Vandoren SM713 AL5

I found this mouthpiece to be extremely vibrant and powerful. I've only been playing for a few months. I inherited a Buescher Alto sax from my father. He didn't really play it much and the original mouthpiece was in pristine condition. It was what I learned on. Thinking I was ready to step up to something more in line with what the pros use I tried many mouthpieces and settled on this one. I confess it took a while to get used to, but it really delivers punch when I need it to. I'm still not using it on a regular basis as it produces a much louder response than my Buescher, but it's a keeper!

It's a brilliant sound for me. It is not really a beginner's mouthpiece because it is expensive and really much better than a beginner needs. If you want a really loud dominating sound then it might be a bit too restrained for you. Me, I love the mouthpiece. But then again, I am no longer playing in loud bands and having to compete with the others. Now I play just for me and for my own pleasure. It's darn good for that. And the neighbours benefit from a quieter volume, although I imagine they are not aware of that!

We bought 2 in a sale and found one was totally defective, the tip rails were not even cut straight. The other was close to being made right and that played well and produced a nice sound with a Rovner mk3 ligature and vandoren traditional reeds. So buyer beware, the quality is variable on once reliable Vandoren mouthpieces. Sadly low C was out of tune on my sons saxophone and his existing green Yanagisawa 4 alto mouthpiece had cleaner attacks, better intonation and a more compact sound. But I preferred the AL4 sound. Looking through the neck hole the AL4 had a slightly bigger round chamber diameter. It is probable a harder reed on the medium short facing may have improved the tuning. So I can give 5 stars for the good one and 1 star for the reject (the hole did go all the way through it). My son would give the good AL4 3 out of 5 because he has a good fit already and efforts to improve on it have proven futile. Neither of us like the stuffy smaller AL3, which is very popular. Someone else will love it.

When i upgraded from my Yamaha 280 Alto to the 480 I thought 'What an incredible improvement'. Then my teacher suggested upgrading the mouthpiece from the 4C as supplied. I tried a number of different ones and eventually settled on the VanDoren AL4. The improvement was unbelievable - more power, more flexibility of volume, improved tone, and I am sure it has improved my sight-reading! Also it doesn't require more puff.

I have tried this mouthpiece for a few hours and I do not hesitate to give it five stars.I first tried it with a Hemke 3 reed and a BG Duo ligature, and it sounded beautifully. However, it gave its best with a Vandoren Traditional (Blue Box) 3 reed: it made it so easy to achieve a consistent tone across the whole range of the instrument with accurate intonation and a pure sweet sound.While even the best mouthpiece is no substitute for good practice, I would recommend to anyone who needs to achieve the right tone for classical repertoire.

Such a beautiful, refined tone on an alto saxophone. Great for classical playing and jazz ballads.

I was recommended this during one of my sax lessons when I struggle to get good notes out.It has made playing much easier than the standard mouthpiece.Since having this unit I have found no more occasional squeaky notes.It has made playing much easier.Highly recommended

very cool. Don't know much about Saxophones; only been playing 6 months but the difference between this and the Yamaha 24 quid one is strangely apparent. I wish I knew why!