{"id":65213,"date":"2019-08-23T14:12:51","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T18:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=65213"},"modified":"2022-11-15T16:04:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T21:04:39","slug":"syos-tivon-pennicott-signature-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/syos-tivon-pennicott-signature-tenor-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"SYOS Tivon Pennicott Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am reviewing another tenor saxophone mouthpiece from a fairly new company called SYOS mouthpieces<\/a> in France.\u00a0 This company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic.\u00a0 I remember thinking they were strange looking and looked like something one of my fourth grade saxophone students might have walked into their sax lesson with.<\/p>\n

I must admit, that at first, I was very skeptical.\u00a0 First, these bright colored sax mouthpieces looked like Legos to me.\u00a0 Like something I might give my nephew, who just turned one year old, as a toy he could play with.\u00a0 Secondly, they look like plastic.\u00a0 I have been reviewing mouthpieces for about 14 years now and if it’s one thing I know, it’s that sax players like their sax mouthpieces made of costly materials like hard rubber, gold plated brass, stainless steel, ebony, silver plated brass, sterling silver, WWII bombshell casing brass and anything exotic that they can claim makes their mouthpieces special, more resonant, metaphysically angelic and godlike.\u00a0 Sax players do not buy saxophone mouthpieces made out of plastic.\u00a0 No way!\u00a0 I thought that this company was doomed to fail even as they got out of the gate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tivon Pennicott on his SYOS Tivon Pennicott Signature Sax Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

But then,\u00a0 I started seeing some really great sax players playing these SYOS saxophone mouthpieces on Youtube.\u00a0 \u00a0“What was going on?\u00a0 Why are these great players playing on a plastic mouthpiece?\u00a0 And why are these mouthpiece bright green, bright yellow, bright red, bright purple, bright orange and even…..Easter egg pastel purple (you know that color, just imagine a purple Easter egg…..)\u00a0 How can this be happening?!”<\/p>\n

I was stubborn!\u00a0 I fought off the temptation for a year at least.\u00a0 I finally threw in the towel while watching a video of Chad Lefkowitz-Brown playing on his SYOS tenor sax mouthpiece.\u00a0 Chad just sounded too good on this plastic sax mouthpiece!\u00a0 I contacted SYOS to see if I could review a few of these mouthpieces………<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SYOS Tivon Pennicott Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

SYOS was pretty quick to respond and asked me which sax mouthpieces I would like to review.\u00a0 I didn’t want to go down the custom sax mouthpiece road so I told them I would be interested in trying their Chad LB (short for Lefkowitz-Brown) and Tivon Pennicott models ( I really like Chad and Tivon’s playing…….)\u00a0 They also threw in a Godwin Louis alto sax mouthpiece to try out.\u00a0 I had never heard of Godwin Louis but I was willing to try out his alto mouthpiece.<\/p>\n

The Tivon Pennicott tenor sax mouthpiece is bright yellow and is an 8 tip opening. It usually comes as a 9 tip opening, as that is what Tivon Pennicott plays, but I felt that a 9 tip opening was a bit too large for my tastes so I asked for an 8.\u00a0 \u00a0The Chad LB tenor sax mouthpiece I received is an 8* tip opening and the Godwin Louis alto saxophone mouthpiece is a 6* tip opening.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SYOS Tivon Pennicott Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before we get to the playing of the SYOS Tivon Pennicott tenor sax mouthpiece, let me give you a few tidbits of info from the SYOS website on these sax mouthpieces.<\/p>\n

First of all, you have two choices when you visit the SYOS website<\/a> and order a sax mouthpiece.\u00a0 You can order a “SYOS Signature Mouthpiece” which is basically what the mouthpiece that the player whose name is on the mouthpiece plays.<\/p>\n

If, however, you want to be unique and are on a quest to find your own unique sound, you might want to pick the second choice of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS which I have to say looks like a pretty cool process.\u00a0 Here’s what you do on the SYOS website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. First, you choose what saxophone you play. Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bari Sax<\/li>\n
  2. Second, you choose whether you are a beginner, intermediate or professional sax player<\/li>\n
  3. Third, you choose what type of music you play (you can pick more than one category)<\/li>\n
  4. Fourth, this is the coolest part, you choose your sound preferences.\u00a0 There is a slider for tone that goes from very dark to very bright.\u00a0 You can choose where in that tone spectrum you feel you would like to be.\u00a0 There is also a slider to choose how powerful you want to be.\u00a0 The slider goes from soft to powerful.\u00a0 \u00a0Now here’s the coolest part because as you are reading this you might be confused about how you might choose what you want or you might be confused about what your preferences are.\u00a0 SYOS gives you a bunch of examples with sound clips!\u00a0 \u00a0How cool is that?\u00a0 The following list of player are listed and rated for tone and power. Ben Webster, Chris Potter, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Wayne Shorter. (Can I just point out at this point,\u00a0 how awesome Chris Potter must feel about being included in this list!)<\/li>\n
  5. You click “Submit” and wait by your mailbox for your custom mouthpiece that will answer all your dreams to be delivered.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    SYOS Tivon Pennicott Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Here is a quote from the SYOS mouthpiece website on the specifics of ordering a custom mouthpiece from SYOS:<\/p>\n

    Syos is the first custom mouthpiece maker to use a high-tech process to design its products. It is different from all the other brands who only make standard series of mouthpiece models. Syos gives you the possibility to have your custom mouthpiece created on-demand according to your needs and preferences.<\/em><\/p>\n