Dave Guardala King for tenor - silver plated Dave Guardala was famous for producing expensive handmade mouthpieces for sax legends such as Michael Brecker. Along came laser technology which enabled exact replicas to be produced at a lower cost. In tests, professional players failed on every occasion to pick the original from the laser cut models. There was massive demand but due to an alledged fall out within the company production ceased. We've recently had visits from leading UK players Simon Bates (Superking) and Graham Turner (King) both of whom have old & fairly worn handmade Guardala mouthpieces. Their reaction was the same after playing these new ones, " Wow! that's how my mouthpiece used to play!" Guardala never offered a choice of tip openings or publicised their size. The idea was that to achieve the desired result it had to be a set tip opening and that a different opening would change the characteristics. We've measured them so here are the four models in ascending order of brightness: New Crescent = 8, MBII = 8*, King = 9, Superking = 9* Don't be put off if you think they're too open for you as they're so free blowing. I would never play more than a 7 in any other make and I can comfortably play any of them. We recently supplied a Superking to John Long (Head of Music at St Bede's School) and his usual choice is for a 6*. These are arguably the best metal tenor sax mouthpieces ever and sadly are unlikely to be made again so treat yourself and get your lips round one soon! Dave Guardala King. The King is patterned after the sound of King Curtis with the same great characteristics as the Crescent, plus a little more flare and brightness. In other words it is rich in tonal colour, extremely powerful and with a certain amount of 'cut' to the sound. It may be my imagination, but it did seem one step louder than the Crescent, but this could be due to the direct nature of the tone (and yes, there is a higher baffle) as opposed to any measurable increase in decibels! The tip opening is a notch wider than the Crescent equating to an Otto Link 9 so once again, not for the beginner! When playing the King, it made me think of jazz-fusion and pop saxophone-type licks and I found it excellent for hitting those top harmonics with real presence. Our Price (excluding vat): £343.83 (£404.00 Including VAT at 17.5%)