{"id":39595,"date":"2016-10-20T15:58:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T19:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=39595"},"modified":"2016-11-02T13:59:09","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T17:59:09","slug":"morgan-excalibur-7m-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/morgan-excalibur-7m-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing a\u00a0Morgan Excalibur 7M alto saxophone mouthpiece made by the Morgan Mouthpiece Company<\/a>.\u00a0 Dave and Teresa Hoskins run MorganMouthpieces.com<\/a> as well as Junkdude.com<\/a>\u00a0and they were kind enough to send me a sample of the Morgan Excalibur 7M alto sax mouthpiece to review on my site.<\/p>\n

When I first started really getting into sax mouthpieces back in the early 2000’s,\u00a0one of the main names I heard at that\u00a0time was Ralph Morgan. \u00a0Ralph Morgan started working\u00a0at the age of 9 as an apprentice for the Babbitt Company (one of the biggest mouthpiece makers in the last century) and was involved with making mouthpieces and musical instrument for his entire life. \u00a0In 1980 he started the Morgan Mouthpiece Company after leaving his job as chief woodwind designer for the Selmer Company. \u00a0Mr. Morgan\u00a0had an incredible reputation and his mouthpieces were highly regarded by many players. \u00a0 Mr. Morgan reached out to me shortly after I started this site and I had the privilege\u00a0of talking to him\u00a0about mouthpieces for over an hour one day which was really amazing. \u00a0Unfortunately, Mr. Morgan\u00a0passed away in 2007 but Morgan Mouthpieces has continued and Ralph’s mouthpiece legacy\u00a0goes on thanks to the ongoing\u00a0work of Erik Greiffenhagen, John MacQueen and\u00a0Brian Powell.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/span><\/p>\n

The Morgan Excalibur 7M alto saxophone mouthpiece is made of hard rubber and has a metal band around the shank. \u00a0The Morgan mouthpiece site has this to say about the hard rubber used:<\/p>\n

The Morgan Mouthpiece Company\u00a0uses a proprietary rubber formula which is essentially a pure rubber formula used by mouthpiece manufacturers from the 1920s – 1950s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The table, tip and rails of the Morgan Excalibur sax mouthpiece look to be perfect as I examined the mouthpiece after receiving it. \u00a0The M stands for medium chamber which is the brighter of the models they offer.<\/p>\n

The body of the mouthpiece is much smaller than a typical alto sax mouthpiece. \u00a0Most of my alto ligatures that fit a typical sized alto mouthpiece were too big for the Morgan Excalibur. \u00a0Luckily, I have quite a few Rovner ligatures of all sizes and was able to find one that fit the Excalibur nicely.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s a quote from the \u00a0Morgan Mouthpieces website<\/a> about the Morgan Excalibur 7M\u00a0alto saxophone mouthpiece:<\/p>\n

Morgan Excalibur Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/span><\/p>\n

These are among the best Jazz Saxophone Mouthpieces ever made.\u00a0\u00a0 Designed by Ralph Morgan, these are completely handcrafted pure hard rubber saxophone mouthpieces.\u00a0\u00a0 The Excalibur Model is unique in that it has a streamline body. It will feel a bit smaller in the mouth, so if you are used to playing on a metal mouthpiece, your embouchure will not have to change much. Also, the thinner walls and beak gives this mouthpiece more edge, brilliance and quicker response.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Morgan Excalibur Mouthpieces are handcrafted the \u201cold fashioned\u201d way. Made with the Morgan Mouthpiece Company\u2019s 100% pure rubber formula, which is the same as was used by manufacturers in the 1920s-1950s. The facing curve, interior chamber and baffle are all shaped by hand. This is a true handcrafted pure hard rubber Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are available in three chambers: Medium(M<\/strong>), Medium-Large(ML<\/strong>), and Large(L<\/strong>) chamber sizes.\u00a0 The Medium Chamber produces a bright, brilliant and centered tone.\u00a0 The Medium-Large Chamber produces a darker core tone with more edge than the L Chamber. The Large Chamber produces a warmer, deeper and rich tone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip Openings: 5 (.070), 6 (.075), 7 (.080), 8 (.085)<\/span><\/p>\n

Ligature and cap are not included. This is a streamline body mouthpiece, so it needs a smaller ligature. Standard clarinet size ligatures will fit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hand made in the USA since 1984.<\/span><\/p>\n

Free Worldwide shipping! Ten day trial period\u2026shipping time is not counted in the trial period. If you don\u2019t like for any reason, return for a refund minus restocking fee of $10 for US and $20 for overseas customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/span><\/p>\n

The Morgan Excalibur 7M played perfectly with the first reed I chose to put on it which was a Rigotti Gold 2 1\/2 strong reed. \u00a0As I warmed up on it, \u00a0I noticed that the intonation was excellent as I checked it with my tuner. \u00a0The mouthpiece played much brighter and had loads of power compared to a typical off the shelf Meyer mouthpiece. \u00a0I believe this is because of the high rollover baffle and the medium chamber. \u00a0When blowing at a medium level the Excalibur 7M has a nice light, crisp brightness to the tone. \u00a0It doesn’t have a heavy sound if that makes sense. \u00a0It sounds light and bright to my ears. \u00a0The tone was easy to manipulate and control\u00a0which made it quite expressive in my opinion.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/span><\/p>\n

At the 1:32-2:06 mark of the audio clip I put a little more air through the horn \u00a0to get a little more edge. You can hear how the tone gets fuller as the volume increases. \u00a0I could definitely see getting a Sanborn vibe going on this mouthpiece although to my ears, the tone of the Morgan Excalibur 7M is fatter and rounder than a Dukoff mouthpiece type sound that Dave Sanborn plays. \u00a0In my opinion, \u00a0the\u00a0Morgan Excalibur 7M could put you in the territory of a Mark Russo (early Yellow Jackets) \u00a0type alto sound or perhaps a Gerald Albright type of sound.<\/p>\n

I added an extra audio clip with a little bit of reverb as many times these brighter mouthpieces can sound\u00a0even better with a little reverb added. \u00a0Morgan mouthpieces also makes the Excalibur with a ML and L chamber also. \u00a0It would be interesting to do a comparison recording of those three\u00a0chamber sizes side by side to hear what\u00a0differences there may be. \u00a0Maybe in the future………..<\/p>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/span><\/p>\n

The Morgan Excalibur 7M alto saxophone mouthpiece is a great mouthpiece that I really enjoyed playing and recording with.\u00a0 In my opinion, this would be a great choice of mouthpiece if you are looking for a bright powerful sound that cuts through the mix. \u00a0It would also be a good choice for a brighter lead alto sound in a big band or maybe a contemporary smooth jazz alto sound. \u00a0As you can hear from the audio clip, this mouthpiece sounds great when you lay back also and can give a nice crispness to bebop lines.\u00a0\u00a0If you read this review, listen to the clips and decide the Morgan Excalibur 7M mouthpiece is worth a try, you can purchase one at\u00a0MorganMouthpieces.com<\/a>. \u00a0Great job to everyone over at Morgan mouthpieces for\u00a0the great work!!<\/p>\n

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you get a Morgan Excalibur\u00a0alto saxophone mouthpiece be sure to come back and let us know what you think below……..Thanks!! \u00a0 \u00a0Steve<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2016\/MorganEx7MReverb.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Slight Reverb Recording<\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2016\/MorganEx7M.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece-Dry Recording<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing a\u00a0Morgan Excalibur 7M alto saxophone mouthpiece made by the Morgan Mouthpiece Company.\u00a0 Dave and Teresa Hoskins run MorganMouthpieces.com as well as Junkdude.com\u00a0and they were kind enough to send me a sample of the Morgan Excalibur 7M alto sax mouthpiece to review on my site. When I first started really getting into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":39881,"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":[1123],"tags":[119,1528,129,154,239],"class_list":{"0":"post-39595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alto-medium-baffle-reviews","8":"tag-alto-sax","9":"tag-excalibur","10":"tag-hard-rubber","11":"tag-ralph-morgan","12":"tag-saxophone-mouthpiece","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39595","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=39595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}