What is the HR* CUSTOM DARK Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece?

“In designing the HR* CUSTOM DARK Soprano, I played many of the classic Jazz soprano mouthpieces, but I couldn’t find anything with the warmth and darkness that I was seeking. Many of the great Jazz soprano players have a brighter sound than I wanted for this piece. The closest sound model I was going for is Branford Marsalis’ sound. After testing this new piece on many gigs, I knew that I had found the sound I was after.” – Jody Espina

The HR* CUSTOM DARK Series is JJ's premium line of hard rubber saxophone mouthpieces, where the goal was to make the most beautiful sounding and playing pieces that they possibly could. As Soprano saxophone players, we know there are often a lot of unpleasant highs in the sound, especially on the higher notes. With the HR* CUSTOM DARK Soprano, JJ retained the fun of playing a great Soprano mouthpiece while taking all the unpleasant highs off.  To achieve this goal, Jody started with the finest material used in hard rubber mouthpieces today, which is their proprietary Chedeville® Rubber. CHR (Chedeville Rubber) is a softer purer formula than regular standard hard rubber. This rubber imparts a rich warm sound.

The large round chamber and bore to give it this mellow, warm, beautiful sound.

The thick heavy gold plated brass band on the shank boosts the amount of harmonics in the sound.

The facing curve and baffle on the HR* CUSTOM DARK are what truly make the mouthpiece a joy to play. JJ has applied their twenty years of making mouthpieces on these two key components of a mouthpiece, with a combination of science, technology and old fashioned made by hand craftsmanship.