Today, I am reviewing a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece from 10mFan sax mouthpieces. This is the Celebration 7* hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I have already reviewed a number of great 10mFan tenor saxophone mouthpieces and alto saxophone mouthpieces in the past that you can find here.
Whenever Mark Sepinuck, at 10mFan mouthpieces, comes out with a new saxophone mouthpiece model, I am always really excited to try it out because all of his saxophone mouthpieces are so darn good! Mark is always thinking about how he can meet the needs of the sax playing community with new uniquely designed saxophone mouthpieces.
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here’s a description of the Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Mark posted on Sax on the Web:
“The “CELEBRATION”: Celebrating the finest vintage hard rubber Otto Link mouthpieces ever made, with my 10MFAN originality and twist on things!
I was the biggest high-end vintage mouthpiece dealer on the internet for over 30 years and then I started my 10MFAN Company. This mouthpiece is long overdue for you Otto Link lovers. This is an ORIGINAL design that has some Reso Chamber, Slant Sig, and Early Babbitt built into it, along with my 10MFAN contributions.
For me, it outplays any Otto Link type piece in the marketplace! Big, open, full, rich, powerful Link sound and will stand up to ANY original vintage hard rubber tenor Link that goes for $1500!!!!!!
Are you tired of playing mediocre Link-type pieces out there??? I don’t blame you. So many stuffy and dull Link type copies out there but don’t worry—– this originally designed Celebration mouthpiece is not a copy of any one model, and it will take care of that for all of you. Full, warm, round, even, fat sound with power.“-Mark Sepinuck
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is some more details from Mark Sepinuck’s description of the 10mFan Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece from the 10mFan website:
“The most unique hard rubber tenor mouthpiece that celebrates the absolute best vintage Otto Links of yesteryear.
An all original design which incorporates some of the Reso Chambers, Slant Signatures, and Early Babbitt models, along with my 10MFAN contributions, to make this the most unique piece for the Link players.
My goal was to make a piece that Mr. Otto Link would greatly approve of, if he were alive today.
This piece takes the old hard rubber tenor Otto Links into the new millennium.
I’ve been known as the biggest high-end vintage mouthpiece dealer on the internet for over three decades, and this mouthpiece outplays the best Otto Links in my private collection. I am very proud of that because it is not a copy of any one model. It is a combination of the best Otto Link models with my own interpretation of how to take them to the next place.
The sound is rich and full and warm with lots of power available. This piece can be played at a whisper and the sound is so full.
If you are a vintage link hard rubber tenor lover, you can’t pass on this, because there is nothing in the marketplace that compares. I say this with great pride!” -Mark Sepinuck
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The 10mFan Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece came in a well packaged box. Inside, amidst the packaging was a clear tube. Inside the tube, was a velvet looking bag with gold trim that protected the Celebration saxophone mouthpiece while shipping.
The new 10mFan Celebration tenor sax mouthpiece has the traditional three rings on the shank that all of the 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces have. It also has “10mFan” and “Celebration” engraved on the top of the mouthpiece. On the bottom corners of the mouthpiece next to the table is engraved “U.S.A.” and “7*”.
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
As you can see in the photos, the table, rails and tip rail look flat, even and perfectly crafted as they do on all 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces. The baffle is a slightly curved side to side baffle that travels 3/16ths of an inch before it terminates at a curved line. From that line, the baffle starts a more radical descent until it reaches the rear of the mouthpiece chamber.
The side walls of the mouthpiece are scooped out on each side as they head towards the large sized chamber. The scooped out side walls encroach in on the floor of the baffle gradually as it heads down into the chamber area making the floor of the baffle wider near the tip and thinner as it enters the chamber area.
The side rails look even and precise as they head towards the tip rail. The tip rail is thin, precise and even. The shape of the tip rail matches the shape of the tenor saxophone reeds I used on the Celebration mouthpiece perfectly.
The roof of the chamber area, under the table of the mouthpiece is of medium thickness as you can see in the photos below.
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
So, how does the new Celebration 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece in hard rubber play and sound? The 7* I played for this review played perfectly with a Lupifaro 3 tenor saxophone reed. I tried a variety of different tenor saxophone reeds on it such as Rigotti Gold, BSS (Boston Sax Shop) and RW reeds (Roberto’s Winds). They all played great on the Celebration mouthpiece but on the day of the recording, I happened to put on this Lupifaro 3 reed and it was so perfect that I decided to record with that reed.
The Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece has a tone that is incredibly warm, rich and round sounding. It leans to the darker side of the tenor saxophone tone spectrum in my opinion but the tone is so rich and full of overtones that it creates this “energy” and “life” in the tone that just makes it so enjoyable to play as well as listen to.
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The first thing I noticed about the 10mFan Celebration tenor sax mouthpiece was the low end. From low Bb to middle Bb, the tone is just really rich and complex sounding. You might notice, in the sound clips below, that I have played quite a few ballads and play in the low end of the saxophone more than usual. I didn’t do this on purpose, but I think I was so in love with the tone in that first register of the saxophone, that I kept going back and playing down there.
The middle range of the saxophone is amazing also. At the 3:57 mark of the first sound clip, I by chance, go into my usual rendition of “The Summer Knows” that I usually play on the alto saxophone sound clips I record. When I listened back to the recording, I really thought that the tone sounded incredibly beautiful to me. I’m playing at a soft volume but the tone is still full, round and rich. I must have listened back to that one section about 20x so far. There is something about that section of the clip that I can’t put my finger on that makes me really love it!
The high end of the horn had a bit more brightness to the tone but the tone was still what I consider warm and round. At a couple of places in the sound clips I go up into the palm keys and the altissimo and the Celebration played really nicely up in that top range of the saxophone. You can ,of course, also add some brightness and edge to the tone by manipulating your embouchure and air stream if you choose like I have done in the sound clips below. The 10mFan Celebration mouthpiece offers you a variety of tone palettes to choose from as you play around with it and discover what it can do.
At one point in the first sound clip (2:22-2:37) I play a simple scale up to altissimo G on the tenor saxophone and I was surprised at how easy and effortless the altissimo G popped out for me. I actually repeated the line again on the sound clip to see if it was a fluke and it wasn’t! We all know that that note can be a pain on the saxophone so that is a big bonus when that note plays so effortlessly.
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
The 10mFan Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece played very evenly throughout the range of the tenor saxophone. The rich bottom end transitions smoothly to the second and third registers of the saxophone as smooth as butter.
One aspect of the second register that struck me as I played was that a number of times I jumped up to a middle E, high A, B or C# and those notes didn’t jump out in brightness to me. They were still just as warm and thick as the lower register which I loved. This caught my attention because on many mouthpieces, those upper notes are quite a bit brighter when I jump to them from below. This uniform warmth in the upper register really helps to keep the melodies and lines really even and smooth sounding in my opinion.
The Celebration tenor sax mouthpiece had great intonation that was inline with the usual intonation I encounter on hard rubber Otto Link tenor sax mouthpieces. The articulation was clean and fast. I always run my G major scale in thirds tonguing really fast (1:33 of first clip) on the sound clip to see how the articulation is and the Celebration tenor mouthpiece passed the test with flying colors.
Although the 10mFan Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece has a warmer and darker tone it still has a hefty amount of volume when you push it. In my mind, the 10mFan Celebration is a perfect tenor sax mouthpiece for a jazz gig that is for sure! I am not sure there are enough highs and brightness in the tone to cut through on some of the crazy loud pop gigs out there but in those cases you could throw a higher baffled 10mFan Robusto, Showtime or Chameleon tenor sax mouthpiece in your case for back up.
For your information, Mark Sepinuck at 10mFan mouthpieces has a three category system for his tenor saxophone mouthpieces.
- Category #1 are the warm category mouthpieces which are the Classic model and this Celebration model I am reviewing today.
- Category #2 are the all-around, middle category mouthpieces that offers warmth, fatness, and punch with some sizzle. More sizzle than the category 1 pieces. These include the Robusto and Showtime models
- Category #3 are the very powerful category mouthpiece which is the Chameleon.
I have provided four sound clips below. They are all different. To be honest, I pushed record, started playing and when I was done, I looked at the recording and was shocked that it was 30 minutes long! I was having so much fun playing the Celebration that I didn’t even realize it was 30 minutes!
I posted the parts of the clips that I thought sounded the best and reflected different aspects of what the Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece sounded like and could do.
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10mFan Celebration Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
If you like the sound and look of the 10mfan Celebration hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece, you can order one of them from Mark Sepinuck at 10mFan.com. The Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece comes in tip openings of 6*,7,7*,7**,8 and 8*.
If you have any questions about the Celebration model or any of the other 10mFan mouthpieces, you can also contact Mark Sepinuck through his website. Mark Sepinuck is a treasure trove of information about saxophone mouthpieces so if you end up on the phone with him, don’t be surprised if you end up talking about sax mouthpieces for a couple of hours.
*If you have played or end up playing a 10mFan Celebration tenor saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comment section below this review. Thanks, Steve
*To hear the most detail from these clips it is best to listen to them from a computer with nice audio speakers or headphones rather than from an iPhone or laptop speakers. It makes a world of difference!
10mFan Celebration Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Neff’s Normal Variety of Random Ideas-Lupifaro 3 Reed-No Effects
10mFan Celebration Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-A Little Bit of a Blues in Bb-Lupifaro 3 Reed-No Effects
10mFan Celebration Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-A Little Bit of Everything Happens To Me Melody-Lupifaro 3 Reed-No Effects
10mFan Celebration Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-A Little Bit of Darn that Dream Melody-Lupifaro 3 Reed-No Effects
10mFan Celebration Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece-Same Blues Track as Above with some Added Reverb-Lupifaro 3 Reed-Added Reverb
Disclosure: I received the sample mouthpiece reviewed above for free in the hope that I would try it and perhaps review it on my blog. Regardless, I only review sax mouthpieces that I enjoy playing and believe will be good for other saxophone players to try also. Steve
