[Mike24]

Hi,

Today I tried a Vintage Slant, a VibraMaster and an OctoSupreme. They were all great. I’m going to try them all out again and buy one of them. I‘m thinking probably the Vintage Slant. I played at least 25 different mouthpieces today, I need to go back and play off the favourites against each other. (Ted Klum Florida was great too!)

Has anyone got any real world experience of any of these? I’ve tried them out in a very small room, with an incredible amount of foam on the wall. Whilst this is not necessarily a bad thing, I’m mindful of the fact that anywhere other than a recording studio, these are going to sound very different to how I was hearing them today?

 

[Guto]

Isn't that a given for any setup? You are always going to sound different between a small studio, a large venue, outdoors, etc. I'd choose it for how you like it when you play it.

 

[Sofiane]

I played on tenor:

Vintage Slant: 6*, 7* x2, 10.
Vibra Master: 8
Octa-Supreme: 9*

They were all great, at the end it is just a matter of taste and needs between them.

 

[andre251]

I had a Vibra Master and a Vibra Master X for like four months. (I had to try and remember the name of that second mouthpiece but couldn’t find it anywhere. I am unsure of Gerber still makes it)

I had a long period where I played several hard rubber mouthpieces because I wanted to return to hard rubber after playing metal for years. I played a Phil Barone Hollywood for years and really liked it and got a graduate degree on it. Basically in the course of about eight months I play tested...
Otto Link Early Babbit
Mouthpiece cafe Bergonzi Slant
Link Early Babbit JVW
TMEB
Marantz Slant Legacy
Gerber vintage
Gerber Vibra Master
Gerber Vibra Master X
Short play test of 10Mfan Robusto
Retro revival tru slant
All the Saxquest hard rubbers
Klum Florida
Klum Tonamax
Vandoren V16

It’s a long list but I probably missed some others. Basically a collector with a lot of nice stuff let me try things around the same time as I went to the JEN conference and then the Texas Bandmasters conference. In the end my favorite was the JVW link but the seller was asking $1,200 which I couldn’t afford. Then my favorites were the Marantz, Klum Florida, and Viba Master. The Marantz had a huskier tone and was thicker similar to the tonamax so I didn’t stay on that. (It’s definitely a favorite for many now!)
So at one point I had the Vibra Master, the Vibra Master X and the Klum Florida. I recorded videos on those three around 20 times over the course of like two weeks.
In the end I liked the Klum Florida the best. I sold off all the remaining tenor mouthpieces I had and then bought another Florida. (My second Florida is blue marbled of which Ted has only made tea and Mark Turner can be seen playing on the other one on all his videos for the past year and a half!)

I am sorry for the long story but I think the entire thing is useful to see we may have landed somewhat in the same area sound wise.
Now the differences? It’s pretty close. I can say the Florida was more quiet at first but I loved the sound. Eventually getting used to it I was able to get tons more volume than even the Gerber while having the sound and flexibility I wanted.
Ted’s Florida has a flat baffle and the interior is matte and not polished like the Tonamax.
Let me know if you have any more specific questions and I would be happy to try and answer them!

 

[raghav]

I went through a phase where I was playing nothing but Slant Sig Otto Link-style pieces. Of the Slant-style pieces which I tried (Gerber Vintage Slant, Marantz Slant Legacy, Mouthpiece Cafe Slant, Drake Son of Slant, Aizen LS and my refaced No USA Slant Signature - all 7* openings) the Gerber was my favorite by a slight margin over the No USA, followed by the Marantz Slant. I felt that the Gerber had the right mix between projection and resistance, for me, whereas I found the Marantz and Drake pieces a little too free-blowing. And the pieces are just beautiful to look at, though that is not the reason to buy one.

 

[andre251]

I basically followed around the same path as Raghav with rubber link type mouthpieces. He is probably one of the more knowledgeable people here from trying and owning so many pieces. As you can see Gerber is a good brand to consider.

 

[Mike24]

It sounds like several of you are on the same path as me. The Drake mouthpieces were nice, but there was a Very specific resistance I wanted at times that wasn’t there. I was happy playing 7* and 8 with most of them, but I needed a 9 in Drakes, and then that caused other problems. I think the next trip with be between the Gerber and the Ted Klum Florida. (Which was for some reason is Green marbled effect at the shop I visited. I think they’re normally black?)

 

[andre251]

Mike, make sure to try various *new* reeds on the mouthpieces. Often times reeds that sing on a mouthpiece when broke into different a mouthpiece aren’t as good when new.
The resistance was the deciding point for me.
Resistance to sound control and flexibility is a very specific and personal equation!
As to the Klum rubber, he makes his mouthpieces in standard black as well as marbled rubbers. I choose the colorful ones because I think they are pretty and can’t comment about any claims about sound.

 

[Sofiane]

Here is nice rendition of Body & Soul by Tucker Antell. Mouthpiece is a vintage Slant 9*.

I've got a 10 for sale if anyone is interested in ?.

 

[whaler]

Here is nice rendition of Body & Soul by Tucker Antell. Mouthpiece is a vintage Slant 9*.

I've got a 10 for sale if anyone is interested in ��.

Whoever buys it please don't let me see the mouthpiece abuse video when someone scrapes and files on it.
I play un-fudged-with vintage Links for a reason. Let those guys use their own blanks for re-facing.