Today, I am reviewing the Drake Master Series David Sanborn 7 (.085 tip opening) and the 8 (.090 tip opening) alto saxophone mouthpieces made by Aaron Drake at Drake mouthpieces. If you are a David Sanborn fan and play the alto saxophone, you can’t help but be interested in an alto saxophone mouthpiece with David Sanborn’s name on it and approved by David Sanborn.
I remember listening to Dave Sanborn when I was a teenager and I had no idea what to make of his unique alto saxophone sound. The first David Sanborn album I owned in high school was entitled “Voyeur”. I remember bringing it home, putting it on my father’s turntable and listening to “Let’s Just Say Goodbye”. I immediately loved the groove and modern sound of it but the alto sax didn’t even sound like a saxophone to me. It sounded so bright, edgy and strange to my young ears. I had certainly never heard an alto saxophone sound like that in my middle school band, that is for sure! Even now, as I write this review, I am listening to “Let’s Just Say Goodbye” and I feel like I’m still that 15 year old kid listening to it for the very first time.
Needless to say, as I played more and more in high school, I found learning some of David Sanborn’s signature lines and phrases as well as being able to lean towards his unique alto saxophone sound incredibly helpful in many playing situations where a polite alto saxophone tone would just not cut it.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Here’s a little bit about what Aaron Drake says about working with David Sanborn on the David Sanborn Master Series alto saxophone mouthpieces from the Drake website:
In 2013, David invited me to meet after his concert in San Antonio Texas. David expressed his need for a mouthpiece that could replace the mouthpiece he played for many years. From this initial meeting I began making prototype mouthpieces for David to try, and within several months we landed on a design that David liked. Not only liked, but a mouthpiece that could be his number one piece. In 2014, Dave switched and began playing exclusively on his Drake mouthpiece. Several years have passed since then, and now David and I have decided to offer this mouthpiece as the David Sanborn model.
A conversation between David and Aaron about the Drake David Sanborn alto saxophone mouthpiece. (notice how far back that ligature is….)
The Drake David Sanborn model alto saxophone mouthpieces I am reviewing today are made from brass and are plated with sterling silver. Aaron Drake also makes a David Sanborn model in vintage resin but I don’t have one of those to review today.
Aaron Drake has kindly sent me two David Sanborn alto sax mouthpieces as I was unsure of what tip opening I would feel comfortable on. Aaron sent me a 7 tip opening which is a .085 tip opening and an 8 tip opening which is a .090 tip opening. These tip opening are slightly larger than I am used to as I don’t usually like alto sax mouthpieces with tip openings larger than .080. I do, however, like both of these David Sanborn model alto sax mouthpieces and find them comfortable and easy to play. The high baffles in these mouthpieces make the larger tip openings feel smaller and more comfortable to me. Honestly, they don’t feel any more open that what I am used to on the alto saxophone.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Here is what Aaron Drake says about the David Sanborn alto saxophone mouthpiece from the Drake website:
Each Sanborn Signature mouthpiece is precision-milled from virgin brass rod stock, then extensively hand-worked and finished by Aaron Drake. Aaron’s dedication to his craft and attention to detail ensure that each mouthpiece is an exact reproduction of David Sanborn’s own. The result is the harmonious combination of a rich core sound, with a precise, instant attack and; ultimate projection. David calls this moment and quality “the point”. This is the pure impact of the sound before rippling into space.
The mouthpieces are plated in sterling silver for an elegant, satin-like finish.
Each Sanborn model mouthpiece is precision-milled and meticulously hand-finished to be an exact reproduction of David’s own Drake mouthpiece, which he has been performing exclusively with since 2014.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 8 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Design
This Aaron Drake design was accomplished in direct consultation with David Sanborn, and influenced by several of Drake’s earlier designs. It is also inspired by some of Sanborn’s most beloved vintage mouthpieces. The result is a mouthpiece that helped to write the next chapter in Sanborn’s sound, and can now help you write your own story.
Process
Each piece is hand-crafted. After milling, there is extensive hand work on the blank. The chamber, baffle and facing are all hand worked and finished to exacting tolerances. The result is a mouthpiece that offers total consistency with impeccable artistry.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 8 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Specifics
The Sanborn model incorporates a three-tiered baffle design with a medium, Venturi chamber. It is available in three tip-openings: 6 (.080″), 7 (.085″) and 8 (.090″). All of the mouthpiece and baffle contour ratios are adjusted for each tip opening to ensure total consistency in feel.
David Sanborn personally plays the number 8 tip opening.
Sound
The mouthpiece features a very immediate response and precise attack, with just the right amount of resistance to develop rich tonal color and allow total freedom of expression. It is exceptionally free blowing and allows the player to employ a complete range of dynamics, from the bottom to the top of the instrument. It is a powerful, projective mouthpiece, with impeccable intonation and a lush core sound. The full, rich sound presented by the Drake Sanborn Signature mouthpiece far surpasses that of other high-baffle, “power mouthpieces”.
Each mouthpiece has a satin finished that is sterling silver plated and engraved with a unique serial number. Limited Production. Includes the Drake “Quad-Point” ligature, Drake Cap, Rovner Ligature, Velvet pouch, and Carry Case
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
The Drake David Sanborn model alto saxophone mouthpieces came well packaged and protected. Each mouthpiece came in a velvet bag that was within a sturdy heavy duty thick plastic container that is built to withstand crushing by a clumsy delivery person.
The mouthpieces looked immaculate right out of the box. The sterling silver plated brass was shiny and perfect in every way. The table and baffle of the mouthpieces were so perfect and reflective they almost looked like a mirror. The table, tip, rails, baffle and chamber of each mouthpiece looked perfect. In fact, the mouthpieces both looked so perfect that I was nervous about trying them and getting marks on them!
Each mouthpiece has David Sanborn’s signature engraved on one side and “Drake” engraved on the other side. The Drake logo is engraved on the top of each mouthpiece. The tip opening number is engraved by hand on the bottom of the shank of each mouthpiece.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
The Drake David Sanborn Master Series alto saxophone mouthpieces looked great as I examined them while writing this review. The tables looks flat and smooth with not a mark on them. The side rails and tip rails are thin and look to be perfectly even to my eyes.
The baffle of each mouthpiece is a flat baffle that is about 7/8’s of an inch long when I measure it with a ruler. I would call this a high baffle as it is one of the highest and longest alto sax baffles I have seen. The end of the baffle has a slight curve to the baffle’s perimeter edge before it drops down to the bottom of the chamber. The descent to the bottom of the chamber has a side to side curve in the floor. The side walls look to be straight with no scooping or curve to them.
The Drake David Sanborn mouthpiece chamber looks to be somewhat oblong shaped in that it looks a little bit higher in diameter than it is wide. The chamber opening is smaller than the bore size and opens up into the bore at the end of the chamber. I would call this a small chambered alto saxophone mouthpiece although Aaron Drake describes it as a medium chamber in his description of the mouthpiece.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
The Drake David Sanborn Master Series alto sax mouthpieces came with two ligatures.
One is called a Drake Quad Point Ligature and the other was a Rovner Light Ligature. Here are some details on the Quad-Point ligature from the Drake website:
The Drake “Quad Point” ligature is custom designed for the new David Sanborn mouthpiece to sit near the end of the table, Dave’s signature placement. This ligature position allows full reed fiber activation and maximizes resonance and responsiveness. The Quad Point refers to 4 touch points on the reed. Tested and approved by David Sanborn.
The Quad Point Ligature only holds the reed on the four outside corners where the reed touches the ligature. The Quad Point ligature slides over the reed and mouthpiece and you push it as far back as you can. This ligature holds the reed back towards the rear of the reed and the Drake website describes this positioning of the ligature to be David Sanborn’s preference for ligature placement.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series Quad-Point Alto Saxophone Ligature
I personally felt that the Quad Point ligature was a bit brighter, more free-blowing and more lively when I compared it to the Rovner Light ligature that also came with the mouthpieces.
I chose to record the sound clip below with the Rovner Light ligature just because I like the flexibility of being able to adjust the ligature placement on the reed. The one negative to the Drake Quad-Point ligature is that the ligature placement can not be adjusted.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
The Drake David Sanborn 7 and 8 alto saxophone mouthpieces played great with Roberto’s Winds alto saxophone reeds. The mouthpiece with the 7 tip opening played best with the Roberto’s 2 1/2 hard alto sax reeds as well as the 3 soft alto sax reeds. The mouthpiece with the 8 tip opening played best with Roberto’s 2 1/2 medium and the 2 1/2 hard alto saxophone reeds.
I haven’t tried any other brands of reeds on these mouthpieces as of yet just because the Roberto’s reeds worked so well on these two mouthpieces. Judging from how easy it was to find a great playing reed for these two mouthpieces, I suspect that Aaron has made these mouthpiece to be very reed friendly.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
As you would expect, the tone of the Drake David Sanborn alto saxophone mouthpieces are bright, edgy and focused. The 7 and 8 tip openings both have that “Sanborn” type of quality to the sound but there are differences in tone as you can hear in my sound clips below. I would describe the tone as having a bright metallic edge to the sound that is a trademark of David Sanborn’s sound.
The 7 tip opening alto mouthpiece was closer for me to that classic “Sanborn” sound from the eighties that I grew up listening to (Think “Voyeur” and “Straight to the Heart”). The tone had more of that kind of hollow metallic edge and brightness to the tone that I associate with David Sanborn’s sound.
The 8 tip opening mouthpiece had a more rounded and fat tone in my opinion. I found the rounded fatness of the tone to be prettier than the 7 tip opening which for me had a more metallic edge to the tone. I found this especially true up in the palm keys where the notes on the 8 tip opening sounded more round and fat in comparison to the palm keys on the 7 tip opening that sounded more edgy and bright. That being said, I could easily morph into more of that “Sanborn” edge on the 8 tip opening David Sanborn mouthpiece when needed as you can hear on the recordings below.
After playing both mouthpieces for a few weeks, I was left with the impression that, for me, the 7 tip opening was locked into that trademark “Sanborn” sound. When I blew into the 7 tip opening, the Sanborn brightness and edge is what I heard coming out with very little manipulation or work having to be done by me.
The 8 tip opening seemed more flexible to me because of that rounded fatness of tone. When I blew into the 8 tip opening I naturally got that round fat bright tone but it wasn’t just “all” Sanborn. I found that I could manipulate this tone to get to the “Sanborn” sound though which makes me think of this tip opening as being more versatile for me. That being said, I am having a really hard time deciding which tone is better or worse. Listen to the clips below and let me know what you think!
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
I have recorded a sound clip for each of the mouthpieces so that you can hear the differences between the two mouthpieces. There is a “dry” version of each sound clip which means there is no reverb added to the recording. All you hear in these sound clips are the sound and reverb from the room I recorded in. I did record these clips in a barn near my house just because I had company in my house and it was hard to find time to record. The barn has more natural reverb in the room than my house does.
I also included the same clips with added reverb as well so you can hear what these mouthpieces sound like with extra reverb added. The Drake David Sanborn 7 mouthpiece seemed to sound better with the reverb set around 5 1/2 and the Drake David Sanborn 8 seemed to sound better with the reverb set at 4. I think this is because the 7 tip opening has a more strident David Sanborn type of sound and needed some more reverb to fatten up the edgy brightness.
The David Sanborn 8 alto mouthpiece had a fatter tone to the sound so I don’t think this mouthpiece needed as much reverb added as the 7 tip opening did.
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
As mentioned above, the Drake David Sanborn 7 alto saxophone mouthpiece had a more typical “David Sanborn” type of sound for me. I did feel like this mouthpiece did have more resistance in the way it blew than the 8 tip opening mouthpiece did. You are basically pushing a whole lot of air into a small opening between the reed and the mouthpiece baffle and small chamber. I actually believe that this type of resistance is probably needed to get that David Sanborn sound to a certain extent but that is just my opinion. Every David Sanborn video I have seen, and every sax player I have seen who sounds like David Sanborn, all look like they are working pretty hard to get that “Sanborn” trademark alto saxophone sound that is for sure.
That classic “breaking” of the note, that is so typical of David Sanborn’s playing, comes from over-blowing the note and requires some resistance to blow against so that you can over-blow the note to get the tone to “break”. (You can hear this effect at the :21 and :43 mark of the second sound clip below)
The 8 tip opening seemed to have less resistance and I could get more volume out of the larger tip opening as I could blow more air through that slightly larger gap. The notes seemed rounded and as I described earlier, prettier to me.
The intonation on both mouthpieces was surprisingly good. I actually anticipated these mouthpieces being quite sharp because of the high baffles and was surprised that the intonation was much closer to “0” on the tuner than I thought it would be.
Honestly, I had a really hard time deciding which of these two Drake David Sanborn alto saxophone mouthpieces I liked more. There were different qualities of each mouthpiece that I really loved which make it really hard to decide which mouthpiece to keep and which to send back. I’m hoping that some of you who listen to the clips can let me know what you think in the comments below and help me decide which mouthpiece to keep…….
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
If you like the sound and look of the Drake Master Series David Sanborn model alto saxophone mouthpiece by Aaron Drake, you can find them at the Drake website. These mouthpieces come in sterling silver plated brass like the ones I have reviewed here but they also some in vintage resin which is a material unique to Drake mouthpieces I believe. Here’s a quote from David Sanborn about the vintage resin mouthpieces:
“This new Vintage Resin really feels like home to me. It is an extraordinary mouthpiece, with full spectrum tone. The intonation is incredibly precise. It is like nothing I’ve played before. It is incredibly free-blowing and full. A joy to play.”-David Sanborn
If you have played or end up playing a Drake Master Series David Sanborn model alto saxophone mouthpiece or have any other thoughts or comments about this review, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
PS. If you have a preference between the 7 and 8 tip opening sound clips below please let me know in the comments below. If you can explain what you like more and why, that will help me decide which mouthpiece I should keep. I appreciate any opinions you would like to share………..
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review-Roberto’s Winds 2 1/2 Hard Alto Saxophone Reed-Dry Recording with No Reverb
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 8 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review-Roberto’s Winds 2 1/2 Medium Alto Saxophone Reed-Dry Recording with No Reverb
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review-Roberto’s Winds 2 1/2 Hard Alto Saxophone Reed-Reverb Added
Drake David Sanborn Master Series 8 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review-Roberto’s Winds 2 1/2 Medium Alto Saxophone Reed-Reverb Added
You sound great on both. The 7 does seem a little brighter and goes to the Sanborn edge for you. Each piece has all the colors you want to come out of them. You sound like you on a great, high baffle mouthpiece.
Thanks for the feedback Roberto! That was basically what I was thinking as well………
I much prefer the more open and rich sound of the 8, but I’m a NY Meyer guy. The 7 sounds restricted to me, like you’re stuck on a track and can’t veer off but I will say it benefited greatly from the reverb. Enjoy your reviews!
They both are great. I understand the difficulty of making a choice. I would want both! For me the 7 really has the essence of the “to the bone” attitude. It is immediately in your face soul/funk. The 8 is probably more flexible. Dave probably likes it because he has a wider pallet to choose from. And let us not forget, Dave can play some burning straight ahead. I know because I have played with him!
Hi Steve,
I think you sound a bit less bright on the 8.
I also have a Sanborn 7 and at first I found it a bit difficult to blow. I asked Aaron Drake which reeds he recommends and he recommended Rigotti 2.5 medium. Since I found on the web that he recommends for all tip openings the same reed I personally think you can get the same sound of the 7 and 8 with the same reed.
What was your impression with trying reeds?
By the way a great review. I really enjoyed reading it.
All the best
Tobias
Tobias, Aaron mentioned the Rigotti Gold 2 1/2 medium to me as well. They worked great for me on the 8 tip opening but I personally found them too soft on the 7 tip opening for my tastes. Steve
I really like your sound on the 8. Full with a little bottom and a bunch of edge. The 7 is good with a little reverb but for my taste the 8 is made for you.
Thanks for the feedback Mike!
keep the eight
I like your tone on the 8 better. I got a Drake metal 7 David Sanborn model and ended up trading it for the vintage resin 7 which worked with various reeds much better. I find that the thin beak type mouthpiece requires a different embouchure than what I use for my high baffle 10mFan Showboat alto sax mouthpiece.
Also, Dave Sanborn’s tone is mischaracterized by many. There is a sweetness to the core that balances his edge. Without those overtones in the sound it’s just bright and nasal rather than soulful. You sounded very good on the 8 and a little too edgy on the 7. I’m trying many reeds on my 7 vintage resin. Mostly 2 to 2.5 strengths. I’m glad you reviewed these mouthpieces. Customer service is over the top there at Drake. It’s really important to them. K
Thanks for the feedback Keith! I made a few changes to your comment. You described your mouthpiece as hr (hard rubber). I don’t believe Drake makes a hard rubber version but it is vintage resin. Hence, I changed your description to say vintage resin instead to avoid confusion. If it is indeed hard rubber please let me know and I can change it back. Steve
Played by you, best the 8.
Giuseppe.
Thanks Giuseppe.
Great review as always and you do sound great on both. Sound is always a personal interpretation and as some have preferred you on the 8, I think you sound better on the 7.
It’s clearly going for David’s sound. That’s what it’s designed to do so if that’s the sound concept you want (just like using a Guardala to sound like Brecker) then go for it. I used a original handmade Guardala MBII on Tenor since the early 90s because of the type of gigs I did needed that vibe. Now, I need something more versatile and found a LAW Buzzer that is more suitable for when I need that extra gear but can still play in more laid back situations. I also use Robertos Reeds… LOVE them and would endorse them if I could.
Bottom line, if you have a specific sound concept in mind and that mouthpiece gives you that, then go for it. If you need to be flexible depending on the gig, then a mouthpiece that’s designed to do one thing is not the way to go. As always, the mouthpiece is only the starting point… you as the player and your embouchure and your other physical attributes play a big part.
Hi Steve,
you‘ve decided to demo a mouthpiece which is clearly meant to be able (in the mouth of the right player) to reproduce Sanborn‘s sound.
Unfortunately you absolutely do not sound like Sanborn on these mouthpiece.
You don’t play anything in the style/ of Sanborn‘s vocabulary. Some bepoppish/ deminished or „tried to be funky licks“ don’t do the job.
Your sound on these pieces could be produced on any mediocre modern alto mouthpiece.
PLEASE take some time to make yourself familiar with Sanborn‘s sound/ phrasing/ vocabulary!!!
Here you find some help:
https://youtu.be/ZIwEm03vrUE
Hi Peter, Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. I do acknowledge that I am not a Sanborn “clone” type of player. The last time I tried to copy David Sanborn was probably around 1984 (high school) He was one of the first modern alto sax player’s I had heard. Even back then I was more invested in figuring out what Charlie Parker was playing but I did enjoy playing along with Sanborn albums and doing my best to copy what he was doing in my own way.
It has been 37 years since then and what you hear are the remnants of what I remember. For the last 30 years, I have played the tenor saxophone almost 100% of the time and have been much more drawn towards the sound of tenor players. My service of mouthpiece reviews is just a way for players to read reviews and hear how I sound like on different mouthpieces. I have reviewed a number of mouthpieces that I say steer me towards a certain sound like Paul Desmond, Kenny Garrett, Michael Brecker and others, but I don’t mean to imply that I am an exact clone of any of these players. At my age of 54, I play the way I like to play and am happy with my sound and playing concept. Hopefully some player’s that are more dedicated to the Sanborn concept and sound will be able to benefit from this review and try out the Drake Sanborn model mouthpiece but this mouthpiece doesn’t lock you into a Sanborn sound as you have pointed out. The player’s own concept is the driving force of the sound and lines. Thanks for visiting the site and offering your opinion. Steve
I learned from a documentary that in Japan, some guitarists who love Jango Rehinardt’s music, and who want to play in his own style, tie some fingers to play like him; in fact Django Reinhardt, who lived in a caravan, lost some fingers in a fire in the caravan.
I might be wrong, but I think copying to the point of tying your fingers together to sound like another musician is embarrassing, to put it mildly.
Giuseppe.
Hi Steve,
first of all, thank you so much for your longtime support in finding a mouthpiece whether for Alto, Tenor or even soprano sax. To hear your sound examples made it much easier for me to find a direction in searching a MP. I bought a Drake D.Sanborn 8 Tip opening some months ago after your first review and I think it is a great versatile high baffle MP. Indeed the projection is astonishing! It was shipped pretty fast , well packed and save in a plastic Box which was not so easy to open… The MP was saved in a pouch with plastic cap and plastic Drake ringlike ligature, which I do not use , because it is a little bit too big for my reeds. It fits only with the final End of my reeds, which is not my favorite position of the ligature. So I use a Rovner star ligature, which is more versatile in positioning and fixing the reed. Playing a MK6 Alto from 1965 which was indeed on the darker side , the mouthpiece changed my sound totally. More edge, more projection, more versatility in phrasing, easy higher register and overtones, very inspiring BUT far away from Davids sound! This is my experience, we all sound unique because of our different embouchure and anatomy. I use the MP now in a Jazz Quartett and I break through indeed, but also a smooth dark and vibrating sound is possible with this MP. The tuning is also astonishing, with other MPs I often had to change my embouchure in the upper and lower register to adjust the pitch, now the tuning is much better and easier. I am using a Legere signature reed and the sound is very stable. I know, many of you do not like plastic reeds, but in a humid and often changing climate the reeds are very stable in reacting and sounding. Wooden reeds are always “working” and changing in my experience. So thank you for your inspiring work! Hope you are staying healthy and keep swinging, Jörg from Switzerland
Beautiful sound. How would you compare this piece to the Beechler Bellites if you have anytime tried?. Thanks
Thanks Tito. I have only tried one Beechler Bellite and I did not care for it at all. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the reasons why……. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.
Thanks Steve for the thoughtful review of the Sanborn mouthpieces. Hearing both the 7 and 8 tip opening tone differences from a seasoned player like yourself make a huge difference for people like me who don’t have the luxury of trying both at the same time.
I personally like the tone you get from the 7, while the 8 definitely has more “throat” to the sound.
I am considering if I will need a slightly harder reed than the 2.5 that you used, but I will definitely experiment a bit.
I’m playing on a 6 (metal) now and love how easy playing it is. Prior to this I was playing on a Dukoff D9 and although I loved it, I’m finding the ease of the Drake a real selling point ? My question is, I’m thinking about getting a tenor (I’ve just been playing my alto for years since my now deceased wife suggested I sell all of my other horns) and want to know your opinion of his tenor mouthpieces and are they as awesome as the alto is.
Yes, I think they are great and just as good as the alto mouthpieces. I think Aaron is an outstanding craftsman and creates great mouthpieces.
I preferred the Brightness of the 7 and I think it would probably suit my playing better as I’m one of those Sanborn clones 😂 not really but he is a major influence of mine.
I agree, I felt like the 7 gave me more of that authentic straight Sanborn sound. My reservation with playing just the 7 is that I think I would have a very hard time not getting a Sanborn sound out of it but I think it is killin’ for nailing that sound……
Hi Steve,
I found the 8 Sanborn to be generally more flexible in the sound. Not just on the brighter side but getting more breathier sounds and going more to a jazzier ambient. Probably the resin model 8 might even take that idea slightly further. A great mouthpiece. And enjoyed your playing. Bravo.
Steve, I prefer you on the 8. Long live Dave! RIP
FWIW, Rovner pronounces their name ROVE-ner.
Thanks, Warren. Dave Sanborn will be missed by many sax players that is for sure!