BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Today, I am reviewing the new BetterSax Burnin’ 7* metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece made through a collaboration between Jay Metcalf of BetterSax and Jody Espina of Jody Jazz saxophone mouthpieces.  The BettersSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of brass that is beautifully gold-plated with a matte finish.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Jay Metcalf has a fantastic Youtube channel on all things saxophone entitled “Better Sax” with over 405K subscribers at the time of this review (He had 284K subscribers when I posted my review of his hard rubber mouthpiece almost three years ago).  Jay’s videos are well produced, entertaining and educational.  I really loved reviewing the Bettersax Burnin’ hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece and when Jay contacted me writing that he now had a new metal Bettersax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece he was releasing with the help of Jody Espina at Jody Jazz, I was excited to review this new Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece as well.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here is a description of the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece from the Sweetwater website:

The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is designed for saxophonists who want the lush sound and free-blowing feel of the Burnin’ hard rubber models but with more power, brilliance, and edge to cut through busy arrangements. While hard rubber mouthpieces have traditionally been the go-to for comfortable playing and a rich full sound, tenor saxophone players have increasingly turned to metal mouthpieces for projection, brightness, and the ability to plow through a thick track.  The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is far from your typical power mouthpiece. It’s got nuance, featuring a meticulously designed roll-over baffle and medium-small chamber architecture with straight side walls, the Burnin’ metal tenor sax mouthpiece balances brightness with warmth and depth to generate a richly complex, yet focused and centered tone with excellent expressiveness and articulation across all registers. The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is available in three tip opening sizes to suit your playing preference (6*, 7*, 8*).

Like its hard rubber stablemate, the Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is the fruit of a unique collaboration between world-class mouthpiece maker JodyJazz and BetterSax founder Jay Metcalf, one of the world’s top saxophone educators and influencers. The result is a no-compromise, free-blowing metal mouthpiece that absolutely shimmers, both sonically and visually. Crafted from solid brass using precision CNC machining and hand finished in a gleaming matte gold plating, the BetterSax Burnin’ metal model represents an evolution that integrates seamlessly into the Burnin’ mouthpiece family while establishing its own distinct identity. Reed-friendly and carefully balanced for playing comfort and control, the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor sax mouthpiece gives tenor players the cross-genre versatility for everything from big-band jazz to rock, funk, fusion, progressive metal, and beyond.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece came well packaged and protected in BetterSax box which was also protected with ample packing and cushioning around the mouthpiece.  The mouthpiece also included a Rovner 3ML-NY ligature as well as a mouthpiece cap.

My first impressions of the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece as I took it out of the packaging is that the Burnin’ tenor sax mouthpiece has a substantial weight to it, much more than a typical metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece like an Otto Link mouthpiece. ( I held the Burnin’ mouthpiece in my hand as I held other Otto Link tenor sax mouthpieces in my other hand and the BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece was much heavier.)

The second impression I had was that the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece was very well made.  I have never had the chance to review a JodyJazz made sax mouthpiece here on the site, but this BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece looks fantastic.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is made of brass with a brushed gold plating over it that is clean and perfect to the eye.  There is not one imperfection or flaw.

The black engraving on the gold mouthpiece is clean and crisp.  The side of the Burnin’ tenor mouthpiece has “BetterSax” engraved into the gold-plated brass and the other side of the mouthpiece has the tip opening of 7* engraved next to the table. The top of the Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece has a sax logo and “Burnin’” engraved in black.  There are two black rings around the shank of the mouthpiece.  The mouthpiece comes with a BetterSax mouthpiece patch already on the beak of the mouthpiece.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I was curious if the BetterSax Burnin’ gold-plated tenor saxophone mouthpiece was an exact copy of the hard rubber version I had reviewed three years ago so I sent Jay Metcalf an email asking if that were the case.  This was Jay’s response:

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece has a perfect looking table, rails, tip and baffle profile.  All these elements look smooth, even, symmetrical and beautifully machined.  The tip rail is nice and thin as are the side rails as they head towards the tip.  The tip rail matches the tip shape of my tenor saxophone reeds perfectly.

The baffle is what I would describe as a medium high long smooth rollover baffle similar to the hard rubber version of the Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  The beginning of the medium high baffle extends about 1/2 an inch from the tip before it slopes down into a steeper decline that is scooped from side to side.  The baffle terminates close to where the window of the mouthpiece ends.

The chamber is described as a medium-small chamber and I would agree with that as the sidewalls are straight cutting down on the chamber volume.

The roof of the chamber is thin beneath the mouthpiece table.  The side walls are straight as they travel from the tip to the chamber area.  The bore of the mouthpiece looks to be slightly larger in diameter than the medium to medium-small chamber area. After the straight sidewalls terminate, the chamber opens up to the size of the bore of the mouthpiece.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece played great with BSS (Boston Sax Shop) Silver Label #3 tenor saxophone reeds.  The #3 reed strengths felt very comfortable for me on the 7* tip opening of the Burnin’ tenor sax mouthpiece.  The 2 1/2 strength tenor saxophone reeds I tried all felt a tad too soft for the Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece was great to play!  My first impression of the metal Burnin’ mouthpiece compared to the hard rubber version was that the BetterSax metal Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece seemed brighter, a bit edgier, more focused, and more powerful sounding to me.  It had a more aggressive and “in-your-face” kind of presence to the sound when I compare it to my memory of the hard rubber BetterSax Burnin’ version of this same mouthpiece.

The BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece seemed to have a more focused and brighter tone than a typical Otto Link type round chamber tenor sax mouthpiece would have.  I would credit this difference to the straight side walls of the Burnin’ mouthpiece which in my mind decrease the size of the chamber, concentrate the air stream and focus the sound.

In comparison, many Otto Link round chambered tenor sax mouthpieces can have a spread tone and then when pushed, get louder while still being spread in tone or even get more spread. (This is not true for all Otto Link tenor sax mouthpieces as I have played some that were more focused in tone than others……)  The BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece seemed to get more focused and brighter in tone when pushed louder in comparison to most of the Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpieces I have played.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

At full volume, the Burnin’ metal tenor sax mouthpiece becomes even brighter and more focused.  It can handle brighter type rock and R&B type lines and altissimo and can really be quite powerful when pushed to the max.  Of course, the true test, is being able to test out a mouthpiece on a live gig.  I have been unable to do that with the BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece but it sounded pretty darn loud in my house when played at full volume.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The low end range of the saxophone sounds really full and has a focused and compact tone that can get more spread and diffused when sub-toning.  The middle range and high range of the saxophone can retain a warmer tone if you remain at a soft volume but as soon as I added more air and volume the tone gets brighter in correlation to the volume.

The same smoothness of tone that I described for the hard rubber BetterSax Burnin’ mouthpiece also exists in the metal BetterSax Burnin’ version.  This “smoothness of tone” really makes the Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpieces fun to play fast lines with.  The lines have that “smooth as butter” quality to the lines where the notes just fly by really fast but seem so smooth and connected.

The intonation on the Bettersax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece was excellent and within the normal parameters on my Selmer SBA tenor saxophone.  BetterSax really did a great job balancing all the factors including the baffle and chamber to create a tenor sax mouthpiece that plays nicely in tune!

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I described the hard rubber BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece as providing a nice thickness and weight to the tone that I really liked and the metal Burnin’ tenor mouthpiece also provided a similar tone but with more brightness and edge mixed into that thick tone.  The tone of the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor sax mouthpiece has a full charactered tone that leans to the brighter side while also being nice and focused.  These qualities make the BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece versatile for straight ahead jazz playing or letting it rip in louder genres of music.

The altissimo range of the saxophone was easy to attain with the Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece and vibrato, bends, sub-tones and variations in volume were easy to manipulate and mold as you can hear in the recordings below.

The articulation was clean, fast and responsive whether playing staccato or using fast jazz articulation.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

On the first clip with the BSS (Boston Sax Shop) #3 Silver Label reed, you can hear that focused (in-your-face) energy of tone I describe in the very first line I play.   The sound of the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece sounds like it is right in front of you and not across the room.  It leans to the brighter side of the tenor sax tone and at times has a bit of edge in the tone that makes it sound tough, aggressive and fierce.

On the second clip, I play at full volume with reverb added, and you can hear that “in your face” type of projection the BetterSax Burnin’ tenor sax mouthpiece can have when pushed.  Most of this clip is in the altissimo range of the saxophone and you can hear how the tone can get edgier and tougher sounding for those genres of music that need a tenor sax solo more along those lines.

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

In my opinion, the BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece is a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece for those looking for a versatile tenor sax mouthpiece that can sound great on a jazz ballad or in a big band, while also providing the option of pushing the sound to a more powerful, aggressive and brighter tone when needed for louder genres of music like rock, pop or R&B.  The tone does seem to lean more to the brighter side compared to the Burnin’ hard rubber version but I still consider the metal Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece to be in that tonal range of sound that makes it highly adaptable and versatile for all kinds of music.  Check out the two sound clips below to hear the BetterSax Burnin’ tenor saxophone mouthpiece in action.

If you like the sound and look of the Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece by BetterSax, you can find them for sale at Sweetwater. I have agreed to be an affiliate for Sweetwater so if you purchase a BetterSax Burnin’ metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece from this link, neffmusic.com will receive a small commission on the sale without increasing your cost. (This helps to support my site and keep the saxophone related reviews, articles and transcriptions coming to you…..). Sweetwater even offers the option to pay in three installments as well which is nice.

If you are lucky enough to play a BetterSax Burnin’ gold-plated brass tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below.  Thanks,   Steve

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Boston Sax Shop 3 Silver Label Reed

BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece – Boston Sax Shop 3 Silver Label Reed-Altissimo Clip with Reverb Added