Today, I am reviewing my second hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the Traditional II model and has a 7 tip opening which is .104. ( I call it a 7* tip in the recordings below because .104 is close to the traditional 7* size). I hadn’t heard of Ken Okutsu before but he emailed me asking if I would be willing to try his mouthpieces. I of course said “Sure!” I already reviewed my first Okutsu mouthpiece a few months ago which was a great high baffle model. (High Baffle Model Review)
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Mouthpiece
Here is the description and features from the Okutsu website:
Features
- Traditional II model has long rollover baffle which is higher than traditional model.
- The brighter sound and more versatility.
- Round inner side walls and large round chamber. It makes alive and fat modern sound.
- All mouthpieces are crafted by CNC machinery for incredible accuracy and finished by hand carefully.
- Concave table. It makes the tone full and rich. The practical life span of reeds is lengthened.
- Material is the highest quality ebonite (hard rubber).
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Mouthpiece
The Okutsu mouthpieces are hard rubber and come in a protective plastic case. Within the case they are wrapped in a black velvet bag. I received 3 tenor mouthpieces and one alto mouthpiece from Mr. Okutsu. The tenor mouthpieces are the Traditional model, the Traditional II model and the High Baffle model. I kind of like how simplistic and straight forward the model names are. The Traditional model looks to the darkest, then the Traditional II looks to have a slightly higher rollover baffle. Finally, the High Baffle model has the highest baffle as the name implies.
The mouthpieces look good to my eye. The hard rubber is shiny and without any imperfections. The gold engraving is neat and clean. The rails, tip rail, table and baffle look very well crafted and even.
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Mouthpiece
The Traditional II model was very reed friendly to me. I had no trouble trying different reeds on it and all the reeds passed the suction test when first put on and then later after playing awhile. The Okutsu mouthpieces have a concave table which many player’s and mouthpiece manufactures have preferred over the years. In recent years, it seems like I am getting a lot of mouthpiece with flat tables instead of concave. Now that I’m writing this review, I am curious as to what the differences are between the two table in regard to playability, response and sound……….In the Okutsu bullet points above, the Concave table is listed as making the tone full and rich and increasing the life of reeds………….Interesting!
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Mouthpiece
I thought the Ken Okutsu Traditional II tenor mouthpiece played great. Mr Okutsu did a great job in creating a mouthpiece that has a bit of that high baffle edge and brightness mixed with a tone that can be used for more laid back straight ahead playing.
The Okutsu Traditional II model had a nice focused core to the sound. I would say the tone was in the middle of the dark to bright. If you blew hard it got brighter, if you laid back it got darker. The tone was smooth and consistent from note to note throughout the range of the horn.
The intonation was great and I felt comfortable playing the Tradition bII from the first try. I feel like the tone of these mouthpieces has a vibrant brassy kind of ring to it which I really liked in the higher register and the altissimo notes.
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Mouthpiece
The Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece was great to play. This Okutsu mouthpiece is a good choice for players who want the best of both worlds. It’s not as bright as the Okutsu High Baffle mouthpiece I reviewed earlier but it has plenty of guts and power when you blow hard. Lay back just a bit and it gets more Linkish sounding to my ears.
If you like the sound of the clip below and the mouthpiece catches your interest then please contact Ken Okutsu and give it a try. You can contact Mr. Okutsu at his website at Okutsumouthpieces.com. Tell him Steve sent you………….Great work Mr. Okutsu!!
Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Mouthpiece
