Dave Guardala Traditional Bebop Gold Alto serial 1678
Here is an original condition 1980's Dave Guardala Handmade alto. It is marked "DG T/B G" Serial 1678. Early handmade 4 digit serial pieces in original condition are getting nearly impossible to find. This mouthpiece measures .088" on my guage. This is the Traditional Bebop Model in Gold plate.
This particular mouthpiece is in excellent original condition and has only had one owner. The gold plate is almost completely intact.
Examining this mouthpiece, we see some of the features that make it distinctive. This piece has a deep, concave step baffle, slightly rounded at the back, which opens into a very deep chamber. It also has slightly undercut sidewalls for a fatter sound.
Dave Guardala was an innovative manufacturer who began his custom line of mouthpieces by manually machining blanks and finishing them by hand. He was able to provide a variety of geometries by changing the internal geometry by either changing the chamber size, or the height and length of the baffle or a combination of both. Original customers of Dave Guardala included Bill Evans, Michael Brecker, Tom Scott, Branford Marsalis and others.
We prefer to sell our vintage mouthpieces in their original or existing condition and let the customer choose what to do with it. We can offer a 10% discount on our services for customization, please request by email at sebastianknoxwoodwinds@gmail.com.