I have played approximately one dozen Dukoff 8s in the past two weeks. None of them were great, but I did pick one that was pretty good and had Will Grizzle reface it (along with the D7* that I've been using since the Vegas trip). The D8 has been on my desk, and I've been playing the D7*. What I've noticed is that it starts out fine, but somewhere during the gig things change--I don't know if it's my reeds drying out or warping off the table, or if the mouthpiece is heating up and changing shape, but the thing never feels as good as it does for the first couple of notes I play. Regardless of the reason, I've got to keep looking--I can't deal with a piece that is never the same thing twice!
Saxophonist fans of David Sanborn know that before the Dukoff, he played a Brilhart Level Aire--this is from the late sixties up until some time in 1975, when he made the switch. I don't think he sounds that different, so I started investigating the Level Aire. At some point, Arnold Brilhart was working for Beechler, and put out the ARB mouthpiece (his initials) for them--but it's really just the Brilhart Level Aire. Ah ha! I ordered one, and it plays great (I played along with Young Americans a few times), and it's made out of stainless steel so I know it's not going to morph the way the silverite Dukoff is. I won't know for sure until I play it on a few gigs, but I played on it this afternoon and it did everything I wanted it to do. I got the sound I was looking for, the range, the volume, and the articulation was good. It's bright and edgy, but stable.
Is the mouthpiece search really over? Maybe!
davidfreemanmusic.net
