The octagon chamber with “chamber panels” sounded phenomenal with added clarity and speed. The totally unique chamber and chamber panels give the throat a squeeze like nothing else in the marketplace, ever before.  The combination of the sound bouncing off of the “chamber panels”, how the air interacts with the chamber, the size and shape of the chamber, the totally unique “squeeze” throat using 3-D technology has allowed me to make this unique internal design.

I design mouthpieces and I know when something plays great and when the designs work great…..and these two mouthpieces both play great and the designs work fantastic!!!!-Mark Sepinuck

The 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece is available in 6 tip openings:

6* – .095
7 – .100
7* – .105
8 – .110
8* – .115
9* – .125

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here’s a more specific description of the Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece from the 10mFan website:

“This mouthpiece was designed for a killer straight ahead classic tenor saxophone sound, with lots of warmth, really good power, nice resistance to push against, and FOCUS. But, it can also be used for pop music which is blowing everyone’s minds right now, because the baffle is low and people don’t understand how I could make a mouthpiece that could do this with this design.That’s what making innovative original designs is all about!!! Because of that focus, the intonation is locked in. If you want less resistance, just go to a softer reed.
Think Bob Berg, Pharoah Sanders, Coltrane, focus! It’s incredibly heartwarming to be able to put out this mouthpiece because it is so different from all my 10MFAN hard rubber mouthpieces. This mouthpiece will have more focus like a vintage metal Otto Link…. and for me, more power and body available.

There are lots of fat sounding tenor mouthpieces out there, and my hard rubber 10MFAN mouthpieces certainly fit in that category, but I’ve been asked by many players over the years to put out something that has much more focus, where the sound stays right in front of the player,  and doesn’t get spread…..but still with a really big sound available when you want it!  So here it is!!!!!

The Cabernet has resonance, fullness, focus, and power.  It won’t be as wide sounding as a Slant or a Reso Chamber, because that’s NOT what I wanted here. I wanted more focus with this mouthpiece, but also really good power. This is different from anything I’ve put out, and I’m very excited about it. This mouthpiece has a low rollover baffle that allows for so much beauty in the sound, but still with plenty of presence and sparkle to carry that beautiful, rich classic tenor saxophone sound.

The vintage Otto Link players who wish their sound had more focus to it rather than spread, will LOVE this piece. This mouthpiece is going to please players who are using a whole TON of different straight ahead tenor mouthpieces. This mouthpiece just KILLS!-Mark Sepinuck

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The new 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece has the traditional three rings on the shank that all of the 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces have but they are only on the bottom of the shank and are not white.  It also has “10mFan” and “Octagon Series” engraved on the top of the mouthpiece.  On the bottom corners of the mouthpiece next to the mouthpiece table is engraved “Cabernet” on one corner and “7*” on the other corner.

The mouthpiece looks great and right up to the normal everyday 10mFan standards of excellence.  From day one, Mark Sepinuck has been very serious about producing top of the line saxophone mouthpieces of the highest standards.  Even though this Cabernet tenor sax mouthpiece is made with a new 3-D technology, the Cabernet still holds up to the standards that matter in regard to the way the mouthpiece plays.  The table, rails, tip and baffle area all look perfectly balanced, even and precise.  In fact, these mouthpieces, like the 10mFan hard rubber mouthpieces, are all finished by the expert mouthpiece refacers, Brian Powell and Erik Greiffenhagen.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The table, rails and tip rail look as good as any hard rubber mouthpiece I have seen and the surface area of these areas are as smooth and precise as a hard rubber mouthpiece.  The baffle is glossy smooth for the first 1/4 inch of baffle and then there is some texture to the material from that point of the baffle down into the chamber of the mouthpiece.  Mark address this fact in his description of the mouthpiece where he writes:

“The tables are flat, and the rails are symmetrical and measure properly. The baffles are hand worked so that the mouthpieces play their best. We do not remove all the 3-D lines on the inside floor of the mouthpiece because there is no need to remove more material, when the mouthpieces play perfect after they are hand finished. (To continue to grind the floor makes no sense, so we don’t do that).”-Mark Sepinuck

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece is what I would consider a low baffle mouthpiece with a nice gradual rollover to the baffle in that first 1/4 inch.  After the rollover, the baffle then continues at an angle down to the rear of the mouthpiece chamber where it levels out. As the baffle travels to the bottom of the octagon shaped chamber, it narrows along the way.

The sidewalls on either side of the baffle feel slightly scooped out when I touch them with my fingers. Even though the sidewalls feel like they have a slight scoop to them, as the sidewalls travel inwards as they approach the octagon chamber and the baffle floor narrows, these two factors give the Cabernet mouthpiece a “squeezed throat” as Mark describes above and as you can see in the next two photos below.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The chamber of the 10mFan Cabernet tenor mouthpiece is indeed an Octagon shape having eight sides to the chamber.  This is indeed original and unique to the mouthpiece world as I have never seen a tenor sax mouthpiece with this octagon shaped chamber before.

The octagon shape to the chamber area stops where it meets the round bore of the mouthpiece.  Obviously, this is necessary for the 10mFan Octagon Series Cabernet tenor sax mouthpiece to fit onto a round neck cork.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Saxophone Mouthpiece Chamber Shape (mouthpiece cut in half to show chamber)

One of the best attributes to the 10mFan line of saxophone mouthpieces are the precise facing curves used on each mouthpiece.  Mark uses the best mouthpiece craftsman in the business to fine tune every mouthpiece and make sure the facing curves are perfect.  A perfectly balanced and even facing curve allows more reeds to play consistently and favorably and that was my experience with the Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

*As a side note,  I want to write how impressed I am with Mark’s commitment to excellence.  He could have just chosen to mass produce these 3-D mouthpieces and sell them as is to the masses for a cheaper price point without any hand work.  But instead, he is sticking with his business model of sending every mouthpiece to Brian Powell and Erik Greiffenhagen to have them put the finishing touches on each mouthpiece and to make sure the areas that matter the most in relation to playing are fine tuned and as perfect as can be.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The 10mFan Cabernet tenor sax mouthpiece played great with a Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 strong tenor saxophone reed on it. Playing the Cabernet sax mouthpiece was a very unique experience for me as it has a unique feel and response to it when compared to a typical round chamber tenor sax mouthpiece.  I assume this is because of the octagon chamber shape of the Cabernet mouthpiece coupled with the squeezed throat.

I have provided four sound clips below (more than I usually do) because I felt like the Cabernet tenor sax mouthpiece played and sounded different when played at a softer volume as compared to a louder volume and I wanted to provide those sound clips so that you also could hear the difference in the sound between the clips.

At a softer more laid back volume, the Cabernet sounded warmer and had a lushness to the tone that I really enjoyed. It was full and focused but it sounded and felt like the tone was wrapped in a nice velvety blanket at times.  Like the outside edges of the tone were soft and buttery to me without being spread sounding.   The tone seemed to sit in that midway point between dark and bright to me and could be leaned either way depending on what I wanted from the tone.  You can hear what I am describing here in the 3rd and 4th sound clips I think.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

When I played the Cabernet at medium to full volume (1st and 2nd sound clips), it sounded and felt like the Cabernet mouthpiece became even more focused like the increased air being blown was having to travel through that squeezed throat and the focus, volume, power and brightness were multiplied.   In the first clip, I can hear a bit more edge and brightness in the tone that leans towards a more Coltranesque type of tenor saxophone tone that I don’t hear as much in the softer volumes of sound clips 3 & 4.

When recording sound clip #2 (Wailing Altissimo), I made my self laugh when I recorded because I played for about a minute, then stopped and thought, “How high is this baffle again?” I took the reed off the mouthpiece and looked at the baffle while shaking my head because the baffle looked pretty low to my eyes.  I was surprised I could get that much brightness and power out of the Cabernet with that low of a baffle profile.  It is amazing what effect a squeezed mouthpiece throat can have!

I felt like that squeezed throat and focus of the Cabernet really allowed me to shape the tone in that altissimo range of the tenor saxophone so that I could more easily manipulate the notes in that range of the saxophone when compared to a mouthpiece with a more spread tone.  I think you can hear this clearly in sound clip #2 entitled “Wailing Altissimo” by how expressive and effortless the lines sound.  At least, that was my experience while playing and then listening back to sound clip #2.

10mFan Cabernet Octagon Chamber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece also played great when playing faster jazz lines.  The tone was smooth and even from note to note and the articulation was precise and crisp for me. I love how the Cabernet sounded on “Moose the Mooche” on the 3rd clip at the :36-:50 mark of the clip but I also dig how “Donna Lee” sounded on the 1st sound clip at 2:14-2:28 at a super fast speed.  On most mouthpieces, I would have to slur the lines at that speed and was pleasantly surprised that I could still use jazz articulation on those lines even at that really fast tempo.  I usually can’t do that on most mouthpieces at that speed.

The low notes were nice and round sounding on the recording and sounded beautiful and fat with some sub-tone added to those notes.   On the 4th sound clip with reverb, you can hear me go down to sub-tone low Bb a couple of times and fade out the note to ppp with no issues what-so-ever.

The intonation on the Cabernet tenor sax mouthpiece was terrific and the pitch felt locked in and stable on my Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone.

As usual, I posted two clips with reverb added to them so you can hear what the 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece might sound like with reverb added.  This is actually very close to how it sounds if I played it in my garage, basement or bathroom.  I love how the Cabernet sounds with the reverb, but it sounds just as good on the sound clips with no effects in my opinion. These two clips with reverb are unique and not just taken from the “no effects” clips so worth a listen I think.

10mFan Cabernetl Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

If you like the sound and look of the 10mfan Octagon Series Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece, you can order one of them from Mark Sepinuck at 10mFan.com.  I think this is a terrific all-round tenor saxophone mouthpiece choice for those of you who want a more focused tenor sax mouthpiece that can cover all the bases.  I would love playing a jazz gig or even a Top 40 gig on the 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece and recording these sound clips for this review was so much fun.  You can listen to the clips below and decide for yourself.  I think they speak louder than any words I can write in this review……..

If you have any questions about the Cabernet model tenor sax mouthpiece or any of the other 10mFan mouthpieces, you can contact Mark Sepinuck through his website. Mark Sepinuck is a treasure trove of information about saxophone mouthpieces and is quite happy to answer any questions you might have about them.

*If you have played or end up playing a 10mFan Cabernet tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comment section below this review.  Thanks,  Steve

*To hear the most detail from these clips it is best to listen to them from a computer with nice audio speakers or headphones rather than from an iPhone or laptop speakers.  It makes a world of difference!

1.) 10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-Full Sound with No Effects

2.) 10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-Wailing Altissimo with Reverb Added

3.) 10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-More Mellow and Laid Back Playing with No Effects

4.) 10mFan Cabernet Octagon Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 Strong Reed-Laid Back Bluesy Playing with Reverb Added