{"id":43423,"date":"2017-04-05T12:52:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T16:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=43423"},"modified":"2025-03-08T12:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T17:58:21","slug":"theo-wanne-slant-2-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/theo-wanne-slant-2-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Theo Wanne Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today, I am reviewing another great saxophone mouthpiece made by Theo Wanne\u00a0at <a href=\"https:\/\/theowanne.com\/r?id=2krfmj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TheoWanne.com (save 15% by using this link)<\/a>. \u00a0Theo 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. \u00a0I had heard his name for years as the guy to go to for mouthpiece work and when he started his own line of sax mouthpieces I\u00a0had to try them out! \u00a0 I have reviewed many of his mouthpiece on this site and if you put\u00a0&#8220;Theo Wanne&#8221; \u00a0in the search box to the top right of the site you will find them. \u00a0Theo Wanne&#8217;s saxophone mouthpieces are innovative and some of the best playing sax mouthpieces on the market today.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This review is on the Slant 2 7* tenor saxophone\u00a0mouthpiece. \u00a0I had never played the first version of the TW Slant so I can&#8217;t speak about the differences between the two mouthpieces unfortunately.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Front.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Front.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Theo Wanne 7* Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over the last few years there has been a lot of buzz in the saxophone world around certain buzz words. \u00a0Saxophone player&#8217;s ears perk up when you mention florida link, double ring, slant signature, NY Meyer, etc&#8230;&#8230;.. There is a certain mystique and awe around these mouthpieces in the marketplace that is hard to deny.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a description\u00a0from Theo Wanne&#8217;s website about the Slant 2 tenor sax mouthpiece:<\/p>\n<p><em>The <strong>BRAND NEW\u00a0<\/strong>Theo Wanne\u2122 Slant Sig Tenor Mouthpiece brings the best of vintage tenor\u00a0mouthpiece designs to the future! \u00a0Theo Wanne is the world&#8217;s foremost expert on vintage sax mouthpieces and he understands WHY an Otto Link sounds great. So, Theo utilized\u00a0the best design principles from the first Slant Signature models in the early 1950s through the Early Babbitt models in the 1970s\u00a0to make the new Theo\u00a0Wanne\u2122 Slant Sig Tenor Mouthpiece. \u00a0 It is\u00a0the ultimate vintage Slant Sig Link.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Slant Sig\u00a0mouthpiece is the perfect\u00a0mouthpiece for students and pros alike, allowing the player to get the &#8216;classic&#8217; tenor\u00a0sound AND be fully expressive. Hear more about the history of Otto Link\u00a0and the Slant Sig\u00a0concept\u00a0<strong>here!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You also asked for\u00a0Theo Wanne\u2122 quality and design at a very friendly price everyone could afford. So we did that too!!!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>SOUND\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Versatile! Great for all styles and types of playing.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The most expressive\u00a0and most projecting Slant Signature\u00a0Otto Link\u00a0sound you&#8217;ve ever heard!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><b>DESIGN<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Perfectly sculpted large\u00a0chamber and roll-over baffle.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Crafted to the highest accuracy in the history of Otto Link\u00a0style\u00a0mouthpieces; perfect side and tip rails!<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Designed by Theo Wanne, the foremost expert on the design and manufacturing of vintage mouthpieces. \u00a0 Incorporating the best features of every Slant Signature Otto Link, from the 1950&#8217;s through 1970s.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>DETAILS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Premium Harry Hartmann Fiberrod\u2122:<\/strong>\u00a0Manufactured with a special formulation of Harry Hartmann Fiberrod\u2122, made especially for\u00a0Theo Wanne\u2122, to sound and look just like vintage hard rubber but does not discolor and smell like hard rubber when\u00a0exposed to heat and the sun.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Top.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Top.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Theo Wanne Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Theo Wanne Slant 2 came in the pristine packaging that I have written about in every Theo Wanne mouthpiece review I have done on this site. Beautiful box and drawstring pouch.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m looking at the mouthpiece now as I type this description and it looks about as perfect as\u00a0could be. \u00a0The table, rails, tip and baffle look smooth, even and perfectly crafted. \u00a0The chamber looks slightly larger\u00a0than the chamber on my vintage EB Otto Link (supposedly from the Slant mold from what I have been told) when I hold them side by side.<\/p>\n<p>The Slant 2\u00a0is made of Harry Hartmann Fiberrod. \u00a0I haven&#8217;t heard of this material before but it looks and feels similar to hard rubber to me. \u00a0Now I&#8217;m wondering if my Gaia soprano and alto mouthpiece are made of this same material? \u00a0It says nothing about the Fiberrod on the Gaia alto and soprano pages of Theo&#8217;s site so maybe those are hard rubber? \u00a0Not sure&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Table.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Table.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Theo Wanne Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Slant 2 was incredibly reed friendly in my opinion. \u00a0Usually, this is only stated\u00a0as a great thing but I found it caused some confusion for me. \u00a0 Let me explain, \u00a0I started playing the Slant 2 with a 2 1\/2 strong Rigotti and it played great, then I tried a 3 light and it played great, I tried a 3 medium and&#8230;.you guessed it, it played great, 3 strong, 3 1\/2 light, 3 1\/2 medium&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..they all played great. \u00a0I have never experienced this before with a mouthpiece. \u00a0I couldn&#8217;t figure out which reed\u00a0to use for the demo. \u00a0 I recorded a clip with the 3 1\/2\u00a0light and thought it was the greatest clip ever but when I listened back I thought &#8220;The reed sounds too hard.&#8221; \u00a0I then recorded with a 3 light which went well but again, when I listened back&#8230;&#8230;&#8221;Reed sounds too soft.&#8221; \u00a0Today I tried a 3 medium and again recorded. \u00a0This time when I listed back I thought it was just right&#8230;&#8230;.All this is my long way of saying it is very reed friendly.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Baffle.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Baffle.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Theo Wanne Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The first thing I noticed when playing the Theo Wanne Slant 2 mouthpiece is that the beak profile feels quite a bit lower than a hard rubber Otto Link profile. \u00a0I&#8217;m one who usually feels like the profile of a hard rubber link is too high\u00a0because of my years playing metal mouthpiece so for me the Slant 2 felt more comfortable than a hard rubber Otto Link.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I was also surprised by the height of the baffle in the Slant 2 mouthpiece. \u00a0If you look at the picture above, you can see how high the first 3\/4 of an inch is. \u00a0 If anything, it remind me more of some baffles I have seen in Early Babbitt Otto Links. \u00a0If you have played a Early Babbitt Link you already know these can be pretty powerful and bright at times. \u00a0 When I compare the Slant 2 to my Early Babbitt from a Slant mold mouthpiece the baffles do look very similar in height but the Slant 2 is higher in the middle of the baffle where my Link is concave at that area. \u00a0This concavity in the Otto Link baffle is\u00a0caused from\u00a0what we call a &#8220;clam shell&#8221; baffle. \u00a0I think that line in the baffle of the Slant 2 is Theo&#8217;s copy of this &#8220;clam shell&#8221; baffle as it has that shape although\u00a0I don&#8217;t see much\u00a0of the concavity. \u00a0 I was curious to see how the Theo Wanne Slant 2 mouthpiece would play.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Tip.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Tip.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Theo Wanne Slant\u00a02 Tenor\u00a0Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The Theo Wanne Slant 2 tenor sax mouthpiece has a rich complex sound to it. \u00a0I feel like the tone has a unique dry quality\u00a0to my ears. \u00a0Interestingly enough, the last mouthpiece I described that way was my old Theo Wanne Gaia alto saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0I&#8217;m not even sure what that &#8220;dry&#8221; description means but that is what I hear when I listen to the clips. Many times I hear Stan Getz and Jerry Bergonzi as &#8220;dry&#8221; also if that helps with the description. (I have heard that Stan Get&#8217;s played a Slant Otto Link for some time also) I think 2:09-2:19 in the clip below is a good example to my ears.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The tone was smooth and even throughout the range and the intonation was great. \u00a0When pushed the Slant 2 had a lot of power to give. \u00a0The altissimo was sweet sounding to me as you can hear at the 1:52 mark in the clip below. \u00a0The tone in the upper register palm keys was also \u00a0also very round and beautiful in my opinion (1:01-1:07) \u00a0Many times these notes can get thin and edgy with other mouthpieces.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When pushed the tone seemed to become more dense and compact. \u00a0With more air I could get a more aggressive sound out of the altissimo but still controlled. (3:23-3:33)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Cham.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/TWSlant2Cham.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Theo Wanne 7* Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I really loved playing the Theo Wanne Slant 2 tenor saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0In my opinion, it has a very unique and individual sound to it. \u00a0It was hard for me to define as bright or dark but it seemed to have qualities of both in it&#8217;s tone and harmonics. \u00a0Listening back to the sound clip, I\u00a0feel like it gives me a very different sound than many of the clips on this site which is always exciting for me to experience.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you like the sound of the Theo Wanne Slant 2 tenor\u00a0sax mouthpiece, you can order one from\u00a0Theo\u00a0on his website at <a href=\"https:\/\/theowanne.com\/r?id=2krfmj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.theowanne.com (save 15% by using this link)<\/a>. \u00a0 Tell him Steve sent you&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.Great work Theo!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Let me know what you think in the comments below and if you try a Theo WanneSlant 2 yourself please come back and let us know your own opinion also. Thanks, Steve<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-43423-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/Slant2.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/Slant2.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/Slant2.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><strong>Theo Wanne Slant 2 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 12px; background-color: #f0b646; line-height: 1.4;\">Disclosure: I received the mouthpiece mentioned above with two other mouthpieces in the hope that I would try them and perhaps review them on my blog. I will be allowed to keep one of the three mouthpieces received.\u00a0 Neffmusic also receives a small commission when you purchase a mouthpiece using the link in the review.\u00a0 Regardless, I only review mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. \u00a0 \u00a0Steve<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, I am reviewing another great saxophone mouthpiece made by Theo Wanne\u00a0at TheoWanne.com (save 15% by using this link). \u00a0Theo 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. \u00a0I had heard his name [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":43424,"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":[1120,45],"tags":[1592,10,156,658,1591,72,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-43423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tenor-medium-baffle-reviews","8":"category-tenor-mouthpieces","9":"tag-harry-hartman-fiberrod","10":"tag-jazz-saxophone","11":"tag-otto-link","12":"tag-review","13":"tag-slant-2","14":"tag-tenor-sax","15":"tag-theo-wanne","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43423","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=43423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}