WW Review Product Blog
How does these products stack up against the competition in todays market?
Vandoren V16 T8 HR Tenor Mouthpiece
This mouthpiece offers a diverse array of colors, that allow the user to shape their sound into the various ensembles they would use the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece offers a full body sound with a focus to the sound, with the ability to offer a variety of colors and timbres due to the large chamber of the mouthpiece. This would be a great mouthpiece that could be used all the way from playing lead tenor in a jazz orchestra, to jazz combos, all the way to rock and cover bands, as well as a solid contender for the marching band field.
This mouthpiece provides a massive warm-dark sound with a solid center to the pitch, offering musicians the ability to project where it is needed, while offering a full body sound behind it.
Audio
Jody Jazz HR 7M Alto
The Jody Jazz HR is a very flexible mouthpiece. My experience with the mouthpiece over the last 3 years has offered me an interesting insight to how this particular mouthpiece compares to other medium-large chamber hard rubber mouthpieces.
The JJ HR 7M provides a very warm/dark sound, that when given the right air support behind it, offers a full bodied beam of projection to the audience. I have found that this is a mouthpiece, that you do not have to hold back with in terms of putting air through it, in fact, I would argue this mouthpiece lives for that. I chose this mouthpiece, less so for how it plays in the bottom end of the horn, but for the way it sounded within the top end of the horn, all the way into the altissimo register. That is where the full body and warmth of this mouthpiece really shine. When I chose to play anything above a high A, climbing into the left-hand palms and altissimo range, the Jody Jazz HR maintains a warm, round sound that does not feel or sound shrill, bright, or overly piercing to the ears. This is especially important for the Alto saxophone, because the tessitura of the instrument up that high has the ability to be very bright naturally, due to its highness, so the Jody Jazz HR is a great choice to offer saxophonists the ability to play up high with the projection they wish for, without sacrificing their timbre up there.
The only draw back is that it can cause the bottom end to come out a little "tubby" sounding, but with longtones and time, this mouthpiece can offer a well bodied sound with a focused spread to the sound.
What does it sound like?!
Selmer Mark VII Tenor Saxophone
The Selmer Mark VII is a very underrated horn in the vintage market. The Mark VII was innovated with the help of Marcel Mule, one of the most important saxophone pedagogues of the 20th century. Mule helped with the redesign of the key work from it's more successful predecessor the Mark VI, offering more comfortable key work in the pinky tables, as well as some minor adjustment to the placement of the palm and trill keys on the instrument.
The Selmer Mark VII offers exceptional tone and intonation, much of the praised characteristics of these Paris, France Horns. I found for me personally, that I actually liked the key work on the Mark VII. As someone who plays a Yamaha Custom EX, I found the Pinky Tables of the Mark VII to be very comfortable.
I found the overall intonation, timbre, and playability to be very similar of that to the Mark VI, as well as The Super Action Series ii, which while those horns feature even more modern key work compared to the Mark VI or VII, what can be noted about these Paris built saxophones, are that they are known for their exceptional tone quality that only a Selmer can produce.
The bore of the neck in the Mark VII is certainly a bit smaller than that vintage Kings or Conns, but the horn still has a well sized bore, which allows for quick response, even tone throughout the instrument, even into the altissimo register, and solid intonation throughout the horn.
These horns are certainly extremely underrated within the vintage market, and if you can find one in good condition, it is almost certainly worth the purchase, and you will certainly be able to save a few thousand buying one of these over the more popular Mark VI SBA tenors, but you will still get a high quality product that lives up to the Paris Selmer Name.
How does the Mark VII sound?!
Yamaha Custom EX-BL Alto
The Yamaha Custom EX Black Lacquer Alto is a beautiful work of art. When the Custom EX first came out, it was marketed as an all around horn, eventually being touted as one of the best classical saxophones on the market. Now in 2025, these horns are being re-marketed as they first were, which is that this instrument was designed to play any kind of music. Yamaha has also redesigned their Custom Z's marketing to fit the same model. They market the differences in the builds of the two instruments. The Custom EX features larger, more comfortable key work in the pinky tables, where as the Custom Z features more compact keys similar to the Selmer Super Action Series ii/iii or the Selmer Supreme. The EX also features flared out side keys on the right hand and thoughtfully placed palm keys in the left hand.
I remember being in the saxophone shop and tried every single saxophone in the shop, including several competitors to the EX, including the Custom Z, Yanigasawa AW037, Selmer Supreme, 70,xxx Mark VI Alto. After spending hours trying out instruments, I found myself coming back to the Yamaha Custom EX, I liked how it felt and played compared to the other choices for me.
I find that the EX delivers a wide variety of tonal colors no matter if you are playing classical, jazz, or contemporary music. The Custom EX is able to fit well into any ensemble you chose to play it in.
This instrument is incredibly free blowing with a complex, deep full bodied sound, that has the ability to find focus, while leaving the haunting and alluring textures in the body of the sound, keeping you hooked as a listener.
Something else that is quite interesting is that the Black Lacquer darkens the sound from the standard brass version of this instrument, thus adding even more richness into the overall tonal capacity the Custom EX provides. The saxophone dealer told me when purchasing my Custom Ex, the Black Lacquer Ex's are actually currently quite rare in the United States due to the supply and demand of them, and they are likely to become more rare for the next several years, as we are facing shortages from imports due to tariffs and raised prices. Of course, there is also the unicorn sister to the black lacquer, with a very rare white lacquer variant of the EX, which are almost impossible to get your hands on in comparison to the black-lacquered EX.
I will offer a separate review of the Custom V1 Solid Sterling Silver Neck Yamaha produces, but I did purchase one to use with my Custom EX, and I have attributed it similarly to the metaphor of the owner of a Dodge Hellcat. Having the Solid Silver V1 neck is like owning the red key of the Hellcat, which opens the Custom EX up into it's fullest potential tonally and musically.
I truly find that with the Custom EX, you are able to perform and play any music you wish, giving the artist full freedom to create the sounds they want as they are playing.
