Ralph Morgan History and Company Information.

The Morgan Mouthpieces are designed and created by some of the most experienced and skilled mouthpiece technicians in the World. Ralph Morgan started playing saxophone professionally at the age of 12. His Father was Chief Woodwind Designer at the Conn Company. Ralph served in WWII as a bomber pilot and when the War was over, went to work for Selmer. Ralph retired from Selmer in 1980 as the Chief Woodwind Designer. He designed the Selmer 10G clarinet and many of the intermediate and student woodwind instruments for Selmer. Ralph has also had a hand in design work for many other musical instrument and accessory manufacturers.
In the early 1980s, Ralph started his own mouthpiece manufacturing company. His goal was to bring back the "Chart Designed" and handcrafted mouthpieces which were popular in the 1930s - 1960s. With strong attention to detail, Ralph designed and produced the best hand-crafted hard rubber mouthpieces in the world. Sadly, Ralph Morgan passed away on August 23, 2007.
His legacy, company and products will be continued by Ralph's long-time employees and his widow Georgia Morgan. Georgia will continue to serve as the owner and CEO of the company. Erik Grieffenhagen has been with the company for over 23 years and has designed several of the mouthpieces the company produces. John MacQueen has been with the company for over 17 years. Mark Delozier has been with the company for one year.
These three represent a combined half-century of experience producing some of the best mouthpieces ever made. They are all craftsmen and musicians and are committed to continuing the production of the Morgan Mouthpieces using the same materials and processes they have always used.

What makes the Morgan Mouthpieces unique?

Ralph's dedication to detail was truly astonishing. Nothing about the design of these mouthpieces is trivial and all aspects of production are under the full control of the Company. The rubber formula is unique to the Morgan Company. No other company in the world uses the same rubber formulation. The rubber is made from the finest grade European Ebonite and is a pure rubber formula with no synthetic additives. It is the same rubber formula that was used by the best manufacturers during the 1920s - 1950s.

In 1984, Ralph designed the molds that create the blanks for his clarinet, alto and tenor mouthpieces. These molds produce blanks that are unique to the Morgan Company. No other mouthpiece company uses the same molds or blanks. Ralph's molding process is unique in that the rubber is pressure injected into the molds to make the mouthpiece blanks.
Ralph insisted on old Steam Transfer Presses to produce the blanks rather than modern Electronic Presses which can leave soft spots in the rubber. After the rubber blanks come out of the molds, they are very soft rubber castings. To cure the rubber, the mouthpieces go through 10-13 cycles of heating and cooling to create a hard rubber casting that is ready for facing.
The castings are then faced and finished by some of the most skilled mouthpiece makers in the industry. Erik, John, and Brian have spent their entire careers working full-time with Ralph producing these mouthpieces. All of the Morgan mouthpieces are hand-faced and finished. These are truly fantastic mouthpieces and have been carefully designed and hand-crafted by the most experienced craftsmen in the world. Truly a masterpiece.

Morgan Jazz Model Mouthpieces:
The Morgan Jazz Model Mouthpieces are traditional style mouthpieces with round chambers and low rollover baffles. These are made to reflect the styles of popular traditional mouthpieces from the 1940s – 1960s. This model is made of an exclusive pure 100% hard rubber formula. The mouthpiece castings are created exclusively for the Morgan Company using Morgan tooling. The castings are then completely finished by hand to exact specifications. These are available in Medium, Medium-Large and Large chamber sizes. The Medium Chamber produces a bright, brilliant and centered tone. The Medium-Large Chamber produces a darker core tone with more edge. The Large Chamber produces a warm, deep and rich tone. Available for both alto and tenor models.

Morgan Excalibur Model Mouthpiece:
The Morgan Excalibur Model Mouthpieces are traditional style mouthpieces with round chambers and low rollover baffles. These are streamline mouthpieces with smaller bodies than the Jazz models and have a similar core tone but with more edge and power. This model is made of an exclusive pure 100% hard rubber formula. The mouthpiece castings are created exclusively for the Morgan Company using Morgan tooling. The castings are then completely finished by hand to exact specifications. These are available in Medium, Medium-Large and Large chamber sizes. The Medium Chamber produces a bright, brilliant and centered tone. The Medium-Large Chamber produces a darker core tone with more edge. The Large Chamber produces a warm, deep and rich tone. Available for both alto and tenor models.

RALPH MORGAN
Saxophone Mouthpiece Facing Charts Acousti-Match Saxophone Facings

Classical
Jazz
Vintage Model
Tip Opening
Suggested Reed#
Soprano
Soprano
Soprano
 
 
 
 
1C
.041
3 - 3 1/2
 
 
3C
.045
3 - 3 1/2
 
n/a
4
.050
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
 
n/a
5
.060
2 1/2 - 3
 
n/a
6
.065
2 1/2 - 3
 
n/a
7
.070
2 - 3
 
n/a
 
.075
2 - 2 1/2
Alto
Alto
Alto
 
 
1C
 
 
.057
3 1/2 - 4
2C
 
 
.059
3 - 4
3C
 
 
.062
3 - 3 1/2
 
4L, 4M
 
.065
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
 
5L, 5M, 5E, 5EL
5
.070
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
 
6L, 6M, 6E, 6EL
6
.075
2 1/3 - 3
 
7L, 7M, 7E, 7EL
7
.080
2 - 3
 
8L, 8M, 8E, 8EL
 
.085
2 - 2 1/2
C-Melody Tenor
 
 
 
 
4
 
 
.08
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 (Bb Tenor Reed)
5
 
 
.085
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 (Bb Tenor Reed)
6
 
 
.09
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 (Bb Tenor Reed)
Tenor
Tenor
Tenor
 
 
2C
 
 
.065
3 - 4
3C
 
 
.075
3 - 3 1/2
 
4L, 4M
 
.080
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
 
5L, 5M, 5E, 5EL
 
.085
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
 
6L, 6M, 6E, 6EL
6
.090
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
 
7L, 7M, 7E, 7EL
7
.095
2 - 3
 
8L, 8M, 8E, 8EL
8
.100
2 - 3
 
8*L, 8*M, 8*E, 8*EL
 
.105
2 - 3
 
9L, 9M, 9E, 9EL
 
.110
2 - 3
 
9*L, 9*M, 9*E, 9*EL
 
.115
2 - 3
Baritone
Baritone
Baritone
 
 
n/a
 
1C
.068
3 - 3 1/2
 
n/a
6
.080
3 - 3 1/2
 
n/a
7
.090
2 1/2 - 3
 
n/a
8
.110
2 - 3
Bass/Baritone
Bass/Baritone
 
 
 
 
n/a
6
.080
3 - 3 1/2
 
n/a
7
.090
2 1/2 - 3
 
n/a
8
.110
2 - 3
Bass
Bass
 
 
 
n/a
 
1C (uses a baritone reed)
.068
2 1/2 - 3 1/2
Soprano Saxophone
Model Description Opening(s)
RMVS Vintage Soprano 1C, 3C,4,5,6, 7.
Alto Saxophone
Model Description Opening(s)
RMAJ HR Jazz Alto (Med, Large) 4M, 4L, 5M, 5L, 6M, 6L,
7M, 7L, 8M, 8L.
RMAJML HR Jazz Alto (Med-Lrg) 4ML, 5ML, 6ML, 7ML, 8ML.
RMAC HR Classic Alto 1C, 2C, 3C, 6C.
RMAE Excalibur Alto (Med.) 5, 6, 7, 8.
RMAEML Excalibur Alto (Med-Lrg) 5, 6, 7, 8.
RMAEL Excalibur Alto (Large) 5, 6, 7, 8.
Tenor Saxophone
Model Description Opening(s)
RMTJ HR Jazz Tenor 5M, 5L, 6M, 6L, 7M, 7L,
8M, 8*M, 8L, 8*L, 9M, 9L.
RMTJML HR Jazz Tenor (Med-Lrg) 5ML, 6ML, 7ML,
8ML,  8*ML, 9ML.
RMTE Excalibur Tenor (Med.) 5, 6, 7, 8, 8*, 9.
RMTEML Excalibur Tenor (Med-Lrg) 5, 6, 7, 8, 8*, 9.
RMTEL Excalibur Tenor (Large) 5, 6, 7, 8, 8*, 9.
RMCM C-Melody Tenor 4, 5, 6.
RALPH MORGAN Handcrafted Saxophone Mouthpieces

"The Article And Review Below Is From NeffMusic Link Page (click for reference link)"

Morgan 6J Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece. This is an old Morgan 6J soprano mouthpiece that a student of mine let me borrow. These were made by the legendary Ralph Morgan. Ralph passed away in 2007 and it was a great loss to the saxophone world. I’ve told this story before but one time I had a Morgan mouthpiece that was refaced by Jon Van Wie. I was complaining that I wasn’t really digging it online and the next thing I know I get an email from Ralph asking to talk to me on the phone. I called him up and he talked to me about mouthpieces and the saxophone for what seemed like an hour. He offered to look at the piece and reface it for free if it needed it. It seemed like he knew the answer to every question I had and he really seemed to enjoy talking about the saxophone and mouthpieces. It was a great experience to be able to talk to him like that.

I really enjoyed playing this mouthpiece. The tone has a nice ring to it. From what I have heard the tip opening of this 6J is a .065. It is very easy to play with a Java 2 1/2 reed. This piece is a lot easier to play in the second register than my SS J. It seems like there is less resistance to it than the Super Session. Maybe it’s just the smaller tip opening. I haven’t seen many of these around lately so if you are lucky enough to stumble upon one give it a try. I’m fiddl'n’ around with ”On the Sunny Side of the Street” on this clip. Steve, Click Here For Sunny Side of The Street Link at Bottom f Link Page.

 

Morgan MLL 8*.  This a Morgan MLL 8* Tenor saxophone mouthpiece. This use to be a ML model but the owner of the piece sent it to Erik Greiffenhagen to have the chamber made larger so now it is a MLL model. The tip opening of this mouthpiece is an 8* which for a Morgan is a .105. With the larger chamber I have to admit that I like this mouthpiece even more than when it was an ML. It has a big sound and the mouthpiece feels like it is vibrating when I play it. You would think with the bigger chamber it would be less powerful and darker but it feels more powerful to me. The bottom range notes are just lush and full sounding with a nice crispness to them. There seems to be a husky full quality to the notes that I love. The upper range rings nicely and it plays very smoothly and evenly all over the horn.

I wish I could spend more time with this piece but I have to send it back to the owner. This would be a great all round mouthpiece for all styles of music. I could get pretty darn loud with it. I think I will have to order one of these. Steve. Click Here For Tenor Mouthpiece Test At Link at Bottom f Link Page.

 

Morgan ML 8* Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This a Morgan ML tenor mouthpiece. I received this from a friend of mine who loves it. These use to be made by Ralph Morgan but now are made by Brian Powell and Eric Greiffenhagen. They both used to work with Ralph Morgan. These two guys have done a great job at keeping the standards high. They are both artists and have learned from the best (Ralph Morgan). The tip opening of this mouthpiece is an 8* which is a .105 I believe. It has a big sound and the mouthpiece feels like it is vibrating when I play it. It plays on the darker side but is so free blowing that the air just passes through it effortlessly.

I wish I could spend more time with this piece. It is very easy to play. It has a huge sound but is so easy to play that you don’t even have to think about it. If I blow more the sound gets a bit brighter. I could almost see doing a R&B gig on this piece. Let me know what you think. Steve


 

 

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