I just accidentally took a 2 hour lunch courtesy of my Powell-ized Dukoff. So the setup is a Couf Superba 1 and Alexander DC3.5 reeds. I started 5 new reeds and soaked my 5 current reeds. I started with my old reeds since they were already broken in. The mouthpiece blew effortlessly and with a huge, huge, HUGE sound. A little bright, but I attributed that to the reeds being a month+ old at this point. At that point, it was responding exactly as I'd hoped, blew more effortlessly than my Link, and with a bigger sound.
THEN I started in on the new reeds. Holy s**t. An even bigger sound, from low Bb up to 3xD. The sound is my own, but the tone is just huge and lush but with a bit more edge if I really pushed it. I put the Link back on and it made me realize that I know have two insanely good mouthpieces, but that, at least for the first two hours, the Dukoff has clearly bumped my Link to a backup position.
Brian did EXACTLY as I hoped. I had said that I wanted the core sound to remain the same, just wanted a wider tip opening. He didn't try to turn it into what his concept of a Link or Dukoff should be - he just turned this thing into a monster piece. The work is pristine, it is exactly as I'd hoped, and I've never been happier.
I've got a gig tonight and tomorrow, and am doing horn parts for 2 discs this weekend at a studio in town, and am excited to have the Dukoff to do so.
Two hours flew by and before I knew it, it was 1:45. Unfortunately now, I'm back at work, listening to Dexter play 'Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry'.
THANK YOU BRIAN!