Man, I have to say, I am very impressed with this guy. I sent him 3 pieces a few months ago just to see what he could with them. They all came back great. So then I sent him 4 more. All pieces you can hear on my website. All great pieces but I thought maybe they could be better. I sent him a supposed Theo Wanne link that I put my own baffle in(I say supposed because I got it on ebay and the seller had no proof. Once I received it the work didn't look like other pieces I've owned that Theo had done) I sent Brian a JVW EB Link. I sent him a Freddie Gregory refaced EB alto link and also an alto link that had been refaced by John Reilly(again I bought this on ebay and that's what the seller told me) All 4 of these pieces are some of the best pieces I've played since starting up this hobby of playing mouthpieces. The JVW link played nice but had no guts. I couldn't really dig in with it. the Link I put my baffle in I know had facing curve issues because of the way reeds would respond on it(another reason I think maybe it's not Theo's work) The FG alto piece was killer when I found a good reed but I had to go through a whole box to find one. It was a pain. The Reilly alto link played great but I felt it was too bright for me.
I received the pieces back today and tried them all and was amazed. Everyone plays terrific. I mean perfect. I just slapped a 2 1/2 Java on each one and Bam I loved them. I played the metal link first and couldn't stop playing it for about an hour. I was kind of afraid to play the JVW link. I was afraid it would stink or be worse and I was kind of dreading it. When I finally played it it too was killer. I mean you have to understand that I thought this piece was killer before and now is like 100% even more killer for me. I posted a clip of it on my site. It's one of the few clips that I've done that I'm digging the sound of as I listen to it.(some of my playing bothers me but.......) The alto pieces are also terrific. I asked Brian to make them exactly like the Meyer G he did for me. I knew that with the bigger link chambers they would be exactly what I was looking for. The Reilly alto link piece is still brighter than I like but I still dig it a lot.
Well, I'm very greatful to Brian for doing these pieces for me and I consider it money well spent. I just wanted to share my experiences with you fellow SOTW folk. Steve
