THE 10MFAN OCTAGON SERIES
3-D Printed, Hand-Finished Saxophone Mouthpieces

ANNOUNCEMENT AND PRE-ORDERS:​

I am BEYOND proud and excited to finally announce the brand new 10mfan Octagon Series to all of you! I have been passionately working on this concept design for a long time, and I am so thrilled to be able to finally release it to the public.

These are 3-D printed mouthpieces using state of the art 3-D technology and design. We use 100% infill with the mouthpieces for ultimate stability...NO shortcuts!
The mouthpieces are NOT super lightweight like other 3-D mouthpieces. These mouthpieces have a truly unique octagon chamber with "chamber panels " all around on the inside of the chamber. This proprietary design concept has never been done in the mouthpiece world, and it continues to carry on the 10MFAN design commitment to innovation over imitation.

Those of us who got to try these designs here with both a round chamber and octagon chamber felt the same exact way. The octagon chamber with "chamber panels" just sounded better. I'm not going to give you acoustic theories on why that is. Is it the sound bouncing off of the "chamber panels" , or how the air interacts with the chamber, or the size and shape of the chamber??? The answer is... I design mouthpieces and I know when something plays great and just works, and these two pieces both play great and just work! I'll save the mumbo jumbo scientific reasoning for the acoustic engineers.
I've tried a ton of different chamber designs, one being this octagon design with the chamber panels, and this one played the best....THAT'S IT!

MODELS:
I've been wanting to make this announcement for so long and finally the first two pieces are ready and being made as we speak.
There is one alto model and one tenor model to start.

ALTO MODEL: "FIREBALL":
The alto mouthpiece is called the "Fireball." It is just a phenomenal all-around player with a rollover baffle that has warmth and punch and some brights when pushed. This alto piece covers pretty much anything you could imagine. Duo, trio, quartet, quintet, big band...you name it! The only thing it's probably not best for is the super loud rock stuff. But for straight ahead jazz, big band, bop, hard bop, modern stuff...this piece covers all of it. For those of you on Meyer-style pieces, you will love how this piece plays. It's got a ton of depth and color, a solid core, and it stays incredibly stable even as you push it to the extremes. No thinning out or sound diffusion here; just a rock-solid core and very balanced sound. It's so much fun to play!

TENOR MODEL: "CABERNET":
The tenor mouthpiece is called the "Cabernet." It's a darker mouthpiece that has a beautiful, rich sound, but also fullness and power, but on the dark side, for sure. This is different from anything I've put out, and I'm very excited about it. The Link players will enjoy this a lot, but it's going to please players who are using a ton of different pieces. This piece has a low rollover baffle that allows for so much beauty in the sound, but still with plenty of presence and just enough sparkle to carry that beautiful, rich sound.

I will be adding to the 10MFAN Octagon Series with many different models, and they will all have octagon chambers with chamber panels.
The most fun part for me is that all of these 3-D printed pieces will be different designs than my German barstock hard rubber designs. It just allows me to try so many new and exciting ideas I've wanted to experiment with. We have the technology and ability today to go beyond vintage designs with current mouthpiece making. I will continue with that commitment with my 3-D printed Octagon Series mouthpieces.

BAFFLES:
I'm going to make all rollover baffle designs for everyone to enjoy. I know a lot of players don't like step baffles, so I am staying away from those with this series. If you are a powerful player, I will be putting out pieces like that, but they will be rollover baffle designs that will appeal to everyone. The designs of these mouthpieces are so unique on the outside and inside and I can't wait for you to see the way the sidewalls and floor go into the chamber with the chamber panels. It's never been done before in the mouthpiece world and finally the prototyping is done for these two models and I could not be happier! These models were designed for something very specific, and I am so incredibly proud of both models.

DESIGNS:
The design of the outside and inside of the mouthpieces are completely original. They have a very modern look to them.
If you like vintage mouthpiece copies, there are dozens of those for you to choose from.
As always, here at 10MFAN mouthpieces, I am not interested in making copies of the vintage pieces. I want to offer today's players modern, fresh, and unique mouthpiece design options to choose from, beyond what we've seen with the vintage mouthpieces.
These two pieces I am releasing were not designed to be the loudest or brightest mouthpieces in the world, and they were not designed to be the warmest and quietest mouthpieces in the world. I had a specific thought in mind for both, and I've achieved that. I do that with all of my mouthpieces. I design for sound. A lot of straight ahead mouthpieces being made today don't have the right amount of resistance for a lot of players, and they miss the color and flexibility that comes from having just the right amount of resistance. Something to push against; something to chew on. These two mouthpieces are great examples of having just the right amount of resistance while feeling super comfortable to play.

HAND FINISHING:
Hand finishing is VERY VERY VERY important to me! 3-D printed pieces often do not have flat tables or proper facing curves without being hand finished. The great Brian Powell and Erik Greiffenhagen do all of the hand finishing for my current 10MFAN mouthpieces, and that will continue with the Octagon Series. The tables will be flat and the facing curves will measure properly. On 3-D printed mouthpieces, it's common for the beaks to be bumpy and/or not smooth. This can often feel strange in the mouth. The beaks on the Octagon Series will be hand-worked on to be smoother, so they will be comfortable in the mouth.

SOUND:
The problem with many 3-D printed mouthpieces, is they just don't have the resonance that I want as a player, and many sound so thin and one-dimensional. I tried a ton of different material options, baffles, chambers, floor heights, and a bunch of other variables to make sure the Octagon Series had that depth and resonance we all seek as players. I am proud to say I've achieved that with these designs. The sound is rich, resonant, and has tons of depth and color. There will be a proper balance of low's, mid's, and high's in each model.

TIP SIZES:
ALTO:
5-----.072
6---- .078
7---- .084
8---- .090

TENOR:
6*----- .095
7*----- .105
8*------.115

LIGATURES:
The Octagon Series will use standard ligatures, so the choices will be over abundant for all the players out there.
The alto piece will use ligatures that fit hr Meyer-type pieces, and the tenor piece will use ligatures that fit hr Link-type pieces.

NEW MODELS IN THE WORKS:
I am already working on new designs, and other models will be released at the beginning of 2024.

COLORS:
All of these Octagon Series mouthpieces will be matte black in color. They are not polished and painted like my hard rubber mouthpieces. At some point, I may release a limited edition color, just for fun.

PRICE:
So let's get to the price. I have heard from tons of players that they wish I had some mouthpieces to offer that would be less than my $450 hard rubber mouthpieces. Using 3-D printing allows me to accomplish this for all of you. Engineering the Octagon Series, and all the time and effort involved in this, has been quite an expense, but 3-D printing itself is not an incredible expense. This allows me to offer the Octagon Series at a lower price, so that players all over the world can get into them comfortably.
These hand finished, original design, innovative 3-D printed mouthpieces will be priced at $249 plus shipping.

I've been waiting for this day to come for a very long time, so now is your chance to get on the pre-order list and the first batch of mouthpieces will be sent out at the beginning of September. The process to make the Octagon Series is time consuming so please be patient and understanding of that. I only believe in putting out the best possible mouthpieces that are hand-finished by the top hand finishers. That takes a little time, and quality is always worth it!

More pictures will be coming ASAP. I will not have any recordings to put up until the pieces are printed and sent out to players to make videos. Hang in there for those, they will be coming next month.

I truly believe these to be the best value in the mouthpiece world. All original designs, made of quality materials, hand-finished by the best in the business, available at an incredibly low price. Best of all, these mouthpieces play FANTASTIC I am truly proud of my 10mfan Octagon Series and can't wait for players to get theirs!

AUGUST IS PRE-ORDER MONTH.
Just email me and let me know what you'd like, and if you get in early enough, I will get you a tracking number in September, once sent.

Here are some computer generated pictures. This unfinished "FIREBALL" alto mouthpiece was cut in half so you could see the octagon chamber and the chamber panels. 
That is not the shank of the mouthpiece! We literally cut the mouthpiece in half at the chamber, so you could see this revolutionary mouthpiece design! 

To get on the PRE-ORDER list, contact me at: connsaxman@comcast.net