Today, I am reviewing an original and uniquely designed alto saxophone mouthpiece named the “Geller Blackbird” that I received from Max Geller in Munich, Germany.

Max reached out to me a number of months ago to see if I was interested in trying his new Geller Blackbird ebonite tenor and alto saxophone mouthpieces.  The drawings and mouthpiece photos he sent me of the designs of these two saxophone mouthpieces intrigued me enough that I was very curious to try these two mouthpieces out.

I have already reviewed the Geller Blackbird tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I was very impressed with and today I will be reviewing the Geller Blackbird 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

As I wrote in the Geller Blackbird tenor saxophone mouthpiece review, what intrigued me about the design concept of the Geller Blackbird mouthpieces are the original and unique designs of both of these mouthpieces.  The Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece  has a very unique body design and the mouthpiece baffle and chamber are like nothing I have ever seen before.

As you look at the photos in this review, you will probably agree that the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece has a very beautiful, flowing, modern and futuristic look to it.  Yes, the design and shape of this mouthpiece is different than what I am used to, but I am very curious to see how this mouthpiece will perform for me.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Here’s a quote from the Geller Mouthpiece website about the Geller Ebonite Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpieces:

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece came well packaged and protected from Germany.  The Blackbird mouthpiece comes in a well made thick white box with a “G” gold logo on the lid and “Geller Ebonit” printed in gold below the logo.

The bottom of the box has the tip opening of 6 listed as well as more exact tip measurements of 1.90 mm/.075 inch.   Below the tip opening, the facing length is listed as 22 mm as well as the description of the chamber as an “oval chamber”.

Inside the box, the Blackbird mouthpiece is nestled in a luxurious thick black velvet bag that has a red velvet interior.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece is absolutely beautiful to look at as you take it out of that lush velvet bag.  The ebonite and gold are smooth and shiny with not an imperfection, fingerprint or smudge anywhere.

The tip, rails and table look flawlessly made and my alto sax reeds lined up with the tip rail pretty closely.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird alto sax mouthpiece has a beautifully smooth medium high and long baffle profile.   The baffle has a very unique shape to it as you can see in the photos.  It is not just a flat baffle but has a fluid shape to it.  The shape is almost like water was flowing down from the tip into the chamber and was immediately frozen solid into that fluid shape.

Unlike the Blackbird tenor sax mouthpiece which had straight sidewalls, the Blackbird alto sax mouthpiece has scooped out sidewalls.  The chamber is described as “oval” with the top of the chamber scooped out slightly and the bottom of the chamber also scooped out slightly.

I would describe the Geller Blackbird chamber as a large chamber as it looks larger than a Meyer medium chamber when I compare the Meyer chamber and the Blackbird chamber side by side.

Geller Blackbird6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

The Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece also has a gold shank to it that looks smooth and beautiful as well.  As you can see in the photo below, the gold shank is not just sitting on the end of the mouthpiece but the gold plated brass is designed to line a good portion of the bore of the mouthpiece which I would think would take a lot of craftsmanship and artistry to create.

Max describes the gold plated shank this way on his website:

“Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpieces by Geller-Ebonit are provided with a gold-plated brass stud, which creates an extremely direct connection to the instrument.”-Max Geller

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Whereas the Blackbird tenor saxophone mouthpiece had a lower beak profile compared to most hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces, the beak profile of the Geller Blackbird alto saxophone mouthpiece felt similar in height to the beak height of a typical Meyer alto saxophone beak. The beak height felt very comfortable for me.

Geller Blackbird 6 Ebonite Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

Max Geller also sent a beautifully crafted gold ligature with the Blackbird alto mouthpiece.  The contact points of the ligature to the reed are two raised bars.   The ligature is not flimsy and bendable but made of thick brass.

Although the screw does tighten and loosen the ligature to a degree, my one complaint about the Geller gold ligature is that it is pretty tight on the mouthpiece body even with the screw all the way loosened.  You can slide the ligature about 75% down the mouthpiece table and reed before it tightens pretty firmly around the mouthpiece body.

If you wanted the ligature placed more towards the back of the reed, you would have to push the ligature on further and my guess is that it would put marks on the body of the mouthpiece which really would be a shame for such a beautiful looking mouthpiece.

Geller Gold Ligature for the Blackbird Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

When first trying the Geller Blackbird alto sax mouthpiece, I noticed immediately that my normal