I like a crisp, clear, vibrant, full, edgy, and powerful sound with easy access to the altissimo and this mouthpiece ticks all the boxes! I bought my original Dave Guardala Alto King/R&B mouthpiece about 24 years ago and I've never found a mouthpiece to match it in all those years until now. I rarely find the time to write reviews but having just test played my new Guardala mouthpiece I was so impressed with it that I had to make time for a few words: I have two professional level Alto saxophones and didn't want to keep moving my original Guardala between the two sax cases so I decided to buy a new mouthpiece for the new sax?... At first wishing to broaden my horizons a little I tried a few of the most highly rated equivalents and realised that I really must try the new Guardala. So to cut a long story short, I ordered new Dave Guardala. My initial thoughts upon seeing it were; "beautiful, apparently thick good quality silver plating, an excellent ligature, a cap with inbuilt cushions to protect and centre the mouthpiece, and a little bag to keep it all in", so far so good. My only reservation was that the side and tip rails were a fair bit wider than on my original Dave Guardala... well I need not have worried, because this mouthpiece is not only a beauty to look at, it plays outstandingly and is in my opinion every bit as good as my Guardala original. The low tones and the high are in my opinion full, with clarity over the entire range of the instrument. The altissimo pops easily and accurately even with a soft reed up to D4 ...perhaps even more easily than my original. So this mouthpiece is a keeper and has inspired me to order one of the Tenor King Silver models just as soon as I can afford it (I already have an original Tenor King/R&B). Well there you go, if you like what I like in a mouthpiece then you'll really enjoy this one.
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