What Is the HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece?
The HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor is our premium line of hard rubber saxophone mouthpieces, where the goal is to make the most beautiful sounding and playing piece that we possibly can. In order to achieve this goal we started with the finest material used in hard rubber mouthpieces today, which is our proprietary Chedeville® Rubber. CHR (Chedeville Rubber) is a softer purer formula than regular standard hard rubber. This rubber imparts a rich warm sound.
Next we created a design that includes rounded sidewalls that add complexity or what I call ”moonglow”, on top of the core sound.
A large round chamber puts the timbre in a warm honey zone and the inspired addition of a thick heavy gold plated brass band on the shank boosts the amount of harmonics in the sound.
The two most important parts of a saxophone mouthpiece in my opinion are first, the facing curve and second the baffle. We have applied our twenty years of making mouthpieces on these two areas, which results in a mouthpiece that I have fallen in love with.
Thanks for reading the description of this mouthpiece. Now all we need is for you to try it and see what you think.
Jody Espina – Designer, Founder and President – JodyJazz
JodyJazz HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor Sax Mouthpiece Price: $395
The mouthpiece comes with a deluxe mouthpiece pouch and Free Domestic Shipping (USPS Priority Mail). For different shipping options and for Overseas Shipping Prices click the “Buy Now” button and fill in your address. You will be able to see your options and pricing before you actually have to buy the item.
$395.00
JODYJAZZ ARTIST TESTIMONIALS
“My JodyJazz mouthpiece is the perfect catalyst of all the nuances in my personal sound. It is a provider of depth and warmth. It has the perfect resistance, yet it still comes with a broad openness and plethora of overtones. It is the perfect tool in my quest for my ideal sound. It has been a solid companion for years and years, both in a studio situation and on the road. I hold it to very high standards.”
“Jody Espina has knocked it out of the park again with the new HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor mouthpiece. After establishing a stellar classical saxophone mouthpiece division using his proprietary CHR Chedeville rubber, he has now used the rubber for a jazz tenor saxophone mouthpiece for the first time. When played softly, it reminds me strongly of the sound of Stan Getz. John Coltrane said “Let’s face it–we’d all sound like that if we could,” and who are we to argue with Trane? When you go for it in a big band or commercial setting, it will stand up to the brass and amplified instruments as well as any mouthpiece out there. I don’t know of any other mouthpiece that can inhabit both those worlds so well. The Chedeville classical mouthpieces Jody designed have made a clean sweep on my Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone, and I told him the HR* CUSTOM DARKS will do the same for my jazz setups. Bravo, Jody, and keep ’em coming!” “The JodyJazz HR* Soprano 5* mouthpiece allows for the rich warm tonal center that pleases me on all single reed mouthpieces, and just adds that slight edge that allows us to cut through the brass when playing with large ensembles. In my opinion the Soprano should never be strident and should have a contained ringing tone (like ALL musical instruments, including the human voice.) The JodyJazz HR* allows for that with great intonation, and can also provide incredible projection. The key to projection is tone, and it is also the key to “in-tone-ation!” All of Jody’s mouthpieces provide a great big tone, and the HR* line can also provide gentleness and beauty.” “The JodyJazz POWER RING is a work of genius. The heavy mass of the ligature lends incredibly rich resonance to the tone, while the limited contact points allow for great life in the sound and terrific ease of articulation. I own over a hundred excellent ligatures, and the POWER RING blows them all away. These are not just for jazz… they are also beautiful classical ligatures with the most resonant core sound you’ve ever heard for soloists, large ensemble, and chamber players.”
“I was really impressed with the new HR* Custom Dark Tenor 8*. Its sound is really smooth and it is possible to change intonation according to the energy of my playing. It is an extremely fair and homogeneous mouthpiece. It goes where I want to go, that’s the most important thing to me! For a young musician this may be the time to take a sound color term to the next level. I recommend it to all my students because it brings more confidence. On soprano, the HR 7* model allowed me to find smooth listening and playing sensations – in the studio, these accuracies make the big difference.”
MAGAZINE REVIEWS
Jody Espina plays the JodyJazz HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor Mouthpiece
Noah Preminger plays the JodyJazz HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor 10*
Arnie Krakowsky plays the JodyJazz HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor Mouthpiece
What Does The HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor Do?
- Beautiful Warm Spread Tone
- Free Blowing
- Reed Friendly
- Player Can Shape their Sound
- Huge Bottom End with Power on Top When Needed
- Traditional Jazz Sound
- Inspires You to Take Your Sound to the Next Level
How Does The HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor Do It?
- Proprietary Chedeville Hard Rubber Formula
- Large Round Chamber
- Curved Undercut Sidewalls
- Heavy Solid Gold Plated Brass Ring on Shank
- CNC Machined From Solid Bar Stock
- Expertly Hand Finished Baffle, Tip Rail and Table
- Unparalleled Quality Control
- Play tested by Jody Espina
Do you need a facing comparison chart?
CLICK HERE to compare JodyJazz mouthpieces with other brands.
JodyJazz HR* CUSTOM DARK Alto Sax Mouthpiece Available Tip Openings
- 5* = .085
- 6* = .095
- 7 = .100
- 7* = .105
- 8 = .110
- 8* = .115
- 9* = .125
- 10* = .135
Does Not Include Ligature
This mouthpiece does not come with a ligature. Your current ligature (if you have a hard rubber mouthpiece) should fit this mouthpiece, but for upgrades on the ligature you can look here at our POWER RING® Ligatures. The POWER RING HRT1 Gold and HRT1S Silver models are made specifically for this mouthpiece. You can also look here at our H-Ligature options as well.
Upgrade to a POWER RING® Ligature
You will love the simplicity, beauty, and effectiveness of the POWER RING Ligature. The POWER RING provides both a significant improvement in performance and greatly enhanced visual appeal. The POWER RING features a concave inner design, which reduces the touch points on the reed, thereby maximizing reed vibration. There are no moving or added parts, thereby increasing the efficiency of vibration. The increased mass and greater wall thickness of the new POWER RING Ligature, together with its more contoured shape, provides a more solid contact with the reed at the points where they touch. This allows the most freedom and vibration of the reed, which in turn also increases the amount of harmonics present, allowing the fullest saxophone sound containing high, mid, and low frequencies.
A Story From Jody
Playing this mouthpiece is as comfortable as putting on a pair of broken in dress shoes as opposed to a brand new pair of dress shoes. What I mean by that is that when you play some mouthpieces it feels like your air and throat are being constrained but when you play the HR* CUSTOM DARK it feels like you are being welcomed into the piece where your air and throat can be comfortable and do whatever they want.
I want to share a funny story about this tenor sax mouthpiece. During the prototype phase which can typically last from six to twelve months, there was a day when I was sitting in the show room playing the latest versions of the of the HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor. I agonize over these pieces and how bright or dark they are or how free blowing they are or how much resistance they have.
So I was sitting at the bar in our showroom and I had the 4 or 5 latest prototypes of the HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor in front of me. There was also a display tray of POWER RING ligatures on the bar. As I contemplated which prototype was playing with the right amount of brightness and darkness, I was looking at those POWER RINGs and I looked at the shank of the mouthpiece and a Soprano POWER RING. I took the soprano POWER RING and I was able to jam it on the end of the shank. When I played the mouthpiece I instantly noticed that the mouthpiece had more harmonics in the sound the same way the POWER RING ligature adds harmonics to the sound of the mouthpiece. Of course we then designed a ring to fit perfectly on the shank of the HR* CUSTOM DARK Tenor.