Mouthpieces New Aizen Zero Tenor Mouthpiece - GAS attack

[JamesOxford]

Having bought my tenor during lockdown, I haven't experimented with many mouthpieces. Actually just three, D'addario, which I decided I would play for a year before trying any others, so I would have some kind of benchmark. After a year I ordered a 10mfan Merlot as it was on offer and I wanted to try something darker. I really loved the tone from this mouthpiece, although I was struggling a bit on higher notes at first. I then tried a Jody Jazz Custom Dark, which seems beautifully made, but didn't grab me somehow and I preferred the 10mfan.
I then saw reviews of the Aizen LS, which sounded like it might provide the tone I am after; however going on the Aizen website, there was an Aizen Zero listed, which did not have any characteristics mentioned except that it was 'Link-like' and 'the best' tenor mpc from Aizen. I was intrigued and then tried to find out about it, but nowhere on forums did anyone seem to know about it, even Steve Neff kindly replied to me that he hadn't tried it.
Naturally the GAS kicked in and I ordered one. I am now posting, not to review, but to share the pain that I have received it, but don't finish work for a good few hours and probably it will be too late for me to try it by the time I am home; but I will share a photo of it.
It comes beautifully packaged, even using Japanese Washi paper and a sakura patterned pouch. What I can say about it is that it has a high baffle a large chamber, is shorter and has thinner tapering rails than the other pieces.
I don't really have the experience to give a good review of mouthpieces, I'll leave that to others, but I can let you know how I got on with it after a weekend of playing.
I'm hoping it will be 'the one' for a year at least as I near the point of spending more on mouthpieces than on my sax.

 

[Jeanette]

Enjoy, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Jx

 

[JamesOxford]

Enjoy, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Jx

Thanks Jeanette, juggling excitement and worry right now.

 

[ellinas]

Please don't spend more on mouthpieces. This is not a point you oughta reach. This is the point that you undermine your practice and try to buy a sound.

Stick with one that feels better, it's friendly to your embouchure and your sax , and makes you feel better in order to spend more time practicing. Sell all the other ones and benefit from the super powers that you ll get by trying to learn to live with one piece of equipment.

Also don't compare your sound to other people's. When people play with my sax andy mouthpiece sound a whole lot different for many reasons . One of them is their anatomy.

All those mouthpieces are pro grade. You can't go wrong with any of them. Have fun!!!!!!!!! Aizens are among the best out there. I have played their link and their soloist clones they are as good as can be.

 

[Dr G]

Trying to grasp all this: Have you been playing tenor for only a year, and now have 6 mouthpieces?

Have you tried exploring reeds to dial in your sound?

 

[jonf]

Trying to grasp all this: Have you been playing tenor for only a year, and now have 6 mouthpieces?

Four mouthpieces. Still three more than I'd had at that point.

Four good (great?) mouthpieces, pick the one you like the best and stick with it for a good while. I was really lucky and was given a Lawton for my first piece. It was the only piece I had for 20 years or so. I've had a number of others in the last 20 years, including some pretty expensive boutique ones. I currently play a mass market piece, a D'Addario 9 on tenor. Occasionally I get out the old Lawton and give it a blow, and guess what? I sound just like me.

 

[JamesOxford]

Thanks for the replies and er.. concern. Really the point of me posting this was to share knowledge of the Aizen Zero as I have yet to see anyone talk about it. Even Aizen don't have a lot to say about it.

Just to clarify, due to covid I haven't been able to walk into a shop and try mouthpieces.

@ellinas "When people play with my sax andy mouthpiece sound a whole lot different for many reasons . One of them is their anatomy." - Understood that is why I want to try some for myself.
"I have played their link and their soloist clones they are as good as can be." - Good to know, thanks.

@Dr G - Four.. but watch this space. Yes I have experimented with reeds. But never experimented with different mouthpieces.

I wanted to try different mouthpieces, for the experience of trying other mouthpieces and increase my understanding. This seems fine to me. Whatever reviews I read, will not compare to experiencing something for myself.

I had one mouthpiece for a year, the D'addario, truth be told, I'm pretty happy with it and I'll keep it, but wanted to try a darker piece too.
When I tried the 10mfan that change was significant and nearer to the sound I have in my head, naturally I wanted to try other mouthpieces.
Seeing the mouthpieces side by side I can compare their physical characteristics and how it relates to (my) sound and it is fascinating to me. I have no regrets. I was surprised at how much shorter the Aizen was for example.

I do intend to settle on one and sell the others.

Strange but true, I am pretty much a minimalist and have reduced my belongings significantly over the years.
I don't intend to hoard mouthpieces, but I did want to try them. I'm just in the process of selecting which one to use this year.

The total of my musical instruments is:
1 x Tenor Sax
4 x (but will be 2) mouthpieces
2 x Harmonicas

From reading these forums, I'm a lightweight.

 

[Dr G]

Thanks for sharing all that, James.

FWIW, something that I noticed over years of playing dozens of mouthpieces is that once you learn to better control your sound, the more that similar mouthpieces tend to overlap. Sure, one will be a lil’ more of something in one direction than the next, but they are very similar also. One benefit to ”experimenting“ was that once I had a new sound in my head, I could often get that sound from another mouthpiece too - it was like learning a new word, then using it in other contexts.

You may think yourself a lightweight compared to some others, and yes, I am among those that have played many dozens of mouthpieces - over 50 years. I bought my third mouthpiece, an Otto Link STM 7*, after I was already playing in a house big band at a club in New Jersey in the ’70s.

Enjoy the path. I wish you the occasional excellent reed!

(Only “occasional” so you don’t get spoiled and get caught short when a reed starts to fail in the middle of a set on the bandstand, and you don’t know how to compensate for it. Even a poor reed can teach us something.)

 

[ellinas]

Dr G is so right.... To me it feels like that after a certain point your brain chooses one sound. Your sound. And always tries to achieve it matter what your mouthpiece is. The piece that's closest to what's in our head makes us happier

 

[Colin the Bear]

Everything you play teaches you something.
A new piece may give you that certain something you've been lacking. However now you've got it, you know where to look for it on other kit and may find your old piece does it better now you know where to look.
Who you're playing with can have a big effect. Searching for that certain sound might be more about band mates than mouthpiece.
People may sound different on your gear because you're at the other end of the horn. It's not just physiognomy.
I don't move gear on untill I either need the cash or am sure it's not the one.
Minimalist? I so wish.

 

[nigeld]

I'm not minimalist at all. I buy mouthpieces because it's fun to experiment. And I always hope that I will find one that I prefer to my current mouthpiece, and that's fun too. I recently bought a vintage Selmer Soloist alto mouthpiece simply because I have always fancied owning one. It was a lot cheaper than a Jody Jazz that I tried but didn't like much. And it does feel better than my modern Soloist, though only marginally so. I doubt if a listener would notice much difference, but it makes me happy.

The philosophy of sticking rigourously to one mouthpiece is doubtless sound if ones only goal is to become as good a player as possible as soon as possible. But I took up the saxophone much too late to ever become a good player, and my goal is to enjoy the journey.

 

[Jimmymack]

The Zero is strangely elusive on the web. In my occasional searches for mouthpieces I’ve always given up on Aizen as they are described as being dark so have given up as that’s not what I want although I don’t want bright either. The higher baffle on this may be interesting, it’s not that high from the pictures but I look forward to seeing what you make of it. You don’t say what tip opening you generally play and the Aizen is moderately open and it may take a while to match the reed. Good luck and don’t keep us in suspense.

 

[JamesOxford]

@Colin the Bear - that is a good point about not moving gear on. Steve Neff wrote an article to that effect; that going back to pieces he had previously discarded as unplayable often turned out to be pieces that later gave him the sound he wanted.
My minimalism is due to once having to abandon my home 6000 miles away to return to the UK, ever since I have found having a lot of belongings to be troubling, so I don't like to accumulate things. One day I would like to try other saxophones, and get a more professional instrument, keeping the one I have now as a backup, but doubt I would ever own more than two at the same time.

@nigeld - "I buy mouthpieces because it's fun to experiment." Thanks for this, this is very valid. These are the pieces and the nuances of the differences to me is very interesting. I am glad to be able to compare them both physically in my hand and to see how they play (for me). The Aizen seems markedly different in length, but also how thin the rails are, so it will be interesting to see how it compares to play.

@Jimmymack - yes the Zero is elusive. I was expecting someone here to chime in with their thoughts on the piece. A darker piece is what I am looking for thanks, so it may suit me. I am going to spend some time over the weekend playing them all and see how I feel. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[Ballymenaboy]

Best of luck with your new mouthpiece..I have just purchased a new Syos tenor mouthpiece and am really pleased with it.Free ligature supplied and shipped from Paris to Co.Antrim in 15 hrs.

 

[eb424]

TBF I've had a few tenor pieces...Couldn't agree more with Nigeld its fun...but everyone teaches you something you like or don't...

 

[JamesOxford]

Results in: Aizen Zero is the winner and the piece I will stick with for now.

Observations: The Aizen has a smaller beak, both shorter and narrower than the others so initially if felt quite a strange adjustment for my embouchure compared to all the others. Probably a trivial adjustment for those of you that play different flavour saxes, but very noticeable to me. I salute you soprano players.
The Zero is very easy to play top to bottom and I found, for example, doing overtones much cleaner. Gives me hope for cracking altissimo, which is on my list for this year.
Finally, it has a core sound that I think is (not the correct technical adjective maybe) lovely.
Not at all bright, but sings out very clear and resonates in a way which suits me. Actually bloody lovely.
I did give a lot of time to playing each piece before settling, and my summary is this:
D'addario Jazz Select: very versatile, probably better to play in a loud band, I'll keep this for backup.
10Mfan Merlot: this has a great dark sound, but I didn't prefer it in the upper register (also a wider opening than the others).
Jody Jazz Custom Dark: This is very easy to play, beautifully made, would be fine as a main piece, but to me it just didn't have much character.

All in all, it was great to experiment and I feel I have taken a step forward with my sound with the Aizen and with my understanding of mouthpieces. I've passed my GAS (pun intended) and I'm looking forward to getting the most out of my setup for this year.

FYI - mpc is 7star paired with Legere Signature 2.75

 

[Dr G]

Results in: Aizen Zero is the winner and the piece I will stick with for now.

Gonna hold you to that.

Wait, you didn’t say how long “for now” is…. Tricky.

 

[JamesOxford]

At least a year - my accountant under instruction to wrestle me to the ground if he sees me looking at any saxophone gear sites.

In pre-covid times I would have probably just tried mouthpieces in a store. However, I am glad I was able to spend time comparing them at home. As I think I have learned a fair bit and taken a step forward.

This was the problem, evaluating a mouthpiece without taking it out of a sealed tube. I'm not Houdini.

I can't imagine I will want to change the mouthpiece even in a years time, but I'll probably want to try some different makes of horn to get a feel for different ergonomics etc. The mechanics are fascinating for me.

 

[Dr G]

At least a year - my accountant under instruction to wrestle me to the ground if he sees me looking at any saxophone gear sites.

In pre-covid times I would have probably just tried mouthpieces in a store. However, I am glad I was able to spend time comparing them at home. As I think I have learned a fair bit and taken a step forward.

This was the problem, evaluating a mouthpiece without taking it out of a sealed tube. I'm not Houdini.

View attachment 19850
I can't imagine I will want to change the mouthpiece even in a years time, but I'll probably want to try some different makes of horn to get a feel for different ergonomics etc. The mechanics are fascinating for me.

Sorry to see that. That very lack of a trial period is what used to really annoy me about 10mfan’s business practices - and now he is apparently back to it. I hope the reversal in policy is loud and proud at his website.

TRIAL & RETURNS - Mark Sepinuck presents: 10MFAN Saxophone Mouthpieces

Trials and returns for my black German bar stock hard rubber mouthpieces: Unless otherwise listed, I do offer a very generous 10 day trial and return policy for any of my brand new black German bar stock hard rubber 10MFAN mouthpieces purchased in the United States directly from me through my...

10mfan.com

You’re absolutely right - there’s no way to trial a mouthpiece without taking it out of the tube. I hope everyone outside the U.S. reads this before ordering directly from 10mfan.

Did you know the policy before ordering? Did you order it from Mark?

 

[JamesOxford]

Sorry to see that. That very lack of a trial period is what used to really annoy me about 10mfan’s business practices - and now he is apparently back to it. I hope the reversal in policy is loud and proud at his website.

TRIAL & RETURNS - Mark Sepinuck presents: 10MFAN Saxophone Mouthpieces

Trials and returns for my black German bar stock hard rubber mouthpieces: Unless otherwise listed, I do offer a very generous 10 day trial and return policy for any of my brand new black German bar stock hard rubber 10MFAN mouthpieces purchased in the United States directly from me through my...

10mfan.com

You’re absolutely right - there’s no way to trial a mouthpiece without taking it out of the tube. I hope everyone outside the U.S. reads this before ordering directly from 10mfan.

Did you know the policy before ordering? Did you order it from Mark?

It was ordered from a UK shop and it was on offer, as the mouthpiece has been discontinued. Seeing it on offer is what sent me down the rabbit hole of trying mouthpieces.
I never stopped to think the policy was from 10Mfan, as it said hygiene I assumed it was a blanket policy from the shop due to covid. Now you mention it, the sticker may well have been from 10Mfan, not the shop. Whether I sell it or keep it in a drawer to play in two years time I have no regrets as it does have a big dark sound that I like and I will probably be able to handle the upper register better later.