GS Hollywood Baritone Saxophone Mouthpiece – Best Ever!

The GS HOLLYWOOD BARITONE mouthpiece is a copy of my best Gale Hollywood vintage baritone mouthpiece like Gerry Mulligan played, and it is just fantastic. It works equally well in jazz, pit orchestra, and concert band settings, with a warm, beautiful tone, and it tunes REALLY well on both vintage and modern baritones. If you’re wanting to improve your baritone tone, the GS Hollywood can make an instant, dramatic difference in your tone. It really fills out the sound, giving you a warm, complex, saturated, interesting bartione tone that remains even throughout the scale and that blends really nicely into a saxophone section. If you push it, it will project and bark for taking a solo or even for playing funk, but it’s most at home making the baritone sound how it intrinsically should sound – fat, full, warm, and lush. I don’t think there has ever been a better all-around baritone mouthpiece available for anything like this price. The original Gale Hollywood pieces like Gerry Mulligan played are extremely expensive. The last few I saw sell went for $2500+, and I had to collect something like ten of them to find this one that stood out from the crowd as by far the best. So you’re getting an extremely precise copy of that best-ever Gale Hollywood. I think you’ll love it!

If you’re a player and not sure which tip to get, I’d say get the 5 if you want something mellow, easy to play, and blending. It’s wonderful for pit orchestra, concert band, or mainstream jazz (Gerry Mulligan played a Gale Hollywood 5 exactly like the one we copied.)  Get the 6 if you want it to take a little more air and project extra for solo playing.The 6 is probably the most all-purpose tip opening, and the .100″ tip opening is comfortable for almost anyone.  Get the 7* if you want to honk or project over a band, or for funk, rock, or loud jazz settings. I play all three tip openings, and love them all. The 7* has the facing from an original facing Gale Hollywood 7* I was lucky enough to find a few years ago. They’re all great, and you won’t go wrong, but if you’re not sure, then get the 6.

If you’re a band director or band parent looking for the best possible baritone mouthpiece to recommend to your kids to help them grow as players, and that will still blend really nicely into a concert band, I’d say go for the original 5 tip opening. It’s wonderful, and it takes air really well without being brash or unpleasant. I’ve sent some of these to band students already, and the transformation in their tone is dramatic and amazing. I think you’ll feel really good about how the saxophone section sounds with the GS Hollywood contributing to the low end.