Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

This is an Alto mouthpiece I developed for my son to play easily at school. It began as a baritone mouthpiece I pulled from Thingiverse creator ncmouthpieces but has had extensive work to it for it to play the way I wanted it. I have printed a number of different mouthpieces from around the web and modeled this one after my favorite elements of each, particularly the Windy City beak and rails (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6645230 ((highly recommend this mouthpiece BTW, its it very good, but more baffle than I normally like))). I made major changes to lower the baffle, opened both the chamber and throat for a more meyer like sound, plus some slight adjustment to the lay/tip opening. I also did some cosmetic stuff like reforming the exterior to fit my eye. This design is inspired by the Meyer and Selmer S80, with a tip opening around 1.78 (that may change depending on elbow grease during sanding). If you get the bug, I have designed a wall mounted mouthpiece holder that fits Alto and Tenor mouthpieces.

Overall it plays very well from top to bottom with little effort.

Print at your favorite filament settings. I have printed in PLA, PETG, and ABS. All play well.

.2 or .16

Solid fill or bump the number of wall lines to 6

No Supports

No brim

Outer wall is bumped up to .6 to help with sanding the table.

Seam - aligned so that it runs down the edge of the table (so it can be sanded off) or wherever you want if you dont mind the look.

Notes on Finishing:

It is important to sand the table and interior seam down. THIS IS NOT PLAYABLE RIGHT OFF THE PRINTER.

Instructions:

Use a high grit sand paper, 600+, on a hard flat surface (granite, glass, mirror etc) and lightly pull the mouthpiece from shank to tip, lifting the shank as you go to ensure you are consistent across the facing curve. You are not removing a ton of material so go light on the pressure. It takes anywhere from 20-50+ strokes to get the table where you will want it, but periodically check to ensure the rails are sanding evenly (one is not thicker than the other, and that the tip has sanded evenly. If not, add slight pressure to the thinner side for a couple strokes. Once you have the table sanded so that it looks like a fogged mirror (super flat, not indentations from the layer lines), take a blank sheet of printer paper, lay the table flat, and rub the table hard until it is nice and shiny (note: if you go too long, you will feel the mouthpiece start to snag, you've gone too far, so stop, you haven't ruined it but do not go any more).

For the interior, I wrap a bit of the 600 sandpaper around an old sharpie to get it circular, and sand down the z seam on the inside. You also need to sand or use a de-burring tool to bevel the interior edge of the shank to smooth it a bit…too sharp and it may damage your cork. It is up to you if you want to sand the interior smooth. I find it plays fine only hitting the z seam, but if your settings leave the layer lines jagged you may want to sand it lightly.

Use a tooth cushion, PLA will not last long against your teeth.

It takes me about 5-10 minutes to finish a mouthpiece.

Health and Safety. Some may complain that FDM is not food safe. Fine. Don't print it. If you are worried about, there are some options online about coating it in paraffin wax or other food safe options to “seal” it. I have done both and do not notice a difference.

Other recommendations: there are some great designers on cults3D you can consider if you are interested in pay-to-play mouthpieces with different styles, sounds, and openings.