Best Saxophone Mouthpiece Refacers
What is mouthpiece refacing?
Mouthpiece refacing is the customising of a mouthpiece to improve its performance and allows a player to optimise any weak aspects in order to be free to express themselves.
Mouthpiece refacing usually consists of detailed hand-finishing, flattening of the mouthpiece table, adjusting of the facing curve, matching the mouthpiece tip to a reed, baffle height adjustments, enlarging and modification of the chamber, changing of tip openings, replacement of bite plates, banding of cracked shanks, evening and straightening of side rails, work on the window.
Some refacers can also do shank repair and banding, adding of baffle inserts and other specific tasks. The prices of refacing hard rubber, wood and plastic mouthpieces are generally the cheapest, followed by metal and lastly, stainless steel will be the most expensive as it is very labour intensive. Some refacers may not even want to work on stainless steel.
Why should you reface a mouthpiece?
You should reface a mouthpiece if you enjoy the properties of a particular mouthpiece but might want to tweak certain qualities.
Some vintage mouthpieces might also come in very small tip openings or lack projection. Hence one might want to modify these for more modern playing.
Some players also want to a vintage mouthpiece but don’t want to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars. Hence one might want to get a modern mouthpiece and have it refaced to play and sound like their favourite vintage mouthpiece. Of course it will not be exactly like the vintage one, but they could get close and at a fraction of the price.
Who should have their mouthpiece refaced?
Anyone can benefit from mouthpiece refacing. Be it beginners, hobbyists or professionals, one should not to compromise on their sound if they feel their mouthpiece is not playing optimally.
Legendary Mouthpiece Refacers
These are some of the legendary mouthpiece craftsmen that are unfortunately not with us anymore:
- Jon Van Wie
- Freddie Gregory
- Ron Coelho (RPC Mouthpieces)
- Geoff Lawton
- Ralph Morgan
- Doc Tenney
- Frank Wells
Who should NOT have their mouthpiece refaced?
- Players who have a mouthpiece that can never been replaced. It could be one that has sentimental value, or a special gift from someone, or one that is very rare. It could get lost in the mail, or the refacer might actually ‘improve’ it but make it something that does not suit you anymore
- Someone who is hoping their playing will magically get better after a mouthpiece reface
- Someone hoping that their refaced mouthpiece will play EXACTLY like another mouthpiece
List of Mouthpiece Refacers
This is a list of all the known mouthpiece refacers and their pricing for easy access. Please do let me know at saxophonelessons.com@gmail.com if I missed anyone out.
DISCLAIMER: These are not meant to be recommendations but just a good list of all the great craftsmen around the world. Please exercise caution in all interactions!
Brian Powell
https://www.mouthpieceguys.com/pricing-services-1
Erik Greiffenhagen
https://www.mouthpieceguys.com/pricing-services-1
Ed Zentera
http://ezmpc.com/customization/
Keith Bradbury (Mojo Mouthpiece Work)
https://www.mojomp.com/services-1
Adam Niewood
https://www.niewood.com/mouthpieces.htm
Sebastian Knox
https://www.sebastianknox.com/collections/woodwind-services
Ted Klum
Morgan Fry
https://morganfrymouthpieces.com/content/mouthpiece-refacing
Eric Falcon
Probably can find him on Facebook
Ed Pillinger
https://pillingermouthpieces.co.uk/
Phil Barone
https://www.philbarone.com/form/contact-phil-barone
John Reilly
https://www.jrmpcdr.com/pricing-services
John Yoakum
Email: jomiyo@gmail.com
Bob Carpenter
https://worldwidesax.com/services/mouthpiece-repair/
Joe Giardullo (Soprano Planet)
https://sopranoplanet.com/rebalance/
Phil-Tone By Le Son
https://phil-tone.com/refacing
Kirill Poudavoff
Benjamin Allen
https://allenmouthpieces.com/mouthpieces
Tommaso Troncon
https://www.tommasotroncon.com
Mark Spencer
Probably can find him on Facebook
Norbert Stachel
http://www.norbertstachel.com/#workshop
Avel Sound Concept
https://avelsoundconcept.com/refacing/
Sakshama
https://sakshamamouthpieces.com/
Matt Marantz
https://www.marantzcustommouthpieces.com/rates
Eric Drake
http://www.saxcraft.com/custom-mouthpieces/
Tommy Occhiuto
https://www.occhiutowoodwinds.com/service
Marin Spivak (Horned Toad)
Kay Siebold
http://kaysiebold.de/Mundstueck-Refacing:_:16.html
Greg Weir
Email: greg.wier@yahoo.com
Matt Voss
Probably can find him on Facebook
Rafael Navarro
http://navarromouthpieces.com/
Dave Jary
https://jarycustom.wordpress.com/contact/
Nicolas Trefeil
http://www.nicolastrefeil.com/
Lawrie Waldron
Not sure if he is still refacing
Jo Schnabl (Germany)
http://mouthpiece-pro.com/index.html
Fred Lamberson
http://www.lambersonmouthpieces.com/
Egil Furre
Email: egfurre@gmail.com
Jimmy Jensen
Jin Jo
www.jscustomsaxophone.com
Email: jscustomsaxophone@gmail.com
Johannes Gerber
https://www.johannesgerber.com/
Pat Morisson (France)
https://www.saxophoneboutique.com/a-propos-du-refa%C3%A7age-about-refacing/
James Bunte
https://www.jamesbunte.com/mouthpieces
Istvan Gabor (Sweden)
https://saxmundstykker.dk/Istvan_Refacing.html
Arnold Montgomery
https://www.ammouthpieces.com/
Eddie Novikov
Email: enovikov14@gmail.com
Les Becs d’Autan
https://www.les-becs-dautan.fr/
Stephen Kammerer (SK Mouthpieces)
https://skmouthpieces.as.me/schedule.php
Caleb Burkhardt
Email: Burkhardt.caleb@gmail.com
Liu Shizhao (China)
Email: saxproshop@gmail.com
https://www.gottsu-japan.com/home-english/reface-en/
John Thomas (Thomas Woodwinds)
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