{"id":43602,"date":"2017-04-13T22:21:25","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T02:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=43602"},"modified":"2022-11-16T15:29:44","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T20:29:44","slug":"daddario-select-jazz-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/daddario-select-jazz-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Today,\u00a0 I am reviewing a new mouthpiece from D&#8217;Addario called the Select Jazz tenor\u00a0saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0 \u00a0This mouthpiece\u00a0was designed\u00a0by Kevin Garren at D&#8217;Addario with the help of\u00a0Jeff Coffin.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Jeff Coffin is a great saxophone player who has played and toured with Dave Matthews and Bela Fleck as well as many other artists. \u00a0I have heard that Jeff plays on a custom Freddie Gregory Mark IV tenor sax mouthpiece. \u00a0 In fact, \u00a0I heard from D&#8217;Addario that this new Select Jazz mouthpiece is modeled after Jeff Coffin&#8217;s custom Freddie Gregory tenor mouthpiece (If you don&#8217;t know about Freddie Gregory mouthpieces you can read some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?s=freddie+Gregory\">reviews of his pieces<\/a> here). \u00a0Here is a quote from D&#8217;Addario when asked what Jeff Coffin thought of the new D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz tenor saxophone mouthpiece:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><em>Jeff loved the piece &#8211; we worked directly with him on the piece and he was involved every step of the way. \u00a0He tested the Alpha, Beta and final production models and gave us feedback at every step&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJSide.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJSide.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here is some more info\u00a0from the Saxquest website about the D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz tenor saxophone mouthpiece:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><em><strong>One of the Best Jazz Pieces Available Today!<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>At long last, the heralded D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz mouthpiece for the tenor sax. This piece has been buzzed about for a long time, and it is finally here!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz mouthpiece captures the feel and tone of legendary mouthpieces from years past. Now, today&#8217;s saxophonists have a chance to discover for themselves the sound that, for decades, set the standard of jazz. The D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz mouthpiece brings forth a perfect union of tradition and innovation.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>100% precision-milled, vintage-inspired jazz mouthpiece<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>milled, not molded, from solid rod rubber, using D&#8217;Addario&#8217;s precise, computer-controlled mouthpiece making technology<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>classic sound and response, with even intonation across the entire range of the saxophone<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>made in the USA<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Available in these facings:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>D6M \u2013 measures .100\u201d (classic 7 opening)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>D7M \u2013 measures .105\u201d (classic 7* opening)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>D8M \u2013 measures .110\u201d (classic 8 opening)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>D9M \u2013 measures .115\u201d (classic 8* opening)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJTable.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJTable.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">D&#8217;Addario sent me two mouthpieces to review. \u00a0The 7 (.105) and the 8 (.110) tip openings. \u00a0After playing them for a few minutes, I could tell there was a difference in the facings of each piece from the response of the reed I was using so I emailed D&#8217;Addario to ask them about it. \u00a0They told me the 7 has a 24 mm\u00a0length facing and the 8 has a 25 mm\u00a0length facing. \u00a0I&#8217;ll talk more about the impact of the facing curve later&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Both\u00a0Select Jazz tenor\u00a0saxophone mouthpieces look great to the eye. The side rails and tips are nicely cut and even. \u00a0The side rails are thin and even and the baffle is smooth and flawless as it slopes down into the chamber. \u00a0They have a medium rollover baffle. \u00a0I used to own a Freddie Gregory Mark IV and the rollover baffle of the D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz is indeed similar to that model. \u00a0I can&#8217;t say exact, but I think it is close to what I remember on my Freddie Gregory Mark IV&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJBaffle.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJBaffle.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Select Jazz 7 and 8 played well with Rigotti Gold\u00a02 1\/2 strong reeds as well as Rigotti Gold 3 light reeds. \u00a0I included sound clips of both reeds for each mouthpiece so you can hear what they sound like and the differences. \u00a0I liked aspects of both reeds on each mouthpiece. \u00a0As I listened back, \u00a0it was hard for me to decide on just one clip to post so I&#8217;m posting all of them.<\/p>\n<p>The 2 1\/2 Rigotti Gold Strong felt easy to blow on each mouthpiece but I&#8217;m not sure they were hard enough to last a four hour gig or give the volume you might need on a gig. \u00a0The Rigotti 3 light gave more resistance to blow against and I think they would last longer and give more volume on a live gig.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJBaffle2.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJBaffle2.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Now, \u00a0let&#8217;s talk about facing lengths. \u00a0The facing curve is the curve of the rails that the reed bends against as you play the saxophone. \u00a0I have done a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/sax-mouthpieces-the-length-of-the-facing-curve\/\">facing curve length experiment<\/a> in the past and the results hold true for these mouthpieces. \u00a0The 7 tip and 24mm length facing was a bit more resistant than the 8 tip with the 25mm curve. \u00a0What this means is that a 2 1\/2 reed on the 7 felt quite good. \u00a0It had a good resistance to it and the reed felt strong. \u00a0That&#8217;s because the curve is a little shorter and the reed has to bend at a greater degree as you play.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The 8 Select Jazz mouthpiece with the 25mm facing length is easier for that same reed to bend with. \u00a0It has a longer curve and the rate of the curve is a little gentler so the reed blows easier and feels a little softer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">What does this all mean? \u00a0Well if you like harder reeds, \u00a0you will probably like a longer facing curve of 25+mm because that harder reed will play easier. \u00a0On a shorter facing curve that same reed might feel a lot harder or even impossible to play. \u00a0On the other side of the coin, the shorter facing curve makes softer reeds feel harder to the player. \u00a0So if you like a softer reed you might like a 48 or less curve on your mouthpiece. \u00a0You can read the blog post above for more information on the effects of facing curves&#8230;&#8230;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJTip.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJTip.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">How did they play? \u00a0Well, with the 2 1\/2 Strong Rigotti reeds, I felt like both mouthpiece were in the middle of the dark to bright spectrum but leaning into the brighter side. \u00a0Interestingly enough, I felt like the 3 Light Rigotti made the 7 tip a bit\u00a0darker and more focused and the 8 tip opening a bit brighter and more focused.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The intonation was great throughout\u00a0the range of the horn and the tone felt\u00a0very smooth and even. \u00a0The altissimo was easy to get but I felt like the 3 Light reed on the 7 tip gave the altissimo a bit more depth and substance. \u00a0 I did end up preferring the 7 tip with the Rigotti 3 light reed the most. \u00a0I have a few favorite mouthpieces with 24mm facing curves so I think I just felt more comfortable on the 7 tip with the 24mm curve. \u00a0The 8 with the 2 1\/2 strong Rigotti played great also. \u00a0I liked the 3 light on the 8 also but when listening back, I thought it sounds a bit brighter to my ears. \u00a0I included it for those who like a brighter sound (think Coltrane&#8230;..Bergonzi&#8230;&#8230;..)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I think D&#8217;Addario has done a great job with their new Select Jazz tenor saxophone mouthpiece.\u00a0\u00a0 At this moment, the Select Jazz tenor\u00a0mouthpiece is retailed at 199.00 at\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saxquest.com\/product\/view\/new-daddario-select-jazz-tenor-saxophone-mouthpieces-P10605\">Saxquest.com<\/a>. \u00a0 They are also available on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.woodwinds.daddario.com\/woodwindsProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=4683&amp;productid=183&amp;productname=Select_Jazz_Mouthpieces\">D&#8217;Addario website<\/a>. \u00a0That is a great price for this mouthpiece in my opinion.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish I could have had a sax mouthpiece like this to choose from when I was a student in high school many years ago.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJCham.JPG\" rel=\"shadowbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: 0px initial initial;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJCham.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you like the sound of the D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz tenor\u00a0saxophone mouthpiece clips below and the mouthpiece catches your interest then give it a try.\u00a0 You can get more information and purchase the D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz tenor mouthpiece at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saxquest.com\/product\/view\/new-daddario-select-jazz-tenor-saxophone-mouthpieces-P10605\">www.saxquest.com<\/a>\u00a0or at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.woodwinds.daddario.com\/woodwindsProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=4683&amp;productid=183&amp;productname=Select_Jazz_Mouthpieces\">D&#8217;Addario<\/a>. Tell them Steve sent you&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-43602-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ7.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ7.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ7.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz 7 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1\/2 Strong Reed<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-43602-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ73L.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ73L.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ73L.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz 7 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-43602-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ8.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ8.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ8.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz 8Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 2 1\/2 Strong Reed<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-43602-4\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ83L.mp3?_=4\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ83L.mp3\">https:\/\/cdn.neffmusic.com\/2017\/DSJ83L.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><strong>D&#8217;Addario Select Jazz 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Rigotti Gold 3 Light Reed<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 12px; background-color: #f0b646; line-height: 1.4;\">Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpieces mentioned above for free in the hope that I would try them and perhaps review\u00a0them on my blog. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces\u00a0that I\u00a0enjoy\u00a0playing\u00a0and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. \u00a0 \u00a0Steve<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today,\u00a0 I am reviewing a new mouthpiece from D&#8217;Addario called the Select Jazz tenor\u00a0saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0 \u00a0This mouthpiece\u00a0was designed\u00a0by Kevin Garren at D&#8217;Addario with the help of\u00a0Jeff Coffin. Jeff Coffin is a great saxophone player who has played and toured with Dave Matthews and Bela Fleck as well as many other artists. \u00a0I have heard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":43609,"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":[1197,1596,1595,117,1198,265],"class_list":{"0":"post-43602","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-daddario","10":"tag-freddie-gregory-mark-iv","11":"tag-jeff-coffin","12":"tag-sax-mouthpiece","13":"tag-select-jazz","14":"tag-tenor-saxophone","15":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43602","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=43602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}