{"id":24633,"date":"2015-02-24T20:02:38","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T01:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=24633"},"modified":"2015-02-24T20:59:03","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T01:59:03","slug":"vandoren-t7-large-metal-tenor-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2015\/02\/vandoren-t7-large-metal-tenor-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Vandoren V16 T7 Large Metal Tenor Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today, I am reviewing a new metal\u00a0tenor saxophone mouthpieces made by Vandoren.\u00a0This mouthpiece is the Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Chamber V16 model. This is similar to the T7 medium chamber I reviewed a few days ago but this mouthpiece has a larger chamber.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LTop.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LTop.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here are some quotes\u00a0from the Vandoren website\u00a0about the V16 T7 model tenor saxophone mouthpiece:<\/p>\n<h3><em><strong>BULLET POINTS ABOUT THE VANDOREN V16 T7 \u00a0MODEL:<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Made from legendary &#8220;Bell Metal&#8221; brass<\/li>\n<li>Plated with 24-karat gold<\/li>\n<li>Small Chamber-The original V16 model relabeled with a Small indication. A centered sound with lots of projection.<\/li>\n<li>Medium Chamber-Inspired by the famous mouthpieces from the 50&#8217;s and 60&#8217;s. A round and deep sound.<\/li>\n<li>Large Chamber- In the tradition of the 40&#8217;s. The great vintage sound.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The V16 T7 Large Chamber is advertised as having a 40&#8217;s sound. \u00a0I take that to mean that it is modeled after the Otto Link Metal &#8220;Tone Master&#8221; of the 40&#8217;s. \u00a0Players like Ben Webster, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins played Tone Master Links from the 40&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>The V16 T7 Large\u00a0chamber I am reviewing today has a tip opening of .104\u00a0and\u00a0a large\u00a0chamber. \u00a0As I look at the V16 T7 large chamber compared\u00a0to a few\u00a0of the\u00a0metal Otto Links in my collection, \u00a0the T7 chamber looks similar in size\u00a0in comparison to the other florida Link\u00a0chambers I have in my collection. \u00a0It is not as big as a NY\u00a0Otto Link chamber that I own.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LTop1.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LTop1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you have ever\u00a0bought anything from Vandoren before\u00a0you probably know they are a company with a reputation for\u00a0excellence. \u00a0If you ask 10 sax player what the best mass produced mouthpieces are on the market most of them will probably include Vandoren in their response. \u00a0I have played many Vandoren mouthpiece over my years of saxophone teaching. \u00a0I have hardly ever seen any defects or imperfections in their mouthpieces. \u00a0The T7 I am playing today also lives up to that reputation. Everything about the mouthpiece is beautiful. \u00a0The table, rails, tip and baffle all look perfect. Smooth, even and flawless.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LTable.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LTable.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The T7 Medium chamber I reviewed earlier seemed to work right out of the box with my first reed choice. \u00a0This T7 large chamber was a harder reed match for me. \u00a0It felt like the larger chamber made it harder for me to just step up to the plate on this mouthpiece and get to business. \u00a0When I first played it, \u00a0it felt like I couldn&#8217;t get any projection, volume or focus out of it. \u00a0I&#8217;ve felt that way on different Otto Links in the past and knew that I needed to put in some time before I gave up. \u00a0I spent a few days playing the large chamber T7 and on the 2nd day it seemed like\u00a0something changed for me.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LBaffle.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LBaffle.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The tone seemed to open up for me and get a bit more volume and fullness. \u00a0Nothing changed with the mouthpiece obviously but I began to use more air for the larger chamber and blow differently. \u00a0I started to get a fuller sound that filled the entire room. \u00a0When I listen back to the clips there are moments where I feel like I am experiencing that and then there are other moments where I&#8217;m backsliding into playing with less air. \u00a0 The larger chamber means you have to spend more time with this mouthpiece to get used to blowing the air it requires for a big full sound. \u00a0It&#8217;s best to fully commit to a mouthpiece like this if you want to get the most out of it. \u00a0(At least for a few weeks so you can see what it can do&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The first reed I settled on was a \u00a0Rigotti Gold 2 1\/2 Strong. \u00a0It felt a little soft but I decided to go with it anyways for the first recording. \u00a0It had a big full sound and the lighter reed gave a nice crispness and edge to the sound. \u00a0That being said, I&#8217;m not sure the light reed could be really pushed in a live setting to give the volume I\u00a0would need in that setting.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Next I tried a 3 Light reed which gave a little more body and thickness. \u00a0I tried a RG 3 medium reed but that just seemed to stuffy to me. \u00a0I think I preferred the 3 Light over the 2 1\/2 just because I had more to work with&#8230;&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Vandoren Large chamber doesn&#8217;t have the core and focus of the medium chamber but it has more of a spread diffuse sound to it. \u00a0Darker than the medium chamber that is for sure. It has less volume that the T7 Medium chamber in my opinion. \u00a0I could get a big sound and volume out of it but I don&#8217;t think I would take this mouthpiece on a loud &#8220;Tp 40&#8221; gig. The mix of less volume with a darker tone makes me think it wouldn&#8217;t be able to cut through in that type of situation. \u00a0(I don&#8217;t think Ben Webster, Lester Young or Coleman Hawkins would want to play their mouthpieces in that situation either&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">On the Vandoren fact sheet for these mouthpieces it says that the recommended tip openings for the large chamber are a T6 and a T5. As I played the T7 I did indeed feel like maybe I\u00a0should have ordered a T6 to accommodate my air stream better. \u00a0I am \u00a0still very interested in trying a T6 and T5 to see how they play for me. \u00a0The list above says that Ben Webster, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins played Tone Master&#8217;s but it doesn&#8217;t say what tip opening. \u00a0If I had to guess I would say a 5 or 6&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;(Let me know what you find out if you Google it&#8230;&#8230;.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The \u00a0positives of this mouthpiece are the fat, full and \u00a0robust sound. \u00a0The low register is just huge and thick sounding and the middle and top register are are full and hearty sounding as well.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LCham.jpg\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/T7LCham.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Thanks to Vandoren\u00a0for making another great\u00a0saxophone mouthpiece and letting me review it.\u00a0I ended up posting 2\u00a0clips below.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">1.) The first one is with a Rigotti Gold 2 1\/2 Strong reed about 2 feet from the mic. \u00a0The was an easy reed to play and I would consider it on the softer side. \u00a0Rigotti can lead to the bright side of things as far as tone and the softer reed makes it even brighter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">2.) The 2nd clip is with a slightly harder \u00a0Rigotti Gold 3 Light reed. \u00a0This is also about 2 feet from the mic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you like the sound of the clip below and the mouthpiece catches your interest then please give the Vandoren T7 large chambered\u00a0mouthpiece a try.\u00a0Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-24633-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/VandorenT7LRG2.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/VandorenT7LRG2.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/VandorenT7LRG2.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Rigotti Gold 2 1\/2 Strong<\/strong><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-24633-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/VandorenT7LRG3.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/VandorenT7LRG3.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2015\/February\/VandorenT7LRG3.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Rigotti Gold\u00a03\u00a0Light<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, I am reviewing a new metal\u00a0tenor saxophone mouthpieces made by Vandoren.\u00a0This mouthpiece is the Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Chamber V16 model. This is similar to the T7 medium chamber I reviewed a few days ago but this mouthpiece has a larger chamber. Vandoren V16 T7 Large\u00a0Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Here are some quotes\u00a0from the Vandoren [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":24634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1121,45],"tags":[381,658,117,1250,265,1253,1249],"class_list":{"0":"post-24633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tenor-low-baffle-reviews","8":"category-tenor-mouthpieces","9":"tag-large-chamber","10":"tag-review","11":"tag-sax-mouthpiece","12":"tag-t7","13":"tag-tenor-saxophone","14":"tag-v16","15":"tag-vandoren","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}