Hey all,
I`m looking for a metal mouthpiece that will give me a sound for my alto sax for smooth jazz. A few months ago I read on these boards that Dukoff was the way to go and that Kenny G uses a D8 Dukoff, and ever since I`ve only heard praise about these mouthpieces. Does anyone know a place that will have the D,M, and X chamber styles available for rent? I`ve been to woodwindbrasswind.com but they don`t carry the X style. Also, can anyone explain the difference between "Super Power Chamber" and "Super Power Plus Chamber"? I emailed Bobby Dukoff through his website these questions two months ago and am still awaiting a response.

why in the world would you want to play smooth jazz?

many ppl have certain styles they want to emulate, and I don`t see any problems with that.

One of the many things you may find out is that if you don`t have alot of experience, say 10 years or more and no pro teacher you may have problems with a large tip mouthpiece like a D8 (or you may not).

As the top opening gets larger your skill has to be better becz you can easily change your sound sometimes too easily.

You can`t rent mouthpieces. You may have to end up just buying one and seeing if you like it, if not then sell it. But as the tip opening increases like that you will find (in general) less buyers.

I just purchased a Dukoff D5 and I love it. The sound is so good. I played the D8 and didn`t like it as well. I felt like I had more control over the D5. But it has a really sweet sound.

I own a D7 and i think its the greatest. A freind of mine plays on a D8 that he took a file to and manually made the chamber bigger, but he`s insane.

I have been playing on a Dukoff professionally for the last 25 years. It is a D10 with a tip opening of the .095. It provides a very bright edgy sound for small combo groups and solos. It has been great for funk, rock & roll, and smooth jazz sessions. If you are looking for a Koz/Kenny G/Sanborn sound, most of that has to do with the setup and embochure. I attended a clinic that was given by Michael Brecker (Guardala mpc) and David Sanborn (Dukoff modified D7orD8) in a rare opportunity and the answer to the question on how to produce a centered bright edgy/brassy tone after working with the setup was focusing on your embochure. David Sanborn plays out of the side of his mouth with greater mouthpiece tip insertion. He also exerts alot of pressure on the reed and has learned to control the tone and pitch under that amount of pressure. If I am not mistaken he suffered from polio earlier in his life...and perhaps that contributed to him playing out of the side of his mouth, but that is just speculation. You will notice Kenny G plays out of the side of his mouth when playing the soprano on a Dukoff D8. It does change the sound when super imposing this technique over your own embochure, but since each persons embochure is unique the result can be dramatically different. After learning, applying, and being well practiced on the basics you can experiment and ultimately you will find the sound that you like.