Mouthpieces Big Announcement from Theo Wanne at NAMM 2026

[JSL]

It felt a little more free-blowing than my Tribute with a slightly brighter voice, and more powerful. If you think of a spectrum between the Tribute and the 10MFan Chameleon, the Florida is right in between, maybe a touch closer to the Tribute.

Thanks Steve. That sounds like a really great mpc! I have both the version 1 Tribute (7*) and the Chameleon (9). Much as I like the Tribute, for most of the playing I do, I prefer the substantially more powerful Chameleon. I suspect I'd really like this TW version of the Florida, but I'm pretty settled on what I have now.

My Chameleon has a 9 tip, so I suspect it plays a bit different that yours. Maybe darker due to the more open tip? One thing I like about the Chameleon is that it does play & feel like a 'super powered' Link, maybe due to its rollover baffle. I also have a 9* ebonite PPT which is brighter and very powerful. I like it a lot, too, but it's a bit different animal. With those mpcs, I haven't been tempted to go for anything else, but now I feel a tiny bit of a tug of temptation.

 

[lig]

Thanks Steve. That sounds like a really great mpc! I have both the version 1 Tribute (7*) and the Chameleon (9). Much as I like the Tribute, for most of the playing I do, I prefer the substantially more powerful Chameleon. I suspect I'd really like this TW version of the Florida, but I'm pretty settled on what I have now.

My Chameleon has a 9 tip, so I suspect it plays a bit different that yours. Maybe darker due to the more open tip? One thing I like about the Chameleon is that it does play & feel like a 'super powered' Link, maybe due to its rollover baffle. I also have a 9* ebonite PPT which is brighter and very powerful. I like it a lot, too, but it's a bit different animal. With those mpcs, I haven't been tempted to go for anything else, but now I feel a tiny bit of a tug of temptation.

At the risk of being blasphemous 🙂 I prefer the Chameleon and Robusto over any Link I've ever played including the Wanne STM and a nice John Van Wie refaced Babbitt.

 

[Nick Wyver]

I imagine I’ll stick with PPTs. 😀

 

[lig]

I imagine I’ll stick with PPTs. 😀

I'd love to try one some day.

 

[Spooner]

Hello friends - Matt Ambrose from Theo Wanne/JJ Babbitt here.

I happened across this discussion and thought I'd take the opportunity to answer some of the questions that I've seen popping up. I wasn't hip to this forum until I saw someone mention it elsewhere, so this will be my first post here.

I've worked with Theo as the computer/programmer/machinist guy from the beginning of Theo Wanne mouthpieces. I started as an aerospace machinist 25 years ago, and have been working with Theo for almost 20 years now. As a player myself and obviously a mouthpiece enthusiast, getting the chance to work with JJ Babbitt and help steward their legacy into the 21st century is an incredibly exciting and humbling experience. I am really grateful for the opportunity.

Some of the questions I saw brought up:

Cost - we have no plans to significantly increase the prices of Links or Meyers.

Identification - how to tell old stock from new era mfg: all of the new pieces will have an engraved serial number that denotes size, and product code (mostly for our own internal tracking). This engraving is not on any of the previous JJ Babbitt pieces, so it will be a very clear identifier.

Designs - These are Otto Link and Meyer designs, not Theo designs. We worked long and hard going through tons of examples of vintage pieces that Theo has in his collection, and worked very closely with our friends in Elkhart, going back through their archives and every single mold and core available to crystalize what we are going to be making into the best renditions of those pieces from history. They all sound and feel like the best Links and Meyers, with each voice as it's own identity, not a "souped up" Link.

Quality - This is one of the biggest changes. Over the last few years, JJ Babbitt has made some great moves to turn their reputation for inconsistent quality around. They focused on process and quality, and started some better documentation and tracking internally. This was made evident by people's reaction to the newer STM V and Florida models--very positive reception and good pieces.

With the technology that they had at the time however, they were only able to take that so far. The craftspeople at JJ Babbitt are extremely dedicated and skilled, but were faced with some real limitations. Now that we are teamed up, we can compliment each other with the things that we each independently do well. By using CNC machines for the super important details of the process (flat tables and perfect facings and baffles), we can guarantee an extremely high level of precision and repeatability. Every single piece is going to play great.

We are also implementing some new quality processes across the board. All of the hard rubber and metal pieces will now be hand-calibrated (just like we do at TW). I hesitate to call it "refacing" or "hand facing" because it requires skill, but not a lot of material removal or adjustment needed. It is however a crucial step in guaranteeing the mouthpiece's quality and playbility. All the staff that works on that portion of the process are being trained for the task by Theo.

I hope that helps clear up some of the questions - I'm super busy getting caught up at the shop after a crazy busy NAMM show, but I'll check back here to see if there are more questions to answer. Please feel free to DM me here, or shoot me an email at " email removed by mod please use DM" as well. Cheers!

 

[Spooner]

Has anyone ever played Theo's more open pieces, like .125" tips and larger? The best workable STM's I played on tenor were in the 5-7* range. Though preferring bigger tip openings, I never found that magic with more open STM's. Just wondering if Theo has anywhere near the magic Ron (RCP) had with bigger tip openings.

Grumps - this is a great question.

I can't speak to what everyone's general consensus is on our bigger tip openings (that will be subjective opinion). I can tell you that we do things a bit differently than most folks do regarding the larger tip sizes. Our models are set up to have the rollover geometry change dynamically--relative to the larger tip openings. Most other makers have their geometry static, and don't really change for the bigger tips. We do our best to optimize that geometry for each different tip opening. It can make a huge difference in tone and response.

Ron Coelho (RPC) was a genius. I have so much respect for him as a mouthpiece maker and pioneer--he really created some magical pieces. His passing was a real loss to the saxophone community.

 

[Grumps]

Grumps - this is a great question.

And thanks for answering it, as I was hoping someone would eventually get to it. Much appreciated. Just wondering also, what sizes will the new tenor mouthpieces go up to? Will the more open pieces have the prior Link geometry or be tweaked more like Theo's other pieces?

 

[Spooner]

And thanks for answering it, as I was hoping someone would eventually get to it. Much appreciated. Just wondering also, what sizes will the new tenor mouthpieces go up to? Will the more open pieces have the prior Link geometry or be tweaked more like Theo's other pieces?

To be completely honest, we're still figuring out the SKU situation. I'm guessing that we will likely stock up to size 9, possibly 10 as well--and anything past that might be a custom order situation. That's just my conjecture at this point though.....we will obviously respond to customer needs.

Regarding the geometry of the larger tip openings - we will definitely be optimizing the tip rollover/baffle for each size. Rollover baffles are a finicky feature and need to be designed and executed extremely well to make a great playing mouthpiece.