Today, I will be reviewing three Selmer S80 classical tenor saxophone mouthpieces of different tip openings that I was able to borrow from a local music store.  My goal is to see how they perform for my style of saxophone playing.  To be fair, the Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces were designed for classical tenor saxophone playing so the whole premise for this review is not really fair to the S80 mouthpieces.  At the same time,  I know there are a fair share of high school students out there trying to play jazz on a Selmer S80 tenor sax mouthpiece so I thought this review might be informative for them.  Let’s give this review a shot and see how the Selmer S80 tenor sax mouthpieces play for me.

The last time I tried one of these Selmer S80 classical tenor sax mouthpieces was in college about forty years ago.  Although my memory is patchy on a lot of things these days, I still remember my response to trying that Selmer S80 C* tenor saxophone mouthpiece all those years ago, I didn’t like it at all!  As someone who was listening to Michael Brecker, Bob Berg and Bob Mintzer at the time, I remember thinking that the Selmer S80 saxophone mouthpiece didn’t have close to the power, brightness and projection I was looking for from a tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  In fact, to my young developing ears, the Selmer S80 sounded way too dark and dull for the sound I was looking for at the time.  Now, forty years later, I was curious to try these Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces again and see if my opinion of them has changed after forty years.

Selmer S80 C* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpiece is widely known as a classical tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  It is described on the Selmer website as having a very warm grained, broad and full toned sound.  The three Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces I borrowed were a C*, an E and an F.   Here are how those tip openings measure out according to the Selmer website (these are pre-2012 S80 mouthpieces):

Selmer S80 C*= 1.90 mm (.075″)

Selmer S80 E= 2.10 mm (.083″)

Selmer S80 F= 2.30 mm (.091″)

If you were to measure from the tip of the mouthpiece to the break where the mouthpiece starts to bend away from the reed, this would be the facing curve length. Facing curve lengths are most commonly measured in half millimeters, so a standard tenor facing length of 50 would be 25mm.

The facing curve on these three Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces is listed as 24 mm which is a 48.  These three Selmer S80 mouthpieces were made before 2012. The Selmer S80 tenor mouthpieces made after 2012 have an even shorter facing curve length of 23 mm which is a 46 (for an excellent article on these Selmer S80 mouthpiece changes check out “A Selmer C* is a C* is a C* – or is it?” by David Kessler.)  Most of the tenor saxophone mouthpieces that I have reviewed here at Neffmusic have facing curve lengths of 47-54 with most mouthpiece facings curves averaging around a 50 length.

Here is a great informative quote about facing curves from the BSS (Boston Sax Shop) website:

“With a longer facing curve, the reed is more flexible because the fulcrum, or break, is moved back, giving you more leverage against the spring of the reed. As a result, a longer facing curve offers less overall resistance, more efficiency and easier sub-tone. However, there is a downside if you go too far. The mouthpiece begins to feel mushy, loses its crispness of articulation and altissimo suffers.

In comparison, a shorter facing curve is like moving the fulcrum up, presenting less leverage on the spring of the reed. This gives the mouthpiece more cooperative resistance, as it takes more force to seal the reed which makes altissimo easier, gives you more control of articulation and presents the feeling of ‘pushing against something’. However, shorter facings often suffer from harsh low notes and are hard to play loud.”

Selmer S80 C* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The three Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces were in relatively good condition although these three mouthpieces had been used as trial mouthpieces for students who wanted to try them at the local music store so there is some wear and tear on them.  All three mouthpieces sealed well with the Boston Sax Shop Silver Label 3 1/2 tenor saxophone reeds I used on them.  I used a different reed on each mouthpiece just to avoid issues that might occur by using the same reed on different facing curves.

The diameter and beak profile of the Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces is very close to the diameter and beak profile of a typical hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece and the beak height felt very comfortable while playing.

All of my saxophone ligatures that fit comfortably on hard rubber Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpieces fit on the Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces.  I chose to use the Sax Clinic SVC Tonus Mundi String Ligature that I reviewed last year for this review.

The Selmer S80 table, rails and tip rail looked even and well balanced.   The baffle looks to have a quick rollover baffle near the tip and then what I would describe as a concave low baffle floor that you can see clearly in the photo below.  This concave baffle floor is not common on jazz tenor saxophone mouthpieces. Most jazz saxophone mouthpieces with rollover baffles have a rollover baffle that starts high near the tip and gradually curves down to the chamber area of the mouthpiece.   As you can see below, the Selmer S80 mouthpiece has a concave curve that immediately curves low and then slides down as it travels through the chamber to the square exit into the round bore area.

The Selmer S80 tenor mouthpieces have straight sidewalls that travel from the tip of the mouthpiece to the square entrance to the round bore of the mouthpiece.  The square entrance isn’t really an entrance to the chamber area but seems to me to be more of a square exit from the chamber area into the bore of the mouthpiece. The roof of the chamber looks relatively thick to my eyes.

Selmer S80 C* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Before I even played the three Selmer S80 tenor saxophone mouthpieces,  I had to wonder what effect that concave low baffle would have on the sound.  In general terms, I have described a regular baffle like a ski slope that speeds up the air to travel faster over the peak of the baffle and then speed down the ramp of the baffle towards the chamber area.  This creates more brightness and power to the sound.

In this case, the concave low baffle floor would seem to have the opposite effect by slowing down the air and creating more darkness and warmth and less power perhaps.  I’m sure those reading this with more scientific knowledge can add more details to my layman’s description of saxophone sound production and acoustics………

In general,  I have never been a fan of square chambers.  I know this will sound rudimentary but I have always been of the opinion that round chambers produced a round sound.   Square chambers produced a square and boxed in sound.  Scooped sidewall produce a richer and rounder, more 3 dimensional sound while straight side walls produce a more one dimensional focused and pure sound.  Even as I type this, I think it sounds pretty simplistic but I have experienced these characteristics more times with these variables than I can mention so I tend to think this way now.

Selmer S80 C* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

The hardest reed I had on hand to try these mouthpieces was a BSS (Boston Sax Shop) Silver Label 3 1/2 tenor saxophone reed.  I chose the Silver Label BSS reeds on purpose just to liven up the sound and perhaps give the tone a little more brightness and edge.  Although the BSS 3 1/2 reed felt a bit soft on the Selmer S80 C* tenor mouthpiece, it felt very comfortable on the Selmer S80 E and F tip openings.

My first impressions of the Selmer S80 C* upon playing it was