Vandoren V16 Tenor Sax Metal T7-M

The Vandoren V16 T7 Tenor mouthpiece is excellent. The quality of the tip, rails and table is truly excellent. The finish is remarkable too, really well made and finished in 24 Karat gold.

I play this in a concert band, I wanted a mouthpiece that could blend and also "shine through" when required and this mouthpiece does just that. I can also get a great sound from subtle and low to edgy and bright but it never looses the fullness of sound.

Intonation is excellent throughout the range. I have tried this mouthpiece with a variety of reeds and discovered it to be very reed friendly, even with reeds I have been using on other mouthpieces. I generally use 21/2 strength reeds and have tried it with: Rico; Rico Royals; Vandoren V16's; Vandoren ZZ; Vandoren Java Reds; Straight Vandoren; Rico Jazz select; Rigotty Gold's and Zonda and all work really well though my personal preference tends to the ZZ and the Red Javas. I can however choose a read for brighter or mellower and the mouthpiece will respond like wise.

All in all this is a very well made professional mouthpiece that is hand finished, plays extremely well and does not cost the earth that some hand made pieces doo. I would highly recommend this mouthpiece.

Pros:
1) A lot of tip opening options and three room sizes to choose from
2) Great quality control - it's ready to play right out of the box and I've never heard of any rail or table issues with this series of mouthpieces. I'm convinced that buying a new mouthpiece shouldn't require the neccessary refacing to be able to play (yes, I'm talking about you, JJ Babbitt).
3) Looks beautiful
4) Pretty affordable. Yes, it doesn't come with a ligature and a cap, but you can get a Rovner Dark for around 30 bucks, or Optimum ligature for 80 which is designed specifically for this mouthpiece, and quite honestly worth the money they are asking for it. Bottom line - even with Optimum ligature (which feels premium and has three different plates) it's cheaper than, let's say, already mentioned Otto Link.

Cons:
1) I would say the only negative is that the sounds is a bit dull. Comparing to my D'Addario Select Jazz 7, it lacks some life (and it's quiter than Select Jazz). Not that it's too dark, no, it's something else, like the sound gets lost somewhere on the way. Nothing too critical, though, and if you like softer sound you will like this mouthpiece.