Gottsu Mouthpieces

The Sepia Tone Double Ring Tenor is on the market since 2020. Its concept refers to the design of the Otto Link Double Ring, a metal mouthpiece which the American manufacturer introduced in 1950. A number of the most important saxophonists of jazz blew this model. Well preserved copies or even those in original condition are very rare and accordingly expensive. A certain serial dispersion in production has a tradition at the Otto Link company. Therefore, it is not without problems to speak of the characteristic sound of the Double Ring or Florida: the product quality and design of the mouthpieces in question were already subject to considerable fluctuations at that time, so that the still existing copies, once regardless of their state of preservation, often differ greatly in sound and also in their respective playing characteristics. This, by the way, applies to the current products of the Otto Link company: one is well advised to choose the best one from several copies of the same model! Nevertheless, many people consider the so-called Double Ring to be the best sounding metal mouthpiece produced by Otto Link and, only produced in manageable quantities, also the most sought-after. Many musicians who blew a double ring, however, subjected their mouthpiece to an elaborate refacing in order to optimise the playing characteristics of their instrument and mouthpiece. Manufacturers such as Theo Wanne, for example, restored mouthpieces, developed methods of refacing before later starting to develop their own mouthpieces. Masahiko Goto, too, gained several years of experience in refacing and only later decided to produce his own mouthpieces. This knowledge about the optimal facing curve, also the exact knowledge of historical models, is of benefit for the development of a modern mouthpiece such as the Gottsu Sepia Tone Double Ring.

Some manufacturers have been offering replicas of this mouthpiece for quite some time now: among others the companies Retro Revival, Marantz, Ted Klum, Sakshama, Phil Tone, but also Rafael Navarro or Theo Wanne refer to the Otto Link Double Ring. However, none of these manufacturers is able to produce an exact and to a certain extent universally valid replica of the Otto Link Double Ring, even with the most modern laser scanning methods, because the original, as already mentioned, was subject to certain variations in design and quality. Retro Revival, for example, would like to point out that they used the best preserved and playable copy that was still available to them and used this as a reference model and template for their replica. In this respect there are, if at all, only replicas of a very specific individual copy. Other manufacturers, such as Theo Wanne, claim that they produce the model that surpasses the best examples of the surviving historical models. Be that as it may, the term homage is probably most applicable to the characteristic of the respective product, and what is so bad about enjoying a successful homage instead of a replica? In the end, all that matters is how you sound on a mouthpiece and not what it is called and what price you pay for it. There are only good or bad mouthpieces.

In this sense, i.e. as a homage, the Gottsu company apparently designed its Sepia Tone Double Ring.

Everything that has been written here before regarding the product quality of the Sepia Tone Jazz Metal and Master 2018 applies to the Master 2018: this mouthpiece, declared as handmade, is absolutely precise and perfectly produced, balanced and it is a jewel!

The external appearance of the Sepia Tone Double Ring is very similar to that of the historical Otto Link Master: there is this characteristic short shaft with a pronounced throat at the transition to the body of the mouthpiece. At the base of the throat there are two rings engraved in parallel: hence the name Double Ring. On the top of the mouthpiece there is a flat metal band that rises longitudinally and bears the engraved inscription Gottsu. The design of the chamber and baffle essentially follows the design of the historical model. The tip-rail of the Master 2018 is considerably narrower than that of the Sepia Tone Jazz metal, exceptionally fine and precisely worked out. There is a rollover baffle of medium to low height, which merges smoothly into a low baffle about 5 mm behind the tip-rail and descends deeply into a large and smoothly rounded chamber. This surface of the baffle is slightly flatter in cross-section than that of the Sepia Tone Jazz metal. As with the Sepia Tone Jazz metal and Master 2018, the side panels are deeply and roundly hollowed out, the transitions to the baffle are in soft, smoothly polished curves. Every detail is precisely and perfectly executed.

While the Sepia Tone Jazz metal is defined more as an all-round mouthpiece that has a clear signature sound but can be shifted in different sonic directions by the experienced player, the Master 2018 and now also the Sepia Tone Double Ring have something that can only be described as: plenty of character! The blowing resistance is low, but is designed to provide optimum sound control. The mouthpiece blows much more freely and openly than the Sepia Tone Jazz metal, but gives a touch more resistance than a Retro Revival Super D or Theo Wanne Gaja III. For all mouthpieces of the company Gottsu and especially for the Sepia Tone Double Ring the following applies: the blowing resistance is exactly right! Although the mouthpiece responds exceptionally easily, it provides the wind player’s embouchure with exactly the support he needs for a controlled and well-balanced tone.

Like the Sepia Tone Jazz metal and the Master 2018, the Sepia Tone Jazz metal is extremely tolerant of reeds of different thickness and different cuts: a Vandoren Classique No. 3 sounds just as good on this mouthpiece as a Vandoren Java No. 3.5 or Vandoren V16. A Casual Signature synthetic reed also works with the Sepia Tone Double Ring. As a ligature, the Wood Stone Tenor Otto Link M GP Ligature is especially recommended for this mouthpiece. But also with the Platinum Ligature from Rovner the best results can be achieved.

The Sepia Tone Double Ring really opens up all possibilities: depending on how you play it, it can sound soft and dark, almost sweetish or sharply focussing. The spatial depth of the tone is striking: some other mouthpieces may sound loud and wide, large and round, but the sound lacks something you could call its spatiality, it seems flat. With a Sepia Tone Double Ring the tone stands in the room like a marble statue. There is a clearly defined, dark and warm core and around it several layers of rich overtones. The tone is very assertive, contoured. The dynamic range of the Sepia Tone Jazz metal is extremely wide: whether you blow pianissimo or fortissimo, the basic substance of the tone always remains stable, clearly outlined. Subtones, the lower registers as well as the highest are easily controllable, as are the harmonics. The intonation is very good. The Sepia Tone Double Ring is an excellent mouthpiece, which makes it possible to express the most different facets of the sound, the own playing perception. This mouthpiece grows with its player and the player with it. Whether it is a successful replica or a homage, it is one of the most outstanding mouthpieces of its kind currently available.