Description
The GS Mark II tenor saxophone mouthpiece is an extremely precise copy of my favorite Freddie Gregory Super Deluxe Mark II tenor mouthpiece.
What is this?
Many players may not know much about Freddie Gregory’s Super Deluxe mouthpieces. That’s not a big surprise, as Freddie did not make that many of them, and the ones he did make are mostly still in the hands of their original owners. The few that have come up for sale over the last 5 years that I’ve seen have been priced way out of the reach of most players– typically $2400-$4000– for a mouthpiece! Which is nuts, but those who know these mouthpieces REALLY seem to be willing to pay to get one. And sadly, since Freddie died nine years ago, no more of these are available.
Freddie is known both for refacing and for making his own mouthpieces. The original Super Deluxe Mark II is not a refaced mouthpiece made by someone else, the way my favorite Reso Chamber tenor mouthpiece (faced by Freddie) is. The Super Deluxe model was entirely designed and made by Freddie.
It was sold in four variations on the same design: Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, and Mark IV. They all have a good amount of projection, but the Mark I is darkest and the Mark IV is brightest. We may copy my favorite Mark IV someday as well, but I wanted to start with the Mark II because it’s bright and projecting but not too bright, and it seems to be one of the most popular ones of these. Bob Mintzer played one of these for a long time, and may still from time to time. I know he has a lot of Freddie’s pieces. Jeff Coffin plays an unusual early model by Freddie that isn’t any of the Mark I-IV’s, but which sounds pretty similar to the Mark II that we copied for this project (Jeff was kind enough to make several audio comparison samples of the GS Mark II and his Freddie piece, and they are definitely more similar than different.) Steve Neff has some original Mark II sound clips on his website here.
OK so that should be fairly clear now: The GS Mark II is an extremely precise copy of my favorite Freddie Gregory Super Deluxe Mark II, which is a different design from anything that Otto Link or Berg Larsen or Dukoff made etc. Along with the Mark IV, it’s his most popular design for sure.
How does it play?
Describing the tone is hard, because people probably haven’t played one of these. They’re also not that similar to other common mouthpieces like Meyer, Dukoff, or Berg Larsen. It’s different from any model of Otto Link, and is not a redesigned Link chamber at all. The baffle curves from nearly flat at the tip rail, into the chamber in a smooth curve, and the throat opens out into a medium-large chamber. Chamber volume is similar to a metal Otto Link, so it tunes great on basically any saxophone. The shank is long enough that you can pull out on a Conn 10M or something that wants a large mouthpiece volume, and it works well. The side walls start out nearly straight and are more scooped as it moves into the chamber. The magic in these pieces is in the baffle, and we spent a long time getting that just right.
Tonally, my best attempt at a verbal description would be to say that this has a more projecting tone than a GS Slant or a vintage Otto Link, but it kind of opens out and gets wider and more robust as you push it. Some mouthpieces get more shrill the more air you put into them. The GS Mark II gets more lush and almost ‘operatic’ as you push it. It’s really fun to play. If you want something different from a Link style tenor mouthpiece, and you want a piece that is brighter but not too bright, and that has plenty of power and projection when pushed without getting thin and shrill, that’s what the GS Mark II really does well.
Facing Information:
Freddie’s facing curves are usually about .001″ more open than the equivalent Otto Link, so we are reproducing his curves on the GS Mark II. The original that we copied was a 7 measuring .101″ and I also have a 7* and 8 that we used for the .106″ 7* and the .111″ 8 tip. As an interesting side note, most Freddie 8’s are actually stamped 7**, but I think that’s probably because he had them stamped 7* and then would just add another star for an 8. I’ve seen that enough times now to think it’s definitely intentional. They always seem to measure .111-.112″ for me, and we settled on .111″ as it’s closer to what people are used to in an 8.
A word on price: People are *constantly* telling me that I should raise the prices of the GS Mouthpieces. However, they are intended to be a service to the saxophone community, so that as many players as possible can get a great mouthpiece that is entirely faced by hand and that plays as well as a much more expensive original. The GS Mark II tenor mouthpiece would probably sell almost as well at nearly double the price, but we will be keeping the price $260 as long as possible, because that’s the whole point of the project.
Mark S. –
I can’t recall the last time I had this much of a perma-grin. This mouthpiece is amazing. Beautifully resonant with a fat vintage complexity that works equally well for Hard Bop, Swing, Latin and Cool Jazz. It is focused and wonderfully punchy when I want it to be. Suction test gives me a fantastic loud delayed “pop”. Altissimo glides out effortlessly. My tuner needle is pegged in the green at “0”.
I can honestly say that this tenor mouthpiece is in very elite company- it’s one of the most resonant mouthpieces I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve faced it off against a respectable collection of vintage metal and HR pieces. Well done Brian Getasax and team!
Alex Nyman (verified owner) –
Another incredible mouthpiece from Brian. I have several of the others in the GS line-up and each one offers something completely different. What they all have in common is impeccable workmanship. This FG Deluxe has such a complex tonal palette and, depending on reed strength, offers up so many avenues of exploration. I absolutely love it. Amazing work at an amazing price.
Carlo Cennamo, Cennamo Woodwinds –
I initially thought this piece had too much back pressure, which dictated a limited throat position that did not work for me. But I knew better than to judge it by that initial experience, and I’m glad I didn’t.
It didn’t take long for that first impression to change significantly.
I find this piece to be absolutely brilliant. The response provides a clarity and eveness of tone I’ve been struggling to get out of a tenor for a long time, and now that clarity is easily accessible. It’s amazing.
I’m really an alto player. I can always control the alto, but it’s sometimes a wrestling match with tenor for me.
However, with this piece I feel I have just as much control as I have on alto. And what’s best of all (especially for tenor) is I haven’t lost any of the openness in sound that is so desirable to me on tenor. I usually have to settle for a piece that darkens it up too much, particularly low F down to Bb. But that’s not an issue with this piece.
Plus, the middle D is clearer than ever before. I’m playing it on my 1922 NWI, to which I added an additional body octave vent to clear up the notoriously cloudy D. My modification helped a lot. But it still had a hiss to it that annoyed me.
It’s virtually gone with this piece. 🤷 Bamo.
I use a reed stiffer than I’m used to, it’s what works for this piece.
It’s excellent.
Thank you Brian Getasax .
Daniel C. (verified owner) –
A “lifelong” user of Link-style pieces, I decided to try out this mouthpiece based on the sound sample and the reviews above. And I am so glad I did. I LOVE this mouthpiece. It’s really hard to add to what’s been stated above – the reviews are spot on. As is Brian’s description of what a FG piece does. If you’ve played every Link tribute and variation out there and find yourself looking for something different, you owe it to yourself to try this one out. It’s not expensive. And it is now my favorite piece. More versatile than anything I’ve ever played. My favorite of the GS line.
Luis Pinheiro (verified owner) –
Got my mouthpiece last week. It has a very robust, focused and “chocolaty” feel to it. Notes are very lush, free flowing and resonate beautifully from low to high end. As described, high notes are somewhat rounded on pushed and not piercing at all. Projection is decent. Overall, I highly recommend it if you want a sound that is traditional yet quirky and unique. Great job!
Nicola (verified owner) –
bought the GS fg mark II from brian and i must say that the mouthpiece is very good in sound and projection, the best mouthpiece i have ever had. The mouthpiece is perfect and is exactly 106 as indicated, it is impeccably finished. The sound is fat and lush and if you push it becomes projective while maintaining perfect intonation. Sounds exactly like an original fg.!
thank you brian for the timeliness of the shipment and the timely response to my questions.
Ibon (verified owner) –
First time I was aware of GS FG Mark II mouthpiece, I didn’t find it very interesting, although I already knew the great work GETASAX people were doing. But after trying an original Freddy Gregory Mark II that a friend of mine lent me, its fantastic sound quality and confort blew my mind (very versatile sound, fantastic articulation, easy access to every register of the saxophone….)!
So I decided to buy this mouthpiece and compare it face-to-face with the original one, with same opening: a GS FG Mark II 7* mouthpiece vs. a Freddy Gregory Super Deluxe Mark II 7* one.
Well, physically they aren’t exactly identical: the GS Mark II is slighty larger than my friend’s Freddy Gregory Mark II (maybe, as these were hand-made mouthpieces, there are such differences between them… I don’t know). However, they sound incredibly similar! From the player’s point of view, the original one has a slightly richer tone and perhaps it’s a tad brighter, but the GS FG Mark II projects better. I recorded some samples, and after hearing thru earphones, I detected the same differences in tone quality, but they were minimal. And, most important fact, the GS Mark II is as confortable as the original one! It’s a super confortable mouthpiece across all the registers, very responsive to the nuances of the sound, and makes the articulation a lot easier than all the mouthpieces I tried within the same price range (and I tried quite a lot over the years).
After three months using it intensively, it has become my main piece, and I use it for everything from jazz to pop to R&B. Many thanks to the GETASAX team!! Go on with your project!
Alec –
Perfect piece for if you’re chasing that FAT tone! Good match for my Conn 10M when I want projection.
Brilliant mouthpieces. All of them.
Steve, MojoMan, Horvath (verified owner) –
After several emails were exchanged discussing an appropriate mouthpiece for my Aquilasax C-melody Tenor, I purchased a GS Mark II mouthpiece, size 7 tip opening. Using this with an American Cut Legere 2.25 reed the horn sounds incredible, plays in tune and you almost think it’s a Tenor. I had been using a vintage Conn Comet (3) Tenor MP and I’m very happy I made a change.
Speaking of Tenors, this mouthpiece works exceptionally well with my 30M Conn Conqueror enhancing the robustness and beauty of those vintage Conns. The tone is superb, all the way from pp to FF. It’s funny how we saxophonist sometimes end up with a drawer of mouthpieces that would be less full if we tried this GS MP first.
I simply, love it!
Ken (verified owner) –
I wanted to hold off on giving my feedback until I had a chance to spend some time with the new GS Mark II 7* I received a few weeks ago. I’ve played and owned a lot of mouthpieces over the 30 years of playing I’ve done, and I have to say this this one has the most flexible tone I’ve experienced. Not too bright, not too dark. It seems to have a crispness and sizzle, but with a fat, luscious, rich warmth at the same time. Sound production is easy (i.e. subtones nicely), with just enough back pressure to keep it under control. Tuning is spot on, regardless of where I’m at on the horn or volume level. Greater volume/more air seems to enhance everything I’ve mentioned. My overtone series and altissimo pops out very easily. It works well with synthetic reeds when I want more brightness and projection (i.e. Legere American cut 2.5 or Fiberreed Carbon Fiber medium-soft). I’ve been getting lots of compliments on my sound at gigs the past couple weeks from my combo mates. Most importantly, my wife hears me practice all the time and has complimented my tone recently. 🙂
Chris Lang –
Truly a gem of a mouthpiece. Versatile, modern tone, and the intonation is spot on. A joy to play.
Phil M (verified owner) –
I’ve been playing on my GS Mark II Tenor mouthpiece for a couple of weeks now and simply love it. I find it to be the perfect mouthpiece for playing sultry smooth jazz. I’ve played a boatload of mouthpieces in my career and this one tops the list. I usually play the Mark II with a Brancher wire ligature and Legere American Cut reeds. Thanks GetaSax.