No, I didn't NEED yet another mouthpiece, but the black mambo has intrigued me ever since Steve came up with it. Ordered one & gave it a test run today. It's on my #2 neck of my Goodson-designed Orpheo black nickel tenor. It has a #2 Fibracell Premier reed attached. The results are unlike anything I've experienced before. There's a richness to the sound you have to play/hear to believe. I suspect some sort of voodoo MUST have been invoked!

On top of that, it's simply gorgeous....not just another plain black mouthpiece.

I've had a Black Mambo for about 8 months and have been very happy with it. It took a little while to find the right reeds, and after talking to Steve I got some Gonzales #2 and that was just what was needed.

I'm really interested in this piece, too. I usually use metal pieces on my SA80 II (Vandoren V16 T75, or OttoLink Super ToneMaster) but there are times when a hard rubber piece is definitely called for, and I'd like something that is both darker than my metal pieces yet more lively than my somewhat dud-sounding Selmer Soloist D piece.

Probably gonna have to wait til Christmas tho, at the rate business has been lately.

What opening are you using with the Gonz #2 reeds??

I was pretty much ready to order a Black Mambo, then up pops the Ace of Spades.....the baffles and chambers look pretty similar, and I really liked what I heard on the demo video. I wonder how much difference the ligature is making, over and above the difference in materials, of course.

Could somebody give an explanation of the difference in these two mouthpieces?

The JACK OF SPADES is carved from one piece of Grenadilla wood.

The Black Mambo is made from hard rubber based resin. It has a high baffle, big chamber, and long facing piece

I made my pilgramage to New Orleans last week. The purpose of the trip was to go see Steve. I brought my alto so he could take a look at it and to get a new copper neck fitted to it. I also got a neck enhancer for it. My 1960 Le Blanc Noble Alto loved all of the attention. I was also kinda in the market for a new mouthpiece for my '63 Mk VI, if I could find one I liked better than the Ponzol 110 Super that I bought as a used mouthpiece from Steve 15 or 20 years ago. Steve laid out 5 mouthpieces for me to try. I started with my Ponzol to get a benchmark, then tried each of the mouthpieces in turn on a beautiful Saxgourmet Super 400 Tenor. Each one had its own personality, that's for sure. I would have been very happy with three of them, but the one that won, hands down, was the last one Steve handed me. The Black Mambo. And I got the feeling that Steve already knew which one I was gonna pick. The Black Mambo is very easy playing, with an extremely complex, dark tone, and very warm sounding. It's not your typical rock'n'roll screamer but it'll do anything else you want it to. Awesome mouthpiece, Steve. Thank you so much!

I'm waiting for another shipment of these to come in - 120 is a bit wider than what I want to go - I'm hoping that the 105 or 110 comes back...

I've had a .120 for a few months now and am very happy with the way it plays. It is bright, but not TOO bright. It sub tones easily. I switched to softer reeds (Fibracell #2) and it improved my results considerably.