{"id":5635,"date":"2011-09-22T23:41:43","date_gmt":"2011-09-23T04:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=5635"},"modified":"2020-06-20T14:18:34","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T18:18:34","slug":"phil-tone-equinox-and-eclipse-tenor-saxophone-mouthpieces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/phil-tone-equinox-and-eclipse-tenor-saxophone-mouthpieces\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil-Tone Equinox and Eclipse Tenor Saxophone Mouthpieces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I am reviewing the Phil-Tone Equinox tenor saxophone mouthpiece.\u00a0 I’m also including a sound clip and comparison to the Phil-Tone Eclipse mouthpiece.\u00a0 I reviewed the Eclipse over two years ago on this site when it was just called the Phil-Tone.\u00a0 Here is that review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Phil-Tone mouthpieces are made by Phil Engleman.\u00a0 Phil has been making and refacing mouthpieces for a number of years now.\u00a0 I have had him reface a couple of mouthpieces for me and a number of my students play his mouthpieces.<\/p>\n

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Phil-Tone Equinox Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
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The Phil-Tone Equinox and Eclipse mouthpieces both look great.\u00a0\u00a0 Phil always does excellent work on his mouthpieces.\u00a0 The table, tip and rails look perfect.\u00a0\u00a0 The tips line up perfectly with the reeds I used. The engraving and logo is nothing fancy but it does the job. The Equinox has a slightly higher and longer rollover baffle in comparison to the Eclipse mouthpiece.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Also, the Equinox’s baffle declines straight down evenly to the back of the chamber.\u00a0 The Eclipse has more of a scooped out chamber to it.\u00a0 This makes the Eclipses chamber larger than the Eqinox chamber.\u00a0 They both have curved sidewalls and both have chamber and baffle work that looks great.<\/p>\n

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Phil-Tone Equinox Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is a description of the Equinox mouthpiece from the Phil-Tone website:<\/p>\n

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“Twice a year our planet spins upon its axis at a point where neither pole is inclined towards the sun.\u00a0 This balance and equilibrium is expressed in the Phil-Tone Equinox.\u00a0 This mouthpiece shines in a broad variety of musical situations. It is especially suited for the tenor player looking to add some focus to their sound, while still maintaining a big, warm, vibrant tone.\u00a0 Subtle sophistication and comfort exist in its focused core. The highs and lows are rich and singing while the mids carry through its even range. With clarity and definition, the altissimo is exceptionally resonant.\u00a0 Articulation is quick, easy, and precise.\u00a0 If you are looking for complexity, focus, and resonance in all registers, look no further than the Equinox.” <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As you would expect because of the higher rollover baffle and smaller chamber the Equinox had a brighter sound than the Eclipse.\u00a0 It was very focused sounding and had a nice buzz to the sound.\u00a0 It was very easy to play around the horn.\u00a0 The intonation was great and it had a lot of power when you pushed it.\u00a0 The sub-tone was nice down low.\u00a0 The tone seemed drier to me than the Eclipse.\u00a0 You can hear the difference when you listen to the sound clips.<\/p>\n

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Phil-Tone Equinox Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Eclipse was close to the brightness of the Equinox but it seemed to have a fatter and wetter tone to me.\u00a0 More spread sounding.\u00a0 To put these words in perspective…….the Equinox reminded me more of a Coltrane type sound.\u00a0 A tight dry core to the sound that leaned to the brighter side.\u00a0 I think you can hear these differences when you listen to the clips.\u00a0 The Eclipse sounded fatter and more spread tone wise.\u00a0 One isn’t better than the other, which one you like is a matter of personal choice.\u00a0 They both played great!<\/p>\n

Here is what Phil says about the Eclipse mouthpiece on the Phil-Tone website:<\/p>\n

“When the moon moves across the sun, the earth is enveloped in a sweeping darkness lit by a powerful, illuminating edge.\u00a0 For a brief moment in time both light and shadow become one.\u00a0 It is in that spirit that the Phil-Tone Eclipse is crafted.\u00a0 It is a powerful mouthpiece with a rich, medium-dark core that has roundness and warmth, but with a scintillating brightness at its edge. This powerfully resonant piece can carry you through ballads or your loudest gigs.\u00a0 It will take all the air you can give it without breaking up or losing its warm focus, and has an unparalleled dynamic range.\u00a0 The highs sing out with rich harmonics, and the low end is broad and expansive. The Eclipse allows the player to shape their tone with ease of play and unparalleled richness. Discover your own sound with the most robust tenor piece in the Phil-Tone lineup.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Phil-Tone Eclipse Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

These mouthpieces are very reasonably priced. Right now, I have 4 of my students playing on Phil-Tone mouthpieces and refaces.\u00a0 If you like the Phil-Tone Equinox or Eclipse sound clips then visit Phil Engleman’s website and check one out for yourself! (or maybe both………)\u00a0 http:\/\/www.phil-tone.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My ratings above are only for the Equinox mouthpiece as I have rated the Eclipse in a past review.\u00a0 Let me know what you think in the comments below.\u00a0 If you have the Equinox yourself and want to review it, feel free to do so below with the comments and stars.\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks,\u00a0\u00a0 Steve<\/p>\n

Phil-Tone Equinox Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/public.neffmusic.com\/PhilEquinox.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Phil-Tone Eclipse Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/public.neffmusic.com\/PhilEclipse.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I am reviewing the Phil-Tone Equinox tenor saxophone mouthpiece.\u00a0 I’m also including a sound clip and comparison to the Phil-Tone Eclipse mouthpiece.\u00a0 I reviewed the Eclipse over two years ago on this site when it was just called the Phil-Tone.\u00a0 Here is that review. The Phil-Tone mouthpieces are made by Phil Engleman.\u00a0 Phil has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":14612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[636,637,197,165,117,265],"class_list":{"0":"post-5635","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-eclipse","10":"tag-equinox","11":"tag-phil-engleman","12":"tag-phil-tone","13":"tag-sax-mouthpiece","14":"tag-tenor-saxophone","15":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635","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=5635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}