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* PHIL-TONE and Theo Wanne MOSAIC Reviews *

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#1 · (Edited)
I am pleased to announce the arrival of the second cooperatively made piece by Phil-Tone and Theo Wanne Inc. Plans for the Mosaic began midway through the design of the Tribute. As many of you know, the Tribute is a precise replica of the Florida Link. It is focused, refined, and in every way embodies what most players envision when they imagine a great Link.

The support we have received for the Tribute has been outstanding. It is truly a phenomenal piece. However, most of us want more than one flavor of ice cream. Everyone doesn’t want to play a Link. Sometimes a player wants a piece that is a little less civilized, maybe sometimes even a bit rude. The Mosaic is that piece. It has color, texture and resonance to extend your sound concept into different realms. Offering a tonal palate that is thick, chunky and rich the Mosaic can get “Up in your face” when you want it to and simply sings.

The sound is inspired by the Dukoff “Stubby” but takes the concept a step beyond. The piece accomplishes what few pieces can. It is easy to blow, has an enormous sound and resonance. Never thin, the Mosaic has more color than any mouthpiece I have ever played hands down! The piece accomplishes this without the use of high baffles. This allows the player to shape his or her sound. From warm ballads to driving bop the Mosaic delivers.

The Mosaic is machined to the highest standards available. Each piece is then handcrafted to completion. Each and every piece is play tested prior to final finishing. The Mosaic will be offered as a 7* (.105) with custom tips available. The piece will ship with Theo’s Enlightened Ligature and two pressure plates. The retail cost for the Mosaic is $495.

As titled, this thread is for reviews....our very own Steve Neff will be posting very shortly.

Thanks
Phil
 
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#123 ·
Great. Another question I had:

I have a few Java Red, Java Green, ZZ, Rico JS, and Alexander reeds.

Out of all, the Alexander reeds sound the best for me, but for some reason, they are prone to squeaking. I don't squeak on any of the other reeds.

What is usually the reason for this? Any fixes?
 
#124 ·
Alright, so after a day and half with it, I can post a bit of sound clips and have a nice little review here.

First of all, this piece has amazing flexibility. I felt like I could do just about anything with my sound, short of being in a super loud R&B and Rock gig. I am more straight ahead and contemporary Jazz player anyway, so it is a fitting mouthpiece for me. I have not played as many pieces in my life (I've only been playing Tenor for about a year and Alto before that for about 8 years, but Classical... not Jazz), but out of the ones that I have tried, I fell in love with this one the fastest... almost instantly. While some pieces take a while to know if it will be a good fit, I knew this was a good fit for me within five minutes of playing it. Beforehand, I was playing on a modern OttoLink STM, which I felt did a good job. I tried about 7 STM before deciding on mine, and I think it worked well. However, after a year I felt like I needed more flexibility. I had been debating between this and the Tribute for a while, but reviews said this one offered more flexibility which is what I was looking for.

The tone is huge. That is no question. The best part of this is that while the tone is big and somewhat spread, it is not difficult to control. In fact, with my, I think it begs to be controlled and shaped to what best fits my playing. I won't lie, I was a little afraid about being able to control the spread at first, because some clips that I had heard were overly spread for my tastes, and I didn't really fit in with that. I was very wrong about this. It can be easily controlled, and it can be spread... but only if you want it to.

I enjoy all registers in this piece, however as others have said, the bottom end really sings. For me, I enjoy the grainy sound and the fact that you can subtone very easily, and it sounds beautiful. My girlfriend told me she got the chills from my playing "In a Sentimental Mood" on the piece. She's never told me that before, so it must be a good sign.

Another special thing about the tone: you can FEEL it. I don't know of a better way to describe this, but on my prior pieces (both alto and tenor) I could hear the sound, but on this one you can hear it and FEEL it. Even the two people I had listening agreed. It is like the sound envelops the audience and the player, all while being flexible. Quite amazing.

The play-ability is also very nice. I have noticed that the piece really seems to take a liking to a big air stream. The bigger my air stream, the better my sound. I should also add that while I became accustomed to the piece very quickly, I can tell that the more time I spend with it, the better it will get. Yes, that is the case with every piece, but this one feels a bit special in that sense; as if the improvement will be exponential due to its flexibility.

I do see this piece on the darker side of the sound for me. I tried many different brands of reeds, one which ended up squeaking with the piece for some reason (Alexander NY), but ended up going with the La Voz reeds as the best choice for them. Speaking of reeds... I was going to mention that this piece is reed picky, but that's not the right word. Every reed sounded great on the piece, but different. I suppose it has a heightened sensitivity to the reeds that I put on it. Suffice it to say that the reed you put on it will make a big difference. I was very happy I tried about 7 different brands.

The sound is powerful, full, flexible and changing between notes is flawless. A true work of art. I am really going to enjoy this piece.

As a plus, the design is flawless. It is a beautiful piece with flawless design!

Below are a few sound clips. The one with the Aebersold background (Sugar) had the gain a little high so sometimes the upper register sounds muffled.... it is the mic, not the piece. Also, because of the gain, my movement makes a big difference in the recording. However, I still felt it was a good example!

The first is a free version of Goodbye Porkpie Hat. The second is Sugar.

Thanks, Phil, for making a fantastic piece that I will enjoy for a long time. Because of this one, I am really saving up again to get a Tribute.





EDIT: I replaced the Sugar recording with one of slightly better quality so my sound of the piece can be heard a bit better.
 
#127 ·
Nice vibe Estebancam. Thanks for the review and sound clips.

More reviews and hopefully sound clips to come. The piece is still going round.

For those of you in Europe, you can check out the piece at Saxofoonwinkel in the Netherlands, Sax-On in Barcelona, and L''Atelier des Vents in Marseille.

In Britain, South Wales Woodwind has most of my line. Sax.Co.Uk thus far stocks the Mosaic and the Sapphire.
 
#128 · (Edited)
OK folks. I promised Phil I'd write a review so here it is. I also have some sound clips and will add those links in a bit. Plus I took some measurements of the baffle height on this and graphed them in comparison with several other pieces… Let's see if I can insert them easily…? Well it looks like it might show up… I'll see.

First off, playing this piece was the most important thing, so I'll get to my impressions in a minute. But my side job is engineer, so I like technical data. I saw that Mojo was measuring baffle heights on some Links, in a video. So I grabbed what I could see of his data on a big open Florida Link, then I started my own data collection on a variety of Links I was playing, trying, buying. So when I got this Mosaic, I measured it the same way. It's shown as "PTM" on the graph. "EB" means early Babbitt, "NY" is that modern "NY" Link piece.
The Mosaic has quite a bit of rollover baffle, and then opens up (away from reed/table) down in toward the throat).
Of course, pieces with closer tips (like my FL Link 4*) have a higher baffle, at least near the tip, as a function of that close tip opening. In fact my Florida has a close baffle all the way into the chamber/throat, as you can see.
I didn't take sidewall/bore width/contour or anything else (Mojo did some of that), so just the baffle height picture is given here.
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/images/attach/jpg.gif

Playing the piece:
I'm at the walking stage (just graduated from a fast crawl), and so please try to overlook my inability to consistently put one foot in front of the other, ideas-wise. What I've been working on most is my sound (advice from a lot of great players.. get that down, then you can build ideas/speed, etc.).
This piece came right on the heels of me acquiring this Florida Link 4*, and then having Jimmy Jensen clean up the tip rail, which had a couple small nicks in it. I told Jimmy it squeaked like a [mezzoforte] and so he cleaned up the tip and said "Leave it alone now! It's sweet!" So when it still squeaked he said "I'm 99.999% sure it is a great piece, probably original facing. I won't touch it!" and he convinced me that it is a radical departure for me, and the close tip, lot of baffle (compared to the "NY" Link I was playing) are hard for me to get used to.
That said, I'm learning to overcome the squeak (worst on G# and C, upper octave). And the piece wails, when I work at it…
So, I want to say that this Link I been playing is not at all like the Mosaic, and Phil agrees (Tribute is the one like a FL Link). But I told Phil it's the only other quality piece I have as a reference, so I'm comparing the two.
This Mosaic right away said to me "Oh! This is how the latest best stuff is that pros play on!" (On top of an old Link, I have an old '42 Conn tenor).
By that I mean: Response! Always there, high, low, mid… Tone! Always consistent throughout range, but still versatile so you can get a lot of different vibes, and they will all produce evenly through the range of the horn.
So it's easy to play well. And pros need that I think.
One vibe I got that I never heard before from my horn, when I subtoned with a different kind of air and vibrato, was like a Don Byas ballad, so I made a recording of me playing something he played.
In contrast, my "vintage" Link will wail, but man does it take a lot of care and effort! Yes, it's also a different sound when you get it to wail. So this is apples to oranges, not just tone-wise.
One more thing. I like the close tip on my Link, but I get in situations where I feel can't get loud enough w/o a mic. Not so much with the Mosaic 7*.
Summary: The Mosaic is more like a state-of the-art sports car, with traction control (no squealing), ABS, stability control, automated clutch, etc. This old Link is like a 1978 Porsche 930 turbo, which has been described as "a pig, but a holy freakin fast pig, in the hands of the right driver".
Stand by - I'll put sounds on here in a few…

I hope the graph of baffles shows up (holding breath now)...
 

Attachments

#130 ·
Great rehearsal last night...have a tenor player with a ton of talent, he's been playing a 7* Dukoff with a reed that was way too hard...had a talk with him and got him to put a softer reed on....helped, still a really harsh tone...let him play my Mosaic a few weeks ago....first rehearsal with him playing his own Mosaic (thanks Phil), what a difference. Beautiful tone, top to bottom, edge when he wanted it without the harshness....he's happy, I'm happy, Phil, thanks again....
 
#131 ·
Thanks Stan for sending him my way. I think he will enjoy that piece for a long time. Sounds like a good fit.

Reeddoubler, do you actually sound that similar on both pieces or is it the space/recording gear that is making both the Mosaic and Tribute sound so close? They play dramatically different for me.
 
#132 ·
I think the Mosaic sounds a bit more centered and just a tad brighter, but I agree, I sound very similar on both mouthpieces. I recorded both just a few feet from the H2, in a not terribly live room. I mostly recorded them because they sound similar from behind the horn as well, aside from the aforementioned differences. Both feel very responsive and are fun to play, and very reed friendly. Possibly if I try softer/different reeds I'll notice more difference. F
 
#133 ·
I think the Mosaic sounds a bit more centered and just a tad brighter
It's amazing how different players perceive things. Having compared both mpcs, admittedly for only the couple days I had the Mosaic on the passaround, I would have said the exact opposite:

The Tribute sounds a bit more centered and just a tad brighter than the Mosaic....

I agree in those clips they sound almost identical (but that happens a lot with mpc comparison clips, probably more due to the recording process, etc).
 
#137 ·
Jazznblue, if you are near Saxofoonwinkel stop by and try them. They have both.

The Mosaic is not softer around the edges. It is really more coarse sounding. Now that vs cut may be a different story.

...talking about this stuff is difficult as we all know. I do think that the differences stand out much more and are more accurately displayed in Steve Neff's recordings.

I also think certain reeds bring out more of the coarseness in the Mosaic than others.

I sure do enjoy the above recordings though.
 
#144 ·
Great sound on both! I personally was a bigger fan of your sound on the Tribute. The Mosiac was nice and fat and husky, with a "conical" sort of spread to it, if that makes any sense; but the Tribute was fat too, maybe not AS fat, but had a nice focus and maybe a hair of edge to it that seemed to really balance out the sound for you on the 10m. Great playing, I enjoyed listening to the clips!
 
#145 ·
I think I sell a few more Tributes than Mosaic....I mean its a amazing Florida Link. It doesnt get much more classic than that. The Mosaic is catching on with a crowd that wants something just a bit different, more broad, coarse and really deep and rich. I go back and forth on which one I prefer. Currently its the Mosaic but it could be the Tribute next month :)

Nice Playing RD
 
#146 ·
First off, reed doubler you really sound nice on Tribute and Mosaic both!
OK now that the SOTW site is working again (wasn't at 5 am Tuesday when I had time to post this), here are my recordings I made with the Mosaic and also with my Florida no USA Link 4*… as I said, hardly apples-to-apples, chamber-wise, facing-wise, and this Link is certainly not a CNC-precision made piece. So this is a contrast more than a comparison and I think both are great pieces. Hand-finished pieces (the Link's baffle/interior are, but apparently the facings were done by machine throughout most if not all Florida production) seem to give a "character" not unlike that of vintage horns, which guys sometimes say are "not locked-in" tuning-wise, but which are also said to have more "color" to the tone, perhaps as a result of not being "locked-in". Well, with mouthpieces, I don't think CNC symmetry and precision have an effect on intonation, but this Mosaic certainly seems to have a consistent response, an ease of response, and is easy to play intuitively, for me, at this stage, having not had time to get used to it… that didn't matter is what I'm saying. It is capable of a huge variety of tonal qualities. I guess that's mainly from baffle/chamber shape. That it produces them easily and reliably is more from how it's made I think (CNC machining + Phil's facing work).
The Link I've had since April, and I'm still getting used to how it responds (or doesn't). The baffle isn't symmetrical; you can see it in the reflection off the shiny plating. And it is a close tip and a prominent rollover. I think the result is more "character", "color" to the tone, at the expense of control. It's not as easy to get a nice sound on the Link. And it wants to squeak. I think that is mainly a result of the close tip and way more baffle than the Mosaic (see the graph of baffle heights I posted earlier). Where Phil's piece plays nicely, but differently, with many different reeds (I think he called it "reed-sensitive" as opposed to picky), the Link seems to keep me searching for the right reeds; when I find the right reed on a given day, or for a certain way I'm playing, it knocks me out! In between, it can be frustrating. So maybe it's more "reed-picky". Or (more likely) I just need to practice on it a lot more before I'm adept at its nuances/idiosyncrasies of response. You'll hear me squeaking on some of these clips but I'm overcoming that. It's mainly upper G# and C now.

General notes:
Somewhere around Aug 4, I fixed Garage Band so I can get this pretty nice USB mic to record again. So recordings I made prior to that were with the little iPad mic and that can't be optimal…
I'm sure mic placement wasn't optimal on any of these. And even if the mic is this nicer USB mic, I keep wondering if mic/room are why I got this "toilet bowl" sound with my "NY" Link (zero baffle), and now more of what I call a "mouthful of marbles" sound (which is actually not too bad, and I heard similar tone from some Sonny Stitt records). Those sounds occur mainly in the middle register. Again, not sure if that's mic/room, or me and the way I play.
Sometimes I'm tense. Other times I'm tight. Either way it shows and I'm working on it - being energy and having relaxed that is. So please try to overlook this.
I'm not sure which is worse - the cheesy J. Aebersold tracks or my own cheese where I sometimes sound like I'm in a wedding band, especially on endings. But these Aebersold things are way better than the super cheesy "i Real B" cheese-chords (not to be confused with cheese curds which are actually pretty good I found out in Wisconsin). But anyway this is the best I can do for a good rhythm section around here who will play with me.
Given time I could probably get a lot more sound potential out of either mpc and I will have time with this Link.

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm still working on connecting one coherent thought to another, reading, playing over certain chord changes, etc. so thank you for your support and patience… the sound is what I've spent most of my time on. Thanks to Phil for this opportunity to really learn a lot about sound!
I most certainly have no clue how to "embed" the sound files so I hope this works for you all.


In order of significance:
Ricorda-Phil: This is the Joe Henderson tune Ricorda-me (means "remember me"). One of the first things I recorded with the Mosaic - I was still getting used to it. Not sure about the reed here. Could have been V16 or Rigotti. But I think all the Mosaic tracks I recorded other than this were with a very nice Rigotti #3-medium.
Ricorda-Florida: You'll hear squeaks/squawks here of me on my Florida 4*. It's hard to make the Mosaic squeak.
OTR: This is the std. Over the Rainbow. You hear me trying to get this Don Byas ballad sound that just kind of popped out while I was playing the Mosaic "covered" as Joe Allard talked about and with a lot of air/vibrato. Please excuse the wounded goose sound at the end. Mo Cheese.
LFS: Love for Sale. Me trying to get a Dex sound since that was the first thing I thought of with the Mosaic… Phil said it was a "Stubby/Hollywood cross". And I play a 10M so this was a brief opportunity to really try to get into the Dexter Gordon sound concept.
DYKIC: A Don Byas thing. "Don't You Know I Care". When I got this sweet soft heavy vibrato sound out of the blue with the Mosaic, I said it sounds like those Don Byas things. So I read this thing I transcribed and tried to sound like him.
A Train. Both of these tracks is on my Link. I was just learning to play it w/o squeaking. The Aug 13 one is where I found a Java that has a soft but really responsive character - up high even.
Cherokee. This is my Link with Java #4 reed and definitely the better USB mic.
Bird Blues. My Link again and I'm learning to play it and this particular Java reed helps. This Link is very "edgy" and I need to "tone it down".
 
#147 ·
I see that I also did a thing of Jody Grind with the Mosaic on sound cloud. This was me trying to do a "harder" style of playing with the Mosaic.
Listening to it I feel as though that Rigotti 3 medium reed is just too (a) soft or (b) just wrong - too "bright" to give the guts that the Mosaic is capable of.
 
#152 ·
Ok, I am curious about something here:

So, have any of you (Phil included) experimented with different reed brands in a nice long sitting with this piece? I sat down throughout the last week to do just that to see just how this piece responds to different reeds. I still stick by my statement (which, crazy enough, Phil Said the exact same thing when I was looking at his thoughts on the Mosaic) that the piece is Reed Sensitive (not a bad thing).

I tried about 30-40 reeds, and about 6 different cuts/brands. Following:

Alexander NY
Java Red
La Voz
Rico Jazz Select
Java Green
Vandoren ZZ (just one of these though.... not a good measure)
Vandoren V16

Before this Mosaic as my primary player, I was using a Modern Otto Link which I chose out of about seven links that I tried at the store. So, I felt it was pretty good, and still is (although a refacing from Phil would surely make it much better- I've never had a piece refaced though...) which is why I am not getting rid of it, as it gives me a different sound and feel. On the Link, here are the results of my reed choices:

Alexander: consistent, good overtones, easy blowing with little resistance. Sounded in a bit brighter than I usually do, but I usually blow darker than most.
Java Red: Dark and stuffy. Didn't like them at all. Tried all 5 in the box and they were all the same. It was a sound as if I had a piece of tablecloth inside the bell of the saxophone with this link. Not a cut for me.
La Voz: the La Voz ones were pretty good. Someone here accurately (on the Link) described them as "lacking overtones and complexity to the sound." I completely agree with this on the Link. I felt like the reeds were consistently reliable, but only good enough to be a "back-up" reed in case everything else goes to s*^t. I was satisfied with them, but that's it.
Rico Jazz Select: Stuffy. Very similar to Java Red for me. Tried a bunch of them with just about the same result.
Java Green: these worked very well for me! Just the right amount of brightness, but still lacking a bit of openness to the sound that I really like to have. These were either very good, or not good at all, especially in this drier climate.
Vandoren ZZ: powerful reed, but I got really dark sounds off this one. I already have a darker sound so going darker was not really the best thing for what I am looking for as far as sound. They were consistent, strong, good resistance, and overall a good reed, but without the sound I really aim for.
V16: these are my favorite on the Link. Consistent, strong, good resistance, good life, and a nice balanced sound with good overtones and a good feel. Love them. Always play on these on the link.

Now on the Mosaic:

Alexander: Not consistent. About 2-3 out of the box of 5 work well, but when they do work.... it is absolutely outstanding. The only thing lacking on these for me were upper register overtones. Sounded a bit mono up there, and even when this occurred it wasn't on every reed. Occasionally I would get the reed that was just right and did everything perfectly, but that is rare. Worse yet, even the good ones had what seemed like a commitment to squeaking! I would squeak quite a bit, when on other reeds I never do. I felt like I had to fight the reed in order not to squeak.
Java Red: Actually good here. It had a very neutral feel for me. I could use them, but I am still not sure. Haven't had the piece long enough to see if the two could get married. ha.... but I am rather satisfied. I get an open tone with a good feel that really brings out the colors of the piece.
La Voz: Super consistent and good, especially after doing some water work with the reeds. Out of the 6 or 7 I tried here, they all worked well. Good overtones, but only after water treatment. Before that, I got the same results as the link. These, as of now (with the exception of the really good Alexander ones) are my "go to" reed.
RIco Jazz Select: I get a good buzz on the lower end from these, as well as good resistance and a sound I can "feel" on my hands and lips when I play. However, they play a bit darker for me than I like, and seem to have a short life as I could tell the difference in quality even within the day. The sound was full and round. I liked it.
Java Green: One word: bright. On this one, I also got a good sound, but with almost no resistance, which isn't good for me especially in the altissimo and the overtones of the lower register. If I had a high baffle piece, I think I could perhaps slap one of these on and it would play well.
Vandoren ZZ: I can't really give an opinion here.... the reed was dead by the time I put it on the Mosaic. I didn't like it on the Mosaic, but I think it was for this reason.
V16: Open sound, which projects well. This reed seems to like my chops on any piece I play, but it is second on this piece to La Voz (and the rare Alexander ones) due to the lack of sound complexity. This piece was a BUNCH of overtones and complexity that I love to hear, and these reeds, while they sounded great with a good balance of bright and dark sounds, don't bring out the overtones.

I realize it is a long post, but I wanted to see if anyone has a reed they love on this piece and how it compares to my results, plus to see if anyone else had the same experience in reeds working completely differently on the Mosaic than other pieces.
 
#153 ·
Funny you should mention reeds....I've had good luck with La Voz and an ancient box of Rico Royals...and didn't care for any of the the Vandorens....I found some old boxes of Zonda online (used them for years) and I'll have them sometime this week. Been experimenting with Fibrcell, strangely reed placement really affects sound. Put it on last night and it sounded stuffy, moved it out a little and it worked fine....yes, reeds work very differently on the Mosaic....I used Vandorens on the Berg and the Jaguar (Runyon), sounded fine. I'm going to pick up some Alexanders and give them a try....now, if I could only figure out how to get the recordings I did online, you all could hear the sound.....
 
#154 ·
I am curious to hear the sound! Perhaps I will post some comparisons as well. I haven't tried Fibracell reeds in quite a while. I am now curious how they work on the Mosaic.

Create a SoundCloud account if you don't already have one. Very easy to record and post things on it, then you can paste it here.
 
#159 ·
Interesting and serious study and a lot of work!

On the Mosaic I personally found that the way I play Javas give a really warm full sound with good guts. A great all around good match. They are super thick as well.

Rico Royals tend to show up the highlights and move it towards that Dexter tone.

Lavoz work just fine but I have a hard time getting excited about the tone of that cut on any mouthpiece. My assessment is that they are fully functional...but not a reed Id reach for in any occasion.

thanks for all the effort.

Phil
 
#162 ·
I know I just sold my Phil-Tone Mosaic, but before I let it go I had to record a little clip for a review. I have a couple of things to say before you hear the recording.

#1) I think Phil is one of the top Mouthpiece Makers around right now. I've tried 100's and 100's of pieces, new and vintage, and Phil's piece ALWAYS stand out above most all of them.

#2) Why sell the Mosaic...I've been asked this by many...and the reason is simple. I'm more comfortable on smaller tip pieces and I just couldn't quite get used to the lighter reed and more open tip. Although I'm starting to warm up to tips above .093ish:) So who knows!

#3) I seriously recommend this piece to anyone wanting a metal piece that goes for the BlueNote era sound!!

#4) I also made a clip of the Sapphire as I have it right now for the pass-around...so check that out too!

I'd be glad to answer any questions about this piece as it pertains to me personally if you are interested. KEEP ON MAKIN' PIECES PHIL!!!!

 
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