[seethorne]

Hello.
I play tenor saxophon (too) in a Folk-Rock Band.
In this moment my mouthpiece is a Kanee J26 jazz mpc. Not bad; it is versatile, but I'm lookin' for something different. Something more... Rock!
So I found (the existance of) this mouthpiece: Claude Lakey Apollo Metal Brass mpc.

doctorsax says:

This is a great-sounding mouthpiece.
Easy to play, great balance of darkness and projection...with a good solid core, yet somewhat spread.

lakey website also says:

Recommended: For lead players, soloists, and musicians looking for a professional, signature sound.
Genres: Jazz, Funk, Rock, Reggae

Someone on this forum has got one?
Or someone has played one?
I can't find video or sample with someone playing with this mpc...

(I'm 29 years old and I'm a new user. I play saxophone since 4 years ago. And I'm italian, sorry for my bad english Nice to meet you!)

 

[seethorne]

Nobody?

 

[jicaino]

Lawton gold plated brass BB. That's a versatile piece that can scream like a banshee and yet have subtleties when tamed.

 

[seethorne]

you are recomending me that instead of Lakey?

 

[theizzysaxman]

I had a Lakey Apollo for tenor once and it was insanely loud. Much too loud for me.

 

[DanY]

I bought one of these in January, along with the unique 'Boa' ligature. I have to admit that I bought it because of its looks! The Apollo has a cool retro design with the fluted sidewalls.

I play a Selmer series II tenor and have been looking for the 'right' mouthpiece for years. I settled on a hr link, but as I tend to play dark, the combo of the link with the series II (a dark horn) was too much.

I've been playing for 20 years and have tried all the normal tenor pieces- links, bergs, soloists etc. i'm happy with a meyer 6m on alto and a v16 on bari, so i'm not one of those guys that has to play something 'unique' or expensive. My gigs are 99% small group jazz. I like zoot sims, stanley Turrentine, willis jackson, jimmy forrest and Gene Ammons.

Anyways... I really like this piece! It is husky and spread, has an edge, can get real loud, sounds great soft, plays in tune, sounds good down low and looks good.

For me it ticks all the boxes. I'm seriously thinking about getting another as a backup.


The Boa lig is cool too, as the mp has a strange size. It doesn't hold the reed on as firmly as i'd like, but it sounds better than a rovner lig on the Apollo.
I wonder why noone talks about these beasties here on sotw?

 

[saxiclari]

The Boa lig is cool too, as the mp has a strange size. It doesn't hold the reed on as firmly as i'd like, but it sounds better than a rovner lig on the Apollo.
I wonder why noone talks about these beasties here on sotw?

DanY, Can't the boa ligature adjust sizes? It is the compass ligature, right?

 

[DanY]

DanY, Can't the boa ligature adjust sizes? It is the compass ligature, right?

It adjusts to almost everything, I would like to be able to tighten it more.

Still loving my Apollo!

 

[DanY]

Apollo update number 2:

Still loving it. I have recorded with the Apollo twice now and can describe the sound I get a bit better. For me on my Selmer series II tenor, the Apollo has a definite Berg Larsen vibe. Think Harold Land or that guy who played with John Patton - Marvin Cabell?

I wish it worked with my Keilwerth cx90. But it plays too bright in the upper octave for me. I'm still searching for the right mp for the cx90.

 

[Hornlip]

Apollo update number 2:

Still loving it. I have recorded with the Apollo twice now and can describe the sound I get a bit better. For me on my Selmer series II tenor, the Apollo has a definite Berg Larsen vibe. Think Harold Land or that guy who played with John Patton - Marvin Cabell?

I wish it worked with my Keilwerth cx90. But it plays too bright in the upper octave for me. I'm still searching for the right mp for the cx90.

That's interesting - when I think "Harold Land", "Lakey" is not what would come to mind to describe his sound. But, it's also in line with what you posted earlier about this mouthpiece. They do look neat - but I'm still afraid of Lakey!

 

[donnc]

Where I'm intrigued, maybe because it's the home town team. Thanks in part to DanY's reports, I went for the ebonite Apollo model, tenor 8*, and am very pleased with what I got.

It isn't the old Claude Lakey. I have an 8*3 original/jazz style, and the Apollo facing is a little longer, and more gradual, and the baffle is a little lower and less abruptly stepped, rails a little thinner and the window longer. Still a strong, open sound - not thin or strident, choked or quacky, but pretty loud. What's changed the most I think is that it's easy - easy to play the bottom of the range, easy to play in tune up high, easy to play at low dynamic or high, easy to play with expressive nuance. The old one was easy to make a racket with.

But that's my old 8*3, and someone else's would be entirely different - guaranteed, because I had to adjust the facing as best I could due to gross defect, and in general anyway they had no great reputation for quality control in years past. And that's the biggest change - it isn't just them saying it, the new mouthpieces do seem to have a great reputation for quality. They went to CNC milling at a local aerospace industry shop. So the ebonite Apollo is the same price as brass, I guess because the cost of manufacture is the same.

So ... Berg Larsen? I don't know, haven't played one myself, but the characteristic sound I hear in recordings is pretty dry. Maybe with a 2 or 3 chamber? I think I know what you mean, but it's so easy for these Link/Berg comparisons to be misleading.

I'm on '50s Martin and '30s King tenors, using their compass ligature. The upper octave sounds great with these horns. I haven't gone much higher - if someone wants to hear me play altissimo, they're going to have to really beg for it, and so far that hasn't happened.

 

[Hornlip]

[ . . . ]

It isn't the old Claude Lakey. I have an 8*3 original/jazz style, and the Apollo facing is a little longer, and more gradual, and the baffle is a little lower and less abruptly stepped, rails a little thinner and the window longer. Still a strong, open sound - not thin or strident, choked or quacky, but pretty loud. What's changed the most I think is that it's easy - easy to play the bottom of the range, easy to play in tune up high, easy to play at low dynamic or high, easy to play with expressive nuance. The old one was easy to make a racket with.

[ . . . ] And that's the biggest change - it isn't just them saying it, the new mouthpieces do seem to have a great reputation for quality. They went to CNC milling at a local aerospace industry shop. So the ebonite Apollo is the same price as brass, I guess because the cost of manufacture is the same.

[ . . . . ] I'm on '50s Martin and '30s King tenors, using their compass ligature. The upper octave sounds great with these horns. I haven't gone much higher - if someone wants to hear me play altissimo, they're going to have to really beg for it, and so far that hasn't happened.

Interesting. Thanks for posting that. From how you describe the Apollo piece, it's easier to square "Lakey" with "Land".

Also, I've been looking into metal 'tenor pieces, and signs of improved quality anywhere are welcome. Somebody tell Babbitt.

Except insofar as some consider saxophone an instrument easy to make a racket with, I don't have a mouthpiece expressly for that purpose. :mrgreen: The baseline HR Lakey alto piece is not that expensive; if quality has indeed improved it might be worth the investment just for a little racket's sake. And I might at least get a ligature I like out of it!!

 

[donnc]

Now hold on - I actually posed this question to them in an email, but didn't get an answer. Unless they say otherwise, I have to assume the Original is still made somewhat as it has always been made. They haven't built up a CNC program for it, they don't charge CNC milling prices for it, and they don't make any such claim for it. I bought mine just a few months back, which doesn't strictly mean it's new - could have been for sale for ages until it reached someone (me) who wouldn't send it back for the trash it was. Seriously, I think they can be good mouthpieces, but they're kind of special, in the sense of not much else sounds like that, and unreliable as anything. They're also made of a different material - ebonite Apollo is at least part hard rubber, but my original/jazz is something else with no rubber at all in it as far as I can tell.

 

[Hornlip]

Now hold on - I actually posed this question to them in an email, but didn't get an answer. Unless they say otherwise, I have to assume the Original is still made somewhat as it has always been made. They haven't built up a CNC program for it, they don't charge CNC milling prices for it, and they don't make any such claim for it. I bought mine just a few months back, which doesn't strictly mean it's new - could have been for sale for ages until it reached someone (me) who wouldn't send it back for the trash it was. Seriously, I think they can be good mouthpieces, but they're kind of special, in the sense of not much else sounds like that, and unreliable as anything. They're also made of a different material - ebonite Apollo is at least part hard rubber, but my original/jazz is something else with no rubber at all in it as far as I can tell.

Got it!! Thanks. Well, if I buy one and it turns out to be a lemon 'piece, at least it's a pretty cheap lemon 'piece, as opposed to say a new stock Link.