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There are a lot of very strong mouthpieces in Vandoren's huge, and slightly confusing, range. The V16 ebonite is a real winner on alto. Very much in the spirit of vintage Meyers this is the kind of mouthpiece which I'd associate with the purer, sweeter toned end of the jazz spectrum. There's a clean, responsive feel to playing on the V16, together with just a bit of edge to the tone to cut through in live situations. Don't be put off by the confusing numbering conventions (at worst, vandoren.com has a very useful tip comparison chart), these are all in the middle 5* through to 8 range (using Link's system), even the widest model- the A9- is a relatively free blowing, easy to play 'piece."There are a few mouthpieces which seem perfectly optimized for specific sizes of horn, for example- metal Otto Links always seem to sound good on any tenor etc. For alto the V16 is one of these, they simply work well. Following a fairly similar design philosophy to Meyers, these 'pieces aim for a clean, pure, relatively bright tone ideal for jazz or popular music. Flexible, easily controllable, and the superior quality control that Vandoren seem to bring to all their mouthpieces." jules@sax.co.uk
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