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Andy Sheppard Autograph Series Tenor Mouthpieces, my review

28K views 106 replies 23 participants last post by  madav 
#1 ·
My Andy Sheppard Autograph Series Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review.
I will start this review by saying when I heard about the plans of a Andy Sheppard Se...ries mouthpiece from the man himself in Newcastle I could not wait to try one. It took well over a year later and they are now in full production.
I have long been a true Sheppard hard core fan. For me he is still my favourite modern saxophonist out there. He is a rare bird out there as he does his own thing and when you hear a couple of them lush tones you know its him. Theres too many great players out there that all sound the same. Sheppard for sure has his own vibe, style and amazing sound. In Newcastle when I jammed with him I also tested the Sheppard Autograph Tenor, Newcastle model which I later bought. He said his Otto Link he was playing was a 10 tip !!! he had done bits of reface work tweaking it to his likes. He played with no mic that day and WOW it was crazy rich and lush indeed.
I was sent to try out the two AS mouthpieces which come in a size 7* and the 10 tip. Both are made by the legend Morgan Fry here in the UK and as ever his finish work is superb, of the best in the world. They come in bare brass, no plating just like the Autograph tenors. He has used some special brass mix here. The bite plate is very nice, a brown tortoise shell kind of plate. They have an AS logo on them, nice touch.
They come in a very cool black box, velvet pouch and a signed card from Andy himself.
Sound,,,
Enough of me rambling, lol whats my thoughts on them !
7*, Well to be fair I need over a 115, 8* tenor tip on any tenor. So a 7* always feels odd and hard work as I do blow a lot of air into my horns but this 7* still performed very well and easy on a wide choice of reeds. You hear that Link vibe for sure but way more power. Theres great focus here. Very precise indeed.
My real review here is on the 10 tip as its in my tip size ballpark. WOW its a monster piece. Anyone thinking of the 10 size and fearing of it please forget about that. Its such an easy player. Morgan and Andy have got this perfect !!! I have owned and played many great Guardalas over many years and love them for there pure tone and huge power. Andy himself played a Studio DG for a good while, his soprano mp is still a DG. My dream and I think his was to have a mp with that amazing hard to beat great Otto Link richness but it being so easy to blow which most Links aren't and to have massive power for ANY setting, style and that modern sound. Plus to have fantastic intonation, ease of use, very reedly and of course versatile .Well after my testing, gigging etc I think, I know they have found all these factors in the 10 tip AS mouthpiece for sure. For me it can purr and roar to 11 no problem. Very full, rich tones with just the right amount of edge when pushed. Never harsh, just a perfect mix of bottom, middle and clear full soaring top tones. Altissimo is scary easy, again big and full. I tested them with Rico Jazz Select 2 medium and 2 hard plus Lupifaro Classic 2 reeds and Legere Sig, 2 1/2 and Legere classic reeds. All worked very well indeed. The sound I got as in that Sheppard vibe for sure, very full, huge focus in sound. Clear and so much scope to bend, shape my own sound. I am now of course using the 10 now myself and I know were going to get on very well. Check them out, there great. Peter Scaddan of Lupifaro Saxophones UK stock them. Give him a message or call to try them yourself.
David Keighley.
 
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#69 ·
Heres our 2nd 1 take pure improvisation from my long standing ambient duo, Jewel. again recording is just one mic in middle of room, we just start to improv . Sheppard mp, The Wanne enlightend lig, Jazz select 2 hard unfiled. Great job Morgan Fry, i'm well happy.
 
#71 ·
Very ruff as said. Will do a proper one next week, sax and backing track. The duo ones were just a quick case of hearing how flexible it is for me, intonation is great, altissimo and nice bottom notes. Apart from ruff recording quality I think the points came through. Forgot to say I also recorded the duo at the same time on my Yamaha portrak field recorder which is just pure sound, no reverb , sounds very much warmer natural.
 
#73 ·
I purchased the Tip 10 Andy Sheppard mp, I have it over a month and I have to say it's excellent. I have played in Rock / Ska / Jazz and Funk settings.. It's a real beauty, so, so, versatile.. What caught my attention about the mpc first was the fact that it was raw eco brass.. I don't like plating on a mpc as it usually wears off pretty quickly for me, no matter how good the job is.. Raw eco brass really appealed to me as I don't like the thoughts of lead in the brass. As when the plating wears you're at risk..
Anyway, it's got a huge full sound throughout the register, for me a perfect balance between high and low frequencies and smoothness vs edge.. is also perfect.. You can really push this mouthpiece as it's got lots of power, but it can also whisper effortlessly. I use RJS 2h or 3s.. Both work great for me.. Now that I'm making friends with this mpc, I decided to run a couple of my other mouthpieces back to back with the Sheppard piece to see how they'd compare.. I compared my Morgan Fry Jazz + 7* and My Theo Wanne Gaia HR 7* both with a RJS 3m reed against the Fry Sheppard piece with a RJS 3s.. For me there just wasn't any comparison.. Although the former pieces are still excellent, the Sheppard piece was so powerful, rich and full in comparison.. I really feel that I've finally found the perfect setup.. If I could of afforded it I would of purchased a second Sheppard piece, that's how impressed I am.. I finally feel that I have found the perfect Tenor setup that suits me.. The 10 Tip plays pretty effortless which was quite surprising.. Don't think I could go back to a smaller tip now.. I really hope Morgan and Andy continue to produce this model for a long long time... This piece is definitely the best I've ever played ! Is there another raw eco brass piece out there in tip 10 that plays this well ?? The ease of playing from this piece is unbelievable !! That's my rant over for now :) :) :) If there are other pieces that match this piece, I'd love to hear about them.. especially in eco brass finish !! Rgds Yani aka Mervyn
 
#80 ·
This recording really shows the mp sound I get which is why I love it, some may not, lol. Heres another true improv on the mp by my duo. as part of a great night of four acts, all improv. A while back. This is just showning why I love the piece, very flexible.

 
#93 ·
I had the shank on my Andy Shepard Autograph series piece extended by Paul Carrington ( did a great job) because I was playing sharp and having it sitting so close to the edge of the neck was creating other problems. But with the longer shank it's fantastic, very happy. But wondering if any others have had a similar problem with this piece.?
 
#94 ·
This piece was made to play perfectly in tune with the AS Autograph tenor, which was in turn built to play with the Link Andy was playing at the time that was developed(Florida 'USA' 9* measuring .129"). The chamber sizes is medium-large, about the same size as an old Hollywood Dukoff, and it works great over the same range of instruments any Link or the like will. Your case is unusual, but I'm glad you found a solution that works out for you.
 
#98 ·
+1 for these mouthpieces. Bought one on a whim secondhand for a good price in a 10 and totally love it. The piece is a little brighter than I usually prefer but it's very flexible and easy to sculpt the tone however I want, so I wouldn't necessarily call it a 'bright piece.' It's extremely dynamic, so it'll go where you want.

I've been switching between this and my Ben Allen 10E 10* and love them both, but the 10E is definitely darker and more spread. The AS is more focused and a little more resistant than the 10E.

My only slight complaint is wishing the dimensions of the piece were a little fatter and more akin to a link than maybe something closer to a guardala.
 
#101 ·
ligature wise I've been experimenting with a few: an older no-name 2 screw lig (like a selmer 404, seems to be the most neutral), new marc jean lig (feels a little bright on this piece but I'll keep at it), a DG (sort of like a rovner but with a narrow metal plate, so far seems the loudest and darkest).
 
#103 ·
BUMP is anyone else playing one of these currently? I spoke with Morgan Fry via email about them and confirmed they aren't made anymore. Here are a few things he said about its design:

- It's closer to a Dukoff Hollywood than any kind of Link
- Same type chamber as a Hollywood but with a bit longer of a baffle
- "Medium short" facing, so slightly shorter than a Link curve
 
#104 ·
Interesting. I have an Andy Sheppard 7* that I find good and quite similar to Morgan Fry's "Original" model in metal, but a bit brighter.

Elsewhere (maybe here on SOTW) I have read about Morgan Fry's "Hollywood" model, but haven't seen that as a proper model name on his website. Do you know whether his Original design is based on the Dukoff Hollywood ? Morgan's own description of the Original tenor on his website says:

This is my first original design. Its voice is similar to a Florida era Link STM, but I built it with a goal in mind to respond a little better and play a little more centred on Selmer saxes. Compared to my other mouthpieces, it has a little less spread than the Vintage, and less edge than the Super Vintage. It's a great, flexible player with a lovely balance and color to the sound. And now it also includes the integrated ligature.

Rhys
 
#106 ·
I got to try one of these and I thought it was very good! Morgan does excellent work and I recommend his pieces all the time to guys overseas who were looking to try something overseas that won’t have to be shipped from the states.
He’s also a great guy to work with.
 
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