Today, I will be reviewing a Claude Lakey Original 7*3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I was able to borrow from Ellis Music (a local music store here in Vermont). The last time I tried a Claude Lakey mouthpiece on the tenor saxophone was in college about 37 years ago. I remember the mouthpiece I tried out on my tenor sax back then was (in my opinion) too loud, too bright and too edgy for my tastes at the time. Since that time, I have not crossed paths with another Claude Lakey tenor saxophone mouthpiece until now. I decided to give this Claude Lakey 7*3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece a thorough testing to see what my conclusions are 37 years later……
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Last year, I posted a review of three Selmer S80 classical tenor saxophone mouthpieces which were all on the darker side of the tenor saxophone tone spectrum. Today, I will be jumping to the opposite side of that tone spectrum by trying out one of the brighter tenor saxophone mouthpieces out there on the market, the Claude Lakey 7*3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece. Let’s get ready to rumble.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is how the Claude Lakey Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece is described on the website at ClaudeLakey.com:
“The Original Tenor mouthpiece showcases the classic Claude Lakey bright sound. Handcrafted for quality, this staple member of our Originals collection was designed by Claude himself to help players reach new highs and lows on their tenor saxophone. The innovation poured into this mouthpiece pioneered a better jazz mouthpiece that can give you a great range with lots of freedom.
While traditionally Claude Lakey mouthpieces have been known for their work in jazz ensembles, that’s not the only genre where you can find this mouthpiece useful. The Original Tenor sounds great in rock, funk, or house music settings as well. The bright, crisp sound can be heard cutting through an ensemble, or blending in to a small section. The versatility and control you have with the Original Tenor is astounding, and you will soon find it is your favorite mouthpiece to play in multiple settings.”-Claude Lakey Website
Here is a breakdown of the Claude Lakey Original tenor saxophone tip openings
• 4*3 (.101) A great mouthpiece for students who need a little resistance. Easy to control.
• 5*3 (.105) Free blowing and easy to control. Clear, even sound with good projection. Very versatile and consistent up and down the horn.
• 6*3 (.109) Nice bright sound. Centered, clear, even, free blowing. Excellent projection.
• 7*3 (.113) Our most popular and versatile tenor mouthpiece. Bright, centered, round and clear sound up and down the horn.
• 8*3 (.117) Bright, free blowing, powerful mouthpiece for those who put a lot of air into the horn. Extremely popular in South American countries.
• 9*3 (.121) Longest facing and largest tip opening. Bright and free blowing.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of a composite material (fancy words for plastic). The mouthpiece has a built in white tooth guard on the beak of the mouthpiece that is unique to Claude Lakey mouthpieces. These mouthpieces usually have a white engraved ring design around the end of the shank but that white ring is missing on this Claude Lakey 7*3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece for some reason.
The words “Claude Lakey” are engraved in a box on the middle of the mouthpiece table and the tip opening is engraved on the side of the mouthpiece as “7*3”. The engraving on the table of the mouthpiece pretty much guarantees that the table has a concavity to it at least where the engraving is. This is neither good nor bad as many great playing mouthpieces throughout the last century have had concave mouthpiece tables but many players these days like perfectly flat mouthpiece tables. Whether a concave or flat table, I don’t care as long as the mouthpiece plays well.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece was in relatively good condition although this mouthpiece had been used as a trial mouthpieces for students who wanted to try them at the local music store so there is some wear and tear on this mouthpiece with dings, nicks and ligature scratches on the body of the mouthpiece.
The diameter and beak profile of the Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece is very close to the diameter and beak profile of a typical hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I used a Vandoren Optimum ligature for the sound clips below and the mouthpiece played well with a Vandoren Java green box #3 tenor saxophone reed.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The Claude Lakey tenor sax mouthpiece tip, rails and table look and responded well when playtested. The reed got suction easily when performing the suction test. The left side rail of the mouthpiece seems to flare out and become wider as it nears the tip rail. I don’t see this same flare with the right side rail. The tip rail looks a bit vague and worn but the reed sealed well so everything was working as it should. I don’t know how long this mouthpiece has been used for playtesting so the rails could have some wear to them if thousands of players have been trying this mouthpiece out for years or it could have come like that from the factory.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The baffle of the Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece is what I would consider a medium high and long baffle. The baffle terminates at a high height at the entrance to the mouthpiece chamber. If you look at the photo above from the bore end of the mouthpiece, you can see how high the baffle terminates. This makes the entrance to the chamber area much smaller and more narrow. As you look at the photo above, you can see how much smaller that chamber entrance is compared to a typical Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece where that chamber entrance would be a full circle. The mouthpiece sidewalls are straight and the roof of the chamber is of a medium thickness.
The medium high and long baffle, coupled with that squeezed chamber entrance, leads me to believe that this Claude Lakey 7*3 tenor saxophone mouthpiece is going to be one bright mouthpiece……..
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Upon first playing the Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece, my first impression was that this mouthpiece was very powerful and very bright indeed. Along with the power and brightness in the tone, there was also a buzz and edge that increased as I played louder and higher. Even in the beginning of the first sound clip, you can hear the brightness of tone increase as I play a line up into the higher register of the saxophone.
The tone is in your face and has a grittiness and edge to it that reminded me of that muscular sax player Tim Cappello in the 80’s who was always playing the saxophone without a shirt on (He was in that movie “The Lost Boys” if that helps). I guess if I looked like that, I might not wear a shirt while performing as well……..
The squeezed throat at the chamber entrance definitely made the tone laser beam focused and intense. I’m not even sure the recording captures exactly how powerful, bright and focused this mouthpiece can be but while I was playing it at louder volumes it actually hurt my ears while playing. I would say the volume was about a 13 or 14 when pushed on my 1-10 volume scale. You can really hear that volume, brightness and edge on the altissimo sound clip below but I don’t even think the recording captures how loud the Claude Lakey 7*3 tenor sax mouthpiece was in my studio. In fact, I had to turn the gain on my mic all the way down to as low as it would go just to get the levels on these soundclips which are still pretty hot.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
When playing my typical jazz lines in the first clip below the Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece wasn’t what I would describe as even throughout the range of the saxophone. I had a hard time keeping some of the notes from jumping out in volume and brightness from note to note. That is probably more of an issue with me not being use to playing a mouthpiece with a smaller chamber entrance like the Claude Lakey 7*3 mouthpiece has. Any slight changes I would make in air on a large chambered mouthpiece like an Otto link seemed like they were magnified on this mouthpiece. You can hear this clearly at the 1:50 mark of the first clip where I start playing “My One and Only Love”. You can hear how some notes really jump out as much brighter and louder than other notes in the melody.
The intonation was surprisingly good on the Claude Lakey 7*3 tenor mouthpiece. I had anticipated the middle register and upper register of the saxophone to have issues with being sharp because of the high baffle and smaller chamber but I didn’t really find that to be as much of an issue as I thought it would be.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The low notes on the tenor sax were a little more difficult for me to play at full volume without honking them out but they were easy to sub-tone which is kind of a way to cheat to make the low notes speak easier on higher baffled mouthpieces.
The Claude Lakey 7*3 responded well to manipulation of the notes via vibrato and bending. I didn’t find the articulation as clean and fast as on other mouthpieces but it was ok. It just seemed a tad sluggish to me on the fast jazz lines.
The altissimo range of the saxophone was really easy to get as you would imagine from a higher baffled mouthpiece. I will say, that for me, this kind of mouthpiece really needs some reverb in the sound on a gig. Without that reverb, I think the high notes would be too loud, too bright and too edgy in a dry sound setting. I’m sure that, through practice, you could control that and tame it down a bit but I only had this mouthpiece for a few hours so didn’t have the time to learn how to best control it.
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
In my opinion, the Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great tenor sax mouthpiece for those of you looking for a tenor sax mouthpiece that will help you be incredibly loud, really bright and give you the option of adding a lot of edge to your sound. I typically would not suggest a mouthpiece like this for a high school student just because it could possibly be dangerous in the wrong hands. What I mean by that, is that at a time when they are playing in a concert band or jazz band in high school, you want them learning how to blend and fit into the sound of the section and not sticking out because they are drowning out everyone else in the band. Could a player make the Claude Lakey 7*3 work in those settings? Maybe. But it would have to be mastered and tamed by someone with a temperament that is discerning and self controlled to handle such power wisely.
For the adults, I would personally not suggest the Claude Lakey 7*3 for jazz playing but more for a playing setting where you have to compete with really loud electronic instruments. I’m imagining the sax player from “Lost Boys” again…….. Could it work for jazz playing? Perhaps…. If you dig a brighter jazz tone on the tenor sax like Michael Brecker had. He played jazz on a Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece, so anything is possible…. You can listen to the clips and decide for yourself.
If you like the sound and look of the Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece, you can find them on Amazon at a very reasonable price. *Neffmusic also gets a small commission from each sale using this link which helps support this website, so thank you in advance if you use the link.
If you try a Claude Lakey 7*3 Original tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any thoughts, comments or questions on this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Vandoren Java Green Box 3 Reed-No Effects Added
Claude Lakey 7*3 Original Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Vandoren Java Green Box 3 Reed-Altissimo Clip-Reverb Added
Hi Steve,
this is an old story for me: I learned again that the .101 opening is a mouthpiece for students who need a bit of resistance and easy control.
Everyone is free to think what they want; but including me.
Aside from the fact that in my opinion “resistance” is a matter of personal taste that, in my opinion, concerns every saxophonist, regardless of whether he is a student or a professional, I could be wrong but it occurs to me that many saxophonists, probably still unsurpassed geniuses, have used what today are considered medium, or rather narrow, openings – I think of John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker and others – and, therefore, I do not believe that a wide opening is necessarily necessary to play jazz.
I have the impression that there is, perhaps, someone who believes that “the wider it is, the better I play”.
Jokingly, a parallel comes to mind: as if someone who has small feet, say, 40 (Italian size), going to the shoemaker to buy new shoes, bought a size 45! “The bigger they are, the better I walk…” Or not?
The problem remains, for those who are not satisfied with this reasoning, like me, of not finding on the market among “THE MANY” that produce quality mouthpieces, the size “of shoes” that best suits them.
So they cannot buy the “shoes”, considering it useless and tiring to walk while they are losing them.
Patience: if there is not a size for me, maybe a .085?, I will not buy it; they can continue to consider me a student.
Actually, of course, I am, a student… All of us, after all, always try to improve a little; but I continue to think of Coltrane, Gordon, Getz, Parker…
And, furthermore, in reality, I also see some students who buy what for me would be exaggerated openings: perhaps believing that in this way they will become professionals? And, then, after having struggled for a few days with the new mouthpiece, maybe, one day, they put it on sale on the internet.
Unlike me, there are many others who are looking for the ever larger size…
They will buy it.
No offense, and with the utmost respect, for everyone: we live in free Countries.
Giuseppe.
Sorry, errata corrige:
Where I wrote: “… for students who need a bit of resistance …”
I meant to write: “… for students who need a little resistance…”.
In any case, the mouthpiece seems excellent to me for those who want a very bright mouthpiece.
In this context it is exceptional.
Giuseppe.
Hi Steve,
I have one of these too. I always left it in the drawer because people told me it was “paint peeler” and too bright and obnoxious. I took it out again recently and, actually, I don’t hear it that way at all.
Your tone here is strong but certainly not shrill or obnoxious. It’s rather warm and centered. My issue with it for me is that it has a very pronounced midrange that’s cool for some stuff, and not so cool for others. All in all I think Lakeys get a bad rap. They’re very playable, have a nice balance of highs and lows, can get bright for rock and pop but also can smooth out and sub-tone, and they’re affordable.
Steve, I’ve been a big fan of yours for a number of years. Cudos to you on your mastery of the instrument. It’s obvious you’ve been in the trenches to be able to play all the different styles in order to demonstrate the different mouthpieces and sound great on all of them. I’m past my prime and still playing but my wind is quite a bit less. I’m trying to dial down on the tip openings and still be able to sound good and play longer phrases. Would it be possible to buy one of your sheets that you demonstrate when trying out new mouthpieces? I was using an Otto Link 8 that John Reilly opened up to an 8*. Now I’m playing a D’Addario D6M. It’s a good all around mouthpiece but short on some power and edge. Years ago I was playing Lakeys but it was not really what I was looking for. I heard you play the Drake version and again you sounded great. So, without rambling any more, I would like to get one of your demonstration sheets to get started and see if I can eventually master the demos of yours at 87 years young. Respectfully, Nick Palise
Hi Nick,
Thanks for reaching out and I’m glad you’re a fan of the site. I’m not sure what you are asking for. What is a demonstration sheet? Let me know. Thanks, Steve
Great review! I have one of these at a size 6*3. I feel like it sounds brighter behind the horn than it does on recordings for me. I’m also interested in what the metal Apollo mouthpieces by Claude Lakey sound like. If you ever get your hands on one I’d love to hear.