A Field Spotter's Guide to Saxgourmet Mouthpieces

In the years our company has been in the mouthpiece making business, I have often struggled to convey to our customers the differences in our various models and offerings, and the REASONS for those differences. We manufacture quite a few different models, and I can understand how there might be some confusion and misunderstanding.

Here's a couple of things that ALL our mouthpieces have in common: They are all our unique designs and available nowhere else, each and every mouthpiece that goes out our door is individually hand faced and play tested by me, our metal mouthpieces are all unplated so that the facing is not altered during the buffing process, the brass we use in our metal mouthpieces is all "bell quality" and contains no toxic components, our facing curves are all cut with a seven point system instead of the usual five and are all pure radial curves with none of this parabolic or elliptical nonsense, we use a variety of ligature styles to optimize the performance of each mouthpiece, and our wooden mouthpieces are treated to reduce expansion warpage. Let's take a look at the individual mouthpiece models and explore the features and differences.....

SOPRANINO
We make a solid brass sopranino mouthpiece with a medium low baffle, a single screw ligature, and a large chamber with no blocking plate. This design eliminates much of the annoying shrillness found with other sopranino mouthpieces. Available in two tip openings, .045 and .055.

SOPRANO
The solid brass soprano has a nice balance of a somewhat high baffle combined with a large chamber, a duckbill beak, and a longer than usual facing curve. This is an extremely free blowing mouthpiece with an even scale, available in .060, .065, and .075 tip openings.

ALTO
BON FILS
This mouthpiece is specifically designed for beginning players. It has a low baffle and a straight wall large chamber, as well as relatively wider tip and side rails for easy control. It comes in one moderate tip opening and is extremely easy to play. It is made from polycarbonate, and has a special two screw ligature with contoured reed plate. The Bon Fils mouthpiece also has a brass ring on the shank to prevent splitting.

HARD RUBBER
The Saxgourmet Hard Rubber mouthpiece has been our best seller for many years. It has a long facing curve, a somewhat low baffle, and a very large chamber. It is extremely free blowing and has a very even scale and excellent intonation. It has extra mass added to the shank end to increase projection, and comes with a heavily engraved very unique two screw ligature. Three tip openings: .070, .080. and .090

VOODOO CHILD
The Voodoo Child is a very radical design, featuring an elongated window, a high straight baffle, and an extra long curve. It has a very pronounced duckbill beak and a medium sized chamber with straight walls. This is a bright sounding, very aggressive mouthpiece, not at all shrill or thin sounding. It comes with a two screw four band heavily engraved ligature. One tip opening only.

FAT BOY
This is a high cliff baffled solid brass mouthpiece, with a large chamber and a very pronounced duckbill beak. It has a great deal of cut and projection. The rails are fairly narrow, the window is large, and there is a significant rollover with a large lake in the baffle. The facing curve is quite long. Two screw metal ligature and three tip openings: .070, .080. and .090.


TENOR
SG
SG has a low baffle and a straight wall large chamber, as well as relatively wider tip and side rails for easy control. It comes in one moderate tip opening and is extremely easy to play. It is made from polycarbonate, and has a special two screw ligature with contoured reed plate. The SG mouthpiece also has a brass ring on the shank to prevent splitting. This is the same mouthpiece as our Bon Fils alto, but in a tenor version.

FLORIDA
This is a serious mouthpiece! The Florida has a compound, high baffle with a slight rollover leading into a medium sized chamber with straight walls. It has a large window and a pretty significant "lake" behind the tip rail. The radial facing curve is 48 on a standard mouthpiece gauge. The Florida is machined from a solid billet of bell quality brass, and has a duckbill style beak and comes with a three band single screw ligature. The available tip openings are .090, .105, and .120. This is a mouthpiece for the player who wants a bright but not thin sound with lots of cut and projection. The timid need not apply!

FAT BOY
The Fat Boy tenor has a long straight baffle with a significant rollover and "lake" behind the tip rail. Like all our metal mouthpieces, it is machined from a solid billet of bell quality brass. The chamber is a little larger than the one used on the Florida, and also has straight side walls. The body is high mass, with a medium sized window and a radial curve that measures 49 on a standard mouthpiece gauge. The beak has a pronounced duckbill shape for increased projection. The rails are thin and the sound is bright but full. A two screw ligature is included and available tip openings are .090, .105, and .120.

SUPER DUCK
The Super Duck has a high, straight baffle ending in a cliff and leading into a somewhat large chamber with straight walls. There is a rollover in the baffle and a medium sized "lake" behind the tip rail. All of the rails are quite thin, and the window is medium large in size. The facing curve measures 50 on a standard mouthpiece gauge. The beak is an extreme duckbill, and the available tip openings are .090, .105, and .120. Am two screw ligature is included. This is a very bright and loud mouthpiece.

YELLOW MOON
The Yellow Moon is our only stainless steel mouthpiece, and the design takes full advantage of the unique resonance characteristics of that material. The Yellow Moon has a high straight baffle blended into a large chamber. There is a significant "lake" behind the tip rail, and the side rails are quite thin. The window is medium sized and the chamber walls are straight. The facing length is 48,m and available tip openings are .090, .105, and .120. A single screw/dual band ligature is included. Very bright, very loud.

BLUES BLASTER
For the player who wants the classic, full tenor sound, this may be the mouthpiece for you. It has a low baffle with a significant rollover leading into a large chamber with straight walls. The window and "lake" are both large, and the rails are somewhat narrow. The radial facing measures 48. The beak has a bit of a duckbill, and the body has a lot of mass. The ligature is a single screw type with three bands and and a reed plate. This is our best selling tenor mouthpiece, and is available in three tip openings: .090, .105, .120.

SAXGOURMET HAND MADE
OK, you want radical, we've got radical. There's nothing else quite like this one. It's the longest and heaviest tenor mouthpiece on the market (designed to be played very far up on the cork) and has an extremely high baffle leading into an extra large round bullet chamber. The facing curve is very long and the window is enormous. The rails are as thin as we can make them. The duckbill beak is as thin and radical as they come, and the sides of the body are deeply fluted. This mouthpiece has an enormous dynamic range, and nothing on the market is louder. The tone is very complex, covering quite a broad spectrum. The ligature is a two banded, very flexible single screw model. One tip opening (.103) only. This mouthpiece has virtually no blowing resistance whatsoever.

BLACK MAMBO
The Black Mambo is machined from a hard rubber blank, and has a high, straight cliff baffle, a medium window, and a large chamber. The rails are thin and the "lake" is large. The radial facing curve measures 49, and the walls of the chamber are straight. This mouthpiece produces a very classic, rich jazz sound with lots of cut and projection. It is very easy blowing, with an even scale. A two screw ligature is included, with available tips of .090, .105, and .120.

JACK OF SPADES
The Jack of Spades is our newest design, and is very unique in several ways: First, it's made from carefully seasoned Grenadilla wood for a very rich and complex tone available from no other material. The ligature, also machined from seasoned Grenadilla, is a friction fit ring which allows the reed to vibrate unusually freely. The baffle is high, straight and ends in a bullet leading into a large chamber. The radial facing measures 48 on a standard mouthpiece gauge. This mouthpiece has a very distinctive, "woody" complex tone. It is extremely free blowing, with almost no blowing resistance. .105 tip opening only.


BARITONE
LOW RIDER
Your baritone should play the low notes with authority and the high notes without thinness. That's what the Low Rider is all about. The body is machined from a solid billet of bell quality brass, and has a duckbill beak. The baffle is straight and high, and ends in a cliff leading to a large chamber with straight walls. The rails are quite thin, the "lake" is large, as is the window. The radial facing has a length of 52, and the ligature is a two band, flexible, single screw design. Available in two tip openings: .105 and .120

BIG BULLY
The Big Bully has a higher initial baffle than the Low Rider, but the overall baffle is lower and the chamber is a little bigger. The lake is larger, and the window is just a bit smaller. It gives a deeper sound, but has excellent response and intonation. The ligature is a built on "Lawton" type. One tip opening, .120. This is a very popular model among bari players.