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You are here: Home / Archives for Reviews / Mouthpiece Reviews / Alto Mouthpiece Reviews / Alto Medium Baffle Reviews

Alto Medium Baffle Reviews

Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Hard Rubber Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 17, 2020 by Steve 29 Comments

I was excited to hear that Theo Wanne was releasing a new alto saxophone mouthpiece called the Gaia 3 a few months ago and asked Theo if I could review it.  I had reviewed the original Gaia alto saxophone mouthpiece back in 2010 and it was one of  the best alto saxophone mouthpieces I have […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Gaia 3, hard rubber, review, sax mouthpiece, Theo Wanne

Drake Phil Woods Master Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

September 25, 2019 by Steve 26 Comments

Today, I am reviewing a Drake Master Series Phil Woods alto saxophone mouthpiece made by Aaron Drake at Drake mouthpieces.  This alto mouthpiece is advertised as  “a near identical replica of the mouthpiece that Phil Woods played for over 40 years.”  Don’t worry about the wording of “near identical”, this does not mean it is […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, alto sax, Alto Saxophone, Meyer, mouthpiece, Phil Woods, review

SYOS Godwin Louis Signature Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

September 11, 2019 by Steve 5 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the Godwin Louis 6* alto saxophone mouthpiece from a fairly new company called SYOS mouthpieces in France.  This company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I must admit, that […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Godwin Louis, review, sax mouthpiece, Signature Model, SYOS

New NY Meyer Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Compared to a Vintage NY Meyer Alto Sax Mouthpiece Review

June 22, 2019 by Steve 19 Comments

Since I recently wrote a review for a new NY Meyer (2019) alto saxophone mouthpiece as well as a vintage NY Meyer (1960’s) alto saxophone mouthpiece, I thought it would be interesting to do a side by side review of these two great alto saxophone mouthpieces side by side. These are from the “mouthpiece fun […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, comparison, JJ Babbitt, NY Meyer, review, saxophone, Vintage

Vintage New York Meyer USA 4M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Refaced By Jimmy Jensen Review

June 15, 2019 by Steve 20 Comments

Today, I’m lucky to be able to play and review a vintage New York Meyer medium chamber alto saxophone mouthpiece.  Jimmy Jensen at Tenor Madness was nice enough to send me what he called a “mouthpiece funbox”.  This was a box of special and unique mouthpieces that Jimmy thought I might find interesting.  Among the […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, jazz sax, jimmy jensen, Meyer, new york, review, USA, Vintage

NY Meyer 100th Anniversary Model Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

May 1, 2019 by Steve 47 Comments

Today, I am reviewing a new NY Meyer 100th Anniversary Model Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece by JJ Babbitt.  The vintage NY Meyer alto sax mouthpieces from the 1960’s are some of the most sought after vintage alto sax mouthpieces on the market today.  When I heard the news that JJ Babbitt was coming out with a […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: 100th anniversary, alto mouthpiece, JJ Babbitt, NY Meyer, review, saxophone

James Bunte 42 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

July 31, 2018 by Steve 5 Comments

This is embarrassing to admit, but here is a review that I worked on many years ago and just found on my site as a draft!  I had been working on it, got side tracked and then never posted it!  That’s embarrassing!  I actually still have this alto mouthpiece in a drawer here in my […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews Tagged With: 42, Alto Saxophone, James Bunte, mouthpiece, review

10mFan Showboat Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 14, 2018 by Steve 34 Comments

Mark Sepinuck, 10mFan as he is known in the saxophone world, has been producing a line of tenor saxophone mouthpieces for the last five years that have been very popular with saxophone players around the world.  I have reviewed some of 10mFan’s tenor sax mouthpiece models in the past such as the Robusto, the Black […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: 10mFan, Alto Saxophone, jazz sax, mouthpiece, Phil Woods, review, Showboat

JX Custom Series B Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 6, 2018 by Steve 4 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the JX Custom Series B alto saxophone mouthpiece.    This is made by Jianxing Li in Guangzhou, China.  The JX custom Series B is advertised as a replica of a 1980’s Beechler metal alto saxophone mouthpiece.  I have never played a Beechler metal alto sax mouthpiece from the 1980’s but my […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: 1980 Beechler, Alto Saxophone, China, JX mouthpiece, metal, Series B

Phil-Tone Novella Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

October 30, 2017 by Steve 12 Comments

Today I am reviewing another great alto saxophone mouthpiece made by Phil Engleman at Phil-Tone mouthpieces.  I have reviewed quite a few Phil-Tone sax mouthpieces on the site already and am always interested when Phil announces a new mouthpiece model.  A couple of months ago he announced that he had a new mouthpiece model called the Novella […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Kenny Garrett, Phil Engleman, Phil-tone, review, sax mouthpiece, Selmer soloist

Theo Wanne NY Bros Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

April 5, 2017 by Steve 14 Comments

Today, I am reviewing another great saxophone mouthpiece made by Theo Wanne at TheoWanne.com (save 15% by using this link).  Theo Wanne was one of the first sax mouthpiece makers to reach out to me and ask if I would be willing to do some reviews of his mouthpieces years ago.  I had heard his name […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Meyer, NY Bros, review, sax mouthpiece, Theo Wanne

Ken Okutsu Vincent Herring Custom Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

March 30, 2017 by Steve 19 Comments

Today, I am reviewing another great alto saxophone mouthpiece by Ken Okutsu at Okutsu mouthpieces in Japan.    This is a new custom model called the “Vincent Herring Custom”.  Vincent Herring is a great alto sax player, if you haven’t heard him, do a search on iTunes and check out some of his recordings. I put […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto sax, hard rubber, Ken Okutsu, saxophone mouthpiece, Vincent Herring

Phil-tone JZ Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

January 26, 2017 by Steve 3 Comments

Today, I am reviewing another great mouthpiece by Phil Engleman at Phil-Tone mouthpieces.    Phil Engleman is the founder of Phil-Tone mouthpieces and I have reviewed a number of his excellent mouthpieces in the past.  The Equinox, the Eclipse, the Solstice, the Tribute, the Sapphire, the Mosaic, the Rift etc…………… Phil has even more models that […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews, Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, jazz sax, JZ mouthpiece, Phil Engleman, Phil-tone, review

Johannes Gerber NY Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

November 3, 2016 by Steve 7 Comments

Today, I am reviewing another great alto sax mouthpiece by Johannes Gerber in South Africa. Mr. Gerber has been making mouthpieces for many years and I have reviewed three of his mouthpieces in the past, the Gerber Slant model , the Gerber Solo LC soprano saxophone mouthpiece  and last week the Gerber Vintage alto sax mouthpiece.   […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Johannes Gerber, Ny model, review, sax mouthpiece

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I can see from your instructional videos that you are a fantastic teacher – one that can truly relate to all ages – humble yet very positive in approach – never coming across as superior and yet so totally capable of demonstrating the principles and techniques that you seek to impart to the students. I have gained so much confidence in my playing from “pouring over” time and again these invaluable lessons. Invaluable not only in musical content, but also in human interaction content. I am absolu… Read more
Ron
Hey Steve, My name is Jason Freese and I play keyboards and sax in the band Green Day.  I grew up taking sax lessons from Eric Marienthal when I was a kid and got out of it for a long time. I ran into you on youtube while searching for sax stuff. I bought a whole bunch of your lessons and have been loving it! Thanks! Here is my wikipedia so you can see the albums I’ve played on….Thanks again. It’s sparked my interest in practicing again.   Jason
Jason Freese (sax player for Green Day)

Hello Steve,

I have not received my alto yet but have already gone through 14 lessons. I love your approach, style, knowledge and competence. I now regret so much to have stayed away from playing the sax for the past 45-50 years…(I am 65).  But It is never too late to get back to your first love. After 23 years in compuer sciences and 22 years in finances…I am now back to music for the rest of my life.

Doing some research on the net, I found this:

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?1… Read more

Claude
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing to help further our jazz studies. Though I make my living as a repairer of musical instruments I am a student of jazz and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a big band and a combo for the last several years. As my children began to leave “the nest” I had decided to dedicate the next half of my life to a more serious study of the sax but I didn’t know exactly how I would go about doing this until a friend of mine turned me onto your si… Read more
Jon
I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
I just wanted to write a thank you note to you for this website. I play and teach saxophone, but I have always been intimidated by the gear aspect. Your website has helped me become a lot more knowledgable. Your knowledge is staggering! I’m telling all my students about your website. Pierre
Pierre
I want to say something about Steve Neff’s series of lessons, Beginner Jazz Improvisation. For a couple of years I tried many beginner lessons and my problem was that there was a gap between lessons that were fairly simple and ones that I was not quite ready for and my progress stalled out. That problem was solved with the series Beginner Jazz Improvisation. He guides you step by step along the way and builds a foundation for learning jazz and blues. He leaves no question about what to practice … Read more
Pete
Hey Steve! I hope you and your family are well.  I’m just writing to say thank you so much for all the resources you have made available to the saxophone community. I have been using your material for many years and I always come back to it… in fact I just took a break from practicing to write this…( reviewing “CreatingModern II-V-I Lines with simple pentatonics”.) I am, and continue to be, one of your raving fans! Blessings to you and your family this holiday season! Wishing… Read more
Gerry Aylward
I like so many other subscribers feel so encouraged by Steve’s learning techniques; you will enjoy reading the comments of praise others have left as you too will feel that you share a common view and path. I feel very lucky to have come across Neffmusic and that feeling will remain with you as you search through a treasure trove of learning materials on offer, you will quickly find the lessons that you are suited to. You will instantly recognize the unparalleled quality of Steve’s teaching … Read more
Stephen
I’ve been having ‘ online’  lessons with Steve for a few months now. Being a teacher myself I had had some reservations with the idea at first and the practicalities of it .  Let me just say that my playing has taken a huge leaps forward while studying with Steve and continues to do so.Steve studied with some renowned player/teachers such as Bergonzi and Garzone– this in itself is invaluable but Steve teaches from his own books, which cover a a vast amount of  jazz language. Steve h… Read more
David

Steve,

I have played for many years and have enjoyed going “back to the basics” in some of your lessons!  You have such a gift for explaining concepts.  As I have gotten older, some of the basic things have gotten muddled because I just play, not knowing why.  As I refresh myself with “why”, it increases my confidence and expands my playing.  Thank you so much for using your gift!  You are a blessing!

Julia
I’m an experienced player in the pop/soul/funk areas of music and, previously, classical.  Over the decades I’ve been playing, I’ve always felt that I could do what I needed in those styles of music.  However, recently I began to feel limited by my use of the same old licks. When I discovered Steve Neff’s website, and heard the audio examples based on the exercises in his books, I realized they were what I needed.  I purchased all of them and have been working on them since.  It’s very hard work… Read more
Paul
By the way, BIG COMPLIMENTS to you, Steve! Not only are you a great player, you are also a great teacher! I, too, am a woodwinds player/teacher. I have new inspiration to play and teach because of you. The concepts and “thinking” is similar to what I already learned in College, but hearing you explain and PLAY the concepts REALLY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE! Also, your written patterns are more interesting than other books I have seen! Keep up the good work. I will be recommending your sit… Read more
I will be recommending your site to others!
Steve really changed my way of practicing: I got a whole lot of new ideas for my playing the tenor.  His lessons are really helpful, give a lot stuff to practice and give clear answers to complicated stuff.  Steve has a lot of humor and I wish I had laughed so much in my former days with the horn.  All topics, from Blues to Approach note are dealt with clearness that wet ones appetite to play and practice that great ideas.
Uwe
Hi Steve, I live in a gorgeous but rural area of Oregon-no music store within 80 miles. Your lessons are my lifeline!  Truly the best there are anywhere online. Love your playing. Love your teaching.  Thanks again. Ed
Ed Woodmansee

Thank You Steve. I think that I will be busy for years. Thank You for your great contribution to jazz music. Your books, more than teaching “how to play jazz”, actually teach “how to speak jazz”. I wish I found your methods years ago.  

Jean-Eric
I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith
Hi Steve, I can’t express just how much I appreciate your teaching. My playing has improved so much over the past year since I have been studying and practicing with your lessons. It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, these lessons are proof! Thanks, Michael Byington
Michael Byington
Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray
I’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
Nick
Thanks so much for putting all this great learning material out there. I don’t often have the time to take a lesson with a teacher, so the ability to download lessons is really invaluable. My playing has improved enormously (I think :)) – and the lessons are so varied there’s always something to be inspired by. Incredible value too!
Roger
For anyone living in remote areas away from live jazz sax teachers, Neff is the way to go. In fact this is a great resource for anyone seriously interested in mastering the sax. I’ve never been disappointed in a lesson.
Oliver
I want to let you know that your instructional material is transforming my playing.  It is an immense pleasure to learn and play now, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. The instructional material I got from you is by far the best of any I own (and I have over 100 books, DVDs, and what not). I literally can’t thank you enough! Deric
Deric
Hey Steve, I’m a 22-year-old from Australia. I thought it would be worth saying. You’re an absolute legend. I can’t thank you enough. You have helped me rekindle my love for the saxophone and music as a whole. All the best for the future, your work doesn’t go unnoticed. PS. I am loving your devastating minor lines pdf.
Sapph

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