Recently I was asked to double on alto saxophone for performances of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition; I am usually bassoon III/contrabassoon. I hadn't played any saxophone for several years, alto saxophone in even longer and all that the orchestra could afford to rent for me was a band instrument from the local music store. So, I purchased the S80 C* mouthpiece and a Rovner ligature and was extremely impressed that using the exact same reeds (Vandoren #3, regular purple box) the instrument went from sounding like the local middle school marching band to something I could actually play symphonically. No, it didn't magically make it into a Selmer Mark VI, but everyone in the woodwind section and the conductor noticed immediately. The saxophone is getting returned to the store when the rental is up, but I'm keeping the mouthpiece for the next time I need to double!

The C* is still the best classical sax mouthpiece. If you are playing anything from solo works to concert band music this is the sound you want. The sound is full-bodied and slightly dark. If you own only one classical mouthpiece make it this one. Incidentally, as with any mouthpiece, order more than one of the same model to try out as they all will play a little different (manufacturing tolerances?).

All new Saxes come with "junk" mouthpieces because they know that the buyer will eventually buy their own mouthpiece. I recommend this S80 / C* "C star" opening as a great starter. It's worth the money especially if you have invested in a new sax or a pro vintage Mark VI. I'm a private teacher and I have parents of young students buy this mouthpiece because it's noticeable right away that the tone is darker, more mellow, more pleasing to the ear. Even parents who know nothing about music or the sax notice the difference. The reason is that the mouthpiece is made of hard rubber - not plastic. To add to my previous comment - I will even have students as young as 5th, 6th grader buy this because some of my students have chair placement tests even at that young age and when they test well - it's encouraging to them, they enjoy music, they practice more! So if you are going to invest in buying a sax, stretch your pocketbook out just a little more for this mouthpiece. Don't be cheap - it's that old saying - "penny wise, pound foolishö (Later add a Meyer mouthpiece for jazz when the player matures). Hope this helps!

At my teacher’s suggestion, I bought this mouthpiece about a year and a half ago and immediately noticed a drastic improvement in my tone quality from the cheep mouthpiece I’d been using previously. Though the S80 is designed for classical playing, I found it versatile and durable enough for marching band as well. I have dropped it (regrettably) several times, and it has yet to be seriously damaged. My only two complaints are that it can be hard to keep clean and that it can be hard to reach the extremes of the dynamic range with it. I use a Rovner dark ligature and 3.5 Rico Royal or 3 Vandoren reeds.

This is the mouthpiece I started playing on and it worked great for the first 6 years of my career. I started on a C* which is for the most part the basic beginner/intermediate mouthpiece of this style. I played on it for everything from jazz to classical music. Later on as my style improved I found it limiting a bit and ended up switching to a higher end mouthpiece with more versatility and better play. This mouthpiece produces a good tone without the necessary control that it takes a while to acquire. I would highly recommend this mouthpiece for any beginner, but perhaps not for anyone who has more experience.