Theo Wanne ESSENTIALS Contemporary Alto Mouthpiece

Well known for their market leading premium mouthpieces, Theo Wanne has now released an exciting range of more affordable mouthpieces that compete well with the best brands in this category.

Designed across the board from Soprano through to Baritone, the ESSENTIAL series brings us small range of models that suit every style.  The Contemporary model brings us a brighter and more projecting sound, but still with plenty of body and core built in, allowing us to cut through and compete with the loudest instruments!  

For many years Theo Wanne has been producing premium-quality industry-leading Signature mouthpieces.  However, they are EXPENSIVE!  Not any more - the ESSENTIAL series addresses this issue by by maintaining their high-level design methods, but due to the introduction of their proprietary "Additive Mouthpiece Process" (AMP) alongside the use of a proprietary bio-safe polymer they have been able to offer a mouthpiece range that is at last affordable for many!

ADDITIVE MOUTHPIECE PROCESS

It has been Theo’s goal to bring his mouthpieces to a greater audience for years, and finally the new AMP process allows him and his company to do this.  It stands for Additive Manufacturing Process and this is an advanced form of 3D printing, but without the traditional limitations that are associated with this method.  The usual process for producing a 3D printed mouthpiece is to build up layers, one on top of the other, and this creates a whole series of ‘steps’ within the internal geometry of the mouthpiece.  However, correct mouthpiece design would normally dictate that we should have a series of smooth curves in order to optimise airflow.  Theo has finally been able to achieve this with AMP

Features

• Material: Proprietary Bio-safe Polymer

• Made In: USA

• Chamber: Medium Chamber™ 

• Baffle: Medium High-Step Baffle

• Ligature: Not included - standard hard rubber size required

• Recommended for: R&B, Jazz, Pop, Rock 'n Roll, Anything Contemporary!

Staff Review

Having just jumped off a comparison video with these featuring against some other well-know 'bright' hard rubber mouthpieces I am extremely enthused for the Contemporary model.  I now have to apply a whole new mindset when reviewing this mouthpiece, because people can now actually afford to BUY this mouthpiece straight up without having to save several pay packets!  When I initially tried this mouthpiece in the video I wasn't really sure what AMP meant and all I could really see was that the material looked a little more 'textured' on the outer surface than the traditional Signature mouthpieces we associate with Theo.  But otherwise, it played just like a high quality Theo piece, in this case plenty of core and plenty of power and quality brightness on top!  So in other words, it does exactly what it set out to do.

I am sometimes fearful of mouthpieces that have big steps in them, especially on alto, as I build up a preconception that I'm going to strip paint.  However, this really doesn't do that.  It is an enjoyable power, as opposed to an edgy and ear-blocking one!

Jim Cheek