Today, I am reviewing an exciting new alto saxophone mouthpiece from 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces that is designed with a new innovative octagon shaped chamber by 3-D technology.  This is the 10mFan Fireball 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece.   I have already reviewed a number of great 10mFan tenor, alto and soprano saxophone hard rubber mouthpieces in the past that you can find here.

10mFan Fireball Octagon Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

This will be the first 10mFan mouthpiece I am reviewing that is made with this new 3-D technology so I am very curious to see what Mark Sepinuck at 10mFan came up with in regard to this new Octagon Series Fireball alto saxophone mouthpiece.

Whenever Mark Sepinuck, at 10mFan mouthpieces, comes out with a new saxophone mouthpiece model, I am always really excited to try it out because all of his saxophone mouthpieces that I have tried have been great!  Mark is always thinking about how he can meet the needs of the sax playing community with new, uniquely designed and original saxophone mouthpieces and this new 10mFan Octagon Series of mouthpieces is no exception to Mark’s standard for using innovative and original designs for each of his saxophone mouthpieces.

Mark sent me a 10mFan Fireball 6 & 7 alto saxophone mouthpiece and a 10mFan Cabernet 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece to try out.  The mouthpieces came well packaged in sturdy cardboard tubes to protect them during shipping.  This review is of the 10mFan Fireball 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece. (I have not tried the 7 tip opening as of yet)

10mFan Fireball Octagon Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The first surprise about these mouthpieces as I unpacked them was how solid and weighty they are.  Many of the other 3-D mouthpieces I have tried have been very light in weight compared to hard rubber mouthpieces of the same size and shape but these new 10mFan Octagon Series mouthpieces felt as solid and weighty as a hard rubber mouthpiece to me.

Here’s a description of the new 10mFan Octagon Series saxophone mouthpieces from the 10mFan website:

“The most revolutionary and proprietary saxophone mouthpiece chamber design in the marketplace!   If you know anything about mouthpiece design, most of the magic happens at the chamber!!!

That’s why all of my German barstock 10MFAN hard rubber mouthpieces play different than any of the vintage mouthpieces. They don’t blow like a Link or a Berg or a Meyer or any other mouthpiece, because of the internal designs, including the chambers. They may not appear super different to you, to your eye, but there’s a lot going on there. ?…. and that’s why the pieces sound and blow like 10MFAN mouthpieces, and NOTHING else.

I wanted to take that further with these 3-D printed pieces, and actually do a super unique chamber design with a totally different shape, size, and  added “chamber panels”, that have never been attempted before in the mouthpiece world.

These are mouthpieces using state of the art 3-D technology and design. These are not done on cheap home machines.  These mouthpieces have real weight (they actually weigh more than my hard rubber mouthpieces), a truly unique octagon chamber with “chamber panels” all around on the inside of the chamber, and are 100% infill, so they are stable. This proprietary design concept has never been done in the mouthpiece world, and it continues to carry on with my 10MFAN design commitment to innovation over imitation.

10mFan Fireball Octagon Series Saxophone Mouthpiece Chamber Shape (mouthpiece cut in half to show chamber)

I have tried many different shapes with the chambers and the octagon chamber was a dream come true. Those of us who got to try these designs here with both a normal round chamber and octagon chamber felt the same exact way too. The octagon chamber with “chamber panels” sounded phenomenal with added clarity and speed. The totally unique chamber and chamber panels give the throat a squeeze like nothing else in the marketplace, ever before.  The combination of the sound bouncing off of the “chamber panels”, how the air interacts with the chamber, the size and shape of the chamber, the totally unique “squeeze” throat using 3-D technology has allowed me to make this internal design.

I design mouthpieces and I know when something plays great and when the designs work great…..and these two mouthpieces both play great and the designs work fantastic!!!!-Mark Sepinuck

The 10mFan Supernova is available in 4 tip openings:

5 – .072

6 – .078

7 – .084

8 – .090

10mFan Fireball Octagon Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here’s a more specific description of the Fireball alto saxophone mouthpiece from the 10mFan website:

“This mouthpiece is a ton of fun to play. It’s a great lead alto mouthpiece, but it also can be sweet and go from very soft to nice and loud! It’s got a real classic vintage alto sound and I’m extremely proud of it.

It’s got a low rollover baffle and straight side walls, and my octagon chamber with chamber panels.  I love the throat squeeze in this mouthpiece. I wanted the player to be able to fill up the mouthpiece how they wanted, and I’m really going to focus on rollover baffles with the Octagon Series Mouthpieces.   The feedback so far has been incredible. 

The 10mFan Octagon Series Fireball alto sax mouthpiece is an absolutely killer alto mouthpiece for the modern player!   The vintage alto guys will go crazy for this mouthpiece, because it is a great alto mouthpiece with a low baffle that has that classic alto sound… but with extra punch, and brights available, and great altissimo. It is focused and not intended to be a fatter, more spread sounding alto piece.  The sound of this mouthpiece will go straight in front of you right to the back of the room!

For those of you on Meyer or Link style alto mouthpieces, who want more focus and power, you will love how this Fireball alto mouthpiece plays. It’s got a ton of depth and color, a rock-solid core, and it stays incredibly stable and balanced even as you push it to the extremes.  It’s so much fun to play!”-Mark Sepinuck

10mFan Fireball Octagon Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The new 10mFan Fireball alto sax mouthpiece has the traditional three rings on the shank that all of the 10mFan saxophone mouthpieces have.  It also has “10mFan” and “Octagon Series” engraved on the top of the mouthpiece.  On the bottom corners of the mouthpiece next to the table is engraved “Fireball” on one corner and “6” on the other corner.

The mouthpiece looks great and right up to the normal everyday 10mFan standards of excellence.  From day one, Mark Sepinuck has been very serious about producing top of the line saxophone mouthpieces of the highest standards.  Even though this Fireball alto sax mouthpiece is made with a new 3-D technology, the Fireball still holds up to the standards that matter in regard to the way the mouthpiece plays.  The table, rails, tip and baffle area all look perfectly balanced, even and precise.  In fact, these mouthpieces, like the 10mFan hard rubber mouthpieces, are all finished by the expert mouthpiece refacers, Brian Powell and Erik Greiffenhagen.

The table, rails and tip rail look as good as any hard rubber mouthpiece I have seen and the surface area of these areas are as smooth and precise as a hard rubber mouthpiece.  The baffle is glossy smooth for the first 1/4 inch of baffle and then there is some texture to the material from that point of the baffle down into the chamber of the mouthpiece.  Mark ad