[Rittmeister]

I'm curious; I ran across a Guy Hawkins mouthpiece on ebay recently, and the seller made the statement that it's "between a Link and a Dukoff" and "having a high baffle and a large chamber."

Can anyone support the Link/Dukoff statement? I've never played an old Dukoff, nor a Hawkins, and of course I've played Links that were good and others that were not. The Hawkins mouthpieces seem to be pretty reasonably priced on the used market, so I wonder whether they really are a good compromise.

 

[bruce bailey]

I haven't seen one for over 35 years and as I recall, they were pretty vintageish.

 

[super20dan]

hands down the wost tenor mpc i have ever played

 

[MojoBari]

Pretty much all mouthpiece designs lie somewhere between the Link and Dukoff D designs. But I would say the GH is 50/50. They have a nice thin section of metal on the table (often called the "wall") at the base of the window "U". It is actually made with a separate piece of metal inlayed and probably braised in place. The thinness helps to make the MP flow free-ly, but they usually need facing work to bring out their best. I have a client who burns on them.

 

[istan]

I have an older one, it is on the bright side (long, high baffle) and it needs facing work, as Mojo said. Also, it is interesting how thin this mpc is, thinner than a modern Berg Larsen. I had a hard time to find a ligature that fits.
On the positive side, it can be very attractive soundwise; just listen to some late recordings by the great Warne Marsh (although he would sound great with any mpc!).

 

[Bill Mecca]

I have one in the mpc box, was my first metal piece. I had a conversation with the late John Van Wie and he described it as a cross between a Link and a Dukoff, but like Mojo says, that's a pretty broad description. I used a Rovner lig on it, and a no name metal lig. pretty free blowing, small in the mouth. I played it a bit after playing my Runyon quantum and it felt resistant, but it is only a 7 (0.094 I think) versus the .110 quantum. It's been sitting in the box quite a while. ;-)

 

[thadnoland]

I have played a Guy Hawkins on Baritone quite often. I enjoyed playing that mpc.

 

[kaldamae]

I have a GH 7. (I've heard that there are some vintage GH around as well, but this one and probably the one you found are new)
I accidentally found it in Finland, where I wanted to try Bari Hawk II. There was a "left-overs" box and as soon as i tried it I knew that it was the one I wanted at that time. Got it for like 70€ (excl. VAT, plus discount).
It's similar to Hawk II (if you have tried it, it's quite nice), but more jazzy, softer, deeper sound, as opposed to hawks more of a rock sound.
GH is a great mouthpiece, gives me all I want: old-jazz, newer jazz, pop, softer sound, strong sound etc.
GH + '37 Conn 10m = just wow.....

P.S. I personally really need to try a mouthpiece (and a sax, for that mather), before buying one.... Buying online is really risky....

 

[beeboper]

hands down the wost tenor mpc i have ever played

speak for yourself i use a GH 7 on a yamaha tenor best piece i've found so far and i've been trying to play sax for over 50 years like most i have a drawer full of pieces

 

[Lefty]

Got my metal Guy Hawkins 8 for tenor about 32 years ago; it was used--nickel plated. I had in the previous year purchased the Couf Superba I that I still play and was looking for the appropriate mouthpiece. I've used it almost exclusively since then. On this horn it is dark, big and broad (spread?), with a well-defined edge, lots of horsepower.

 

[Souportwenty]

I had a Guy Hawkins alto piece many years ago. It had great power but I had to work too hard to make it do what I wanted.

 

[saxyjazzman]

I just picked up a HR Guy Hawkins 9 tenor piece from a local shop new for about $80. I like the way this piece sounds. It's dark and spread (great for older jazz) but it also articulates well. The tip is a bit wider than I normally play (and the piece requires AIR), but so far sore chops are the only thing keeping me away from my horn! Love the sound and I feel it's a super reasonably priced, well made piece.

 

[ThreeSixTwoFive]

I have owned and played several of these -- both for alto and tenor.

These can be great, particularly on alto. The baffle might need to be reduced to your taste. Worth checking out. Price is relatively low.

It's a guess, but I think the Guy Hawkins is made by Zinner. Zinner is a major German maker and made mouthpieces for Herb Couf. They make many a modern clarinet mouthpiece just like JJ Babbitt makes them here. The Guy Hawkins also looks a lot like the metal Meyer mouthpiece. I think they are identical.

Hope others can post their experiences.

 

[rini]

...It's a guess, but I think the Guy Hawkins is made by Zinner....The Guy Hawkins also looks a lot like the metal Meyer mouthpiece. I think they are identical.

By Zinner? Really? Not by Babbit?

I still have a GH Metal 6 that I played some time during the 80s. Made even a recording studio gig with it. I also have a Meyer Metal Gold 8 (not the Jazz model) that looks a lot like GH but they are not really similar. Btw. I made a recording studio gig also with the Meyer. Same player, same year, same type reeds, differrent sound. GH was kinda bright dark, focused, very focused. Something like some 'contemporary' mpcs today. Meyer was more traditionally sounding. In a linkish way, but not as full as a link. I have now a Guardala Crescent that can be something that way. Although the Crescent is a much better mpc. And brighter.

 

[ThreeSixTwoFive]

I say Zinner as I know for fact that Zinner made the Herb Couf mouthpiece.

The old Hawkins I had looks quite a bit like the Couf, but then again they could be made by Babbitt.

We could probably find out if we called Babbitt and ask.

Either way, these pieces can play well but some may require work in order to do so.

 

[rini]

Actually I'm in the middle of a process of starting to put my surplus mouthpieces for sale and just yesterday took some pics of them. The GH mpc I was talking above is really in very good condition - almost like new - complete with original lig, cap and the original box. The box has a black cover with white lower part, and surprise surprise (I never noted it before), on the other end of the black box cover there reads printed with gold colored letters: "Otto Link, I(nc), (1)21 S.W. 5th (St.), Pompano Bch., (Fl)a, 33060". The letters in parenthesis have been worn out.
On the top of this cover part there's printed "Guy Hawkins", also in gold colored lettering. So obviously that settles our interesting question?
Btw. funny: A Florida Guy Hawkins :lol:

I'll insert a picture or two to my next post so you can see

IIRC Zinner had (still has?) a metal Ed Sperber (?) model that looks a bit like metal Guy Hawkins or Berg Larsen. I think it was/is available silver or gold plated. I've never actually played one but saw couple of them in a small local shop years ago.