I've been playing for 3 years now and upgraded my alto saxophone recently. When I was starting out I found the Theo Wanne Water ART mouthpiece absolutely transformed my playing, but for some reason it didn't suit my new saxophone so I went back to the Yamaha 4C. I feel like I've outgrown the Yamaha mouthpiece and wanted something with a bit more character and a bit more open than a Yamaha 4C. I've been trying out a few pieces. I don't know why but I really wanted a metal mouthpiece but not one that was overly bright sounding. I tried the following:
Jody Jazz DV HR 6 -very good & very easy to play, but for me a bit limited (probably more me).
Yanagisawa Metal 6 -I just couldn't get on with.
Brancher J21 -ok but hard work to play and absolutely tiny (fortunately it comes with a nice ligature).
On to the Theo Wanne Lakshmi 6
This is a pretty new mouthpiece with not many reviews, so I had to take a bit of a leap of faith. Fortunately Thomann operates a 30 day return policy on mouthpieces which is somewhat rare these days.
From what I can tell, there is fairly little in common with the tenor mouthpiece of the same name from Theo Wanne and the design is rather different: this alto has 'shark gill' ridges on the baffle, whereas the tenor baffle is smooth.
The mouthpiece is beautifully made and finished. It comes in a nice cardboard box with which was unfortunately slightly dented in transit on one corner - minus point to Thomann, something this price should have better packaging please.
In the box, you get a smart leatherette zip up bag for the mouthpiece, a tool to adjust the built in ligature, instructions on how to adjust the ligature and the Theo Wanne Reed Replacer which fits in place of the reed and protects the tip rail of the mouthpiece, while this works very well. I like to go to my lessons with a reed on my mouthpiece ready to play: I use Legere synthetic reeds and they can be hard to see as they are transparent and I don't want to waste time. Because of the design of Theo Wanne ligatures, it's not really possible to use a conventional mouthpiece cap. Theo Wanne makes a Reed Keeper cap to cater for people like me however you need to buy this separately, for the money I really think both types of cap should be included.
On to playing
This is straight down the middle sound: not too bright not to dark, perhaps slightly towards the darker end, but not overly so.
I feel that the Yamaha sounds thin when I play the higher notes (palm keys etc.) and I wanted something that sounds a bit sweeter. I think that the Lakshmi gives me this and much more. Instinctively I feel that you can get out whatever I put in to this mouthpiece without being overly steered in a particular direction, making this a superb all rounder.
The built in ligature is easy to use. I haven't experimented with moving it backwards or forwards yet as it can be fitted in five positions.
I do find for correct tuning, Theo Wanne mouthpieces don't need to be pushed on to the cork as much as other brands.
In summary I'm very happy with the Lakshmi Alto and this one's a keeper, is it worth £575? It's certainly eye wateringly expensive -you'll have to try for yourself.
I'm very lucky to have some of the very best kit available, now there's no excuse for sounding amazing, I'd better get practicing!
