Jody Jazz DV 8 – left profile

Recently I got my hands on a fantastic beast of a mouthpiece. The Jody Jazz DV 8. This piece is one of of the few mouthpieces that I had on my bucket list. Why? Because pro players like Jason Marshall (DV 10) and Claire Daly (DV 6) play these pieces with amazing tones and the marketing hype from Jody Jazz just gave me an itch I couldn’t help but want to scratch.

I purchased this piece 2nd hand and it wasn’t perfect, has a missing bite plate and handling wear, but played perfectly. It has a gutsy soloist tone that carries well in larger groups. Intonation wise it wasn’t the best for a vintage horn like my 12M but matched very well to my more modern YBS-61. Let’s look at some details.

Construction: This piece is made from heavy gold plated brass. It feels solid in the hand but on my 12M it posed a problem. I have to pull the mouthpiece out pretty far and there is not enough cork for comfortably secure positioning. This isn’t unique to this mouthpiece but is symptomatic of most modern mouthpiece on vintage bari’s.

The mouth feel: This piece feels great in the mouth though a little small for my personal taste. The size feels a little smaller that a Otto Link STM.  I have been playing it with a few rubber bit pads stacked on each other to open the mouth a bit more and to replace the missing bite plate but it is still a small mouth feel.

Ligature: I found that  a “dark” Rovner fabric ligature to be a great match for this mouthpiece. It won’t mar the beautiful exterior plating, secures the reed well, and if you believe the hype can help tame the pesky high harmonics. The ligature and cap I bought it with fit perfectly and offers better positioning options that the tapered collar ligature that is an option for this piece.

 Reed friendliness: Just as Jody suggested on the website I had to move to a 1/4 to 1/2 harder reed. Once I did this there wasn’t a reed in this range that it wouldn’t accommodate. I feel that this piece’s facing is near perfect for the baffle/tip/reed combo. Pick a reed and play should be the motto of this mouthpiece.

 Sound:  This is a bold and bright mouthpiece. I played this in my jazz combo and big band and it was perfect for the combo but a bit too bright for the traditional sounding big band. That is not to say that it can’t do double duty but it will require some restraint and proper reed selection to blend into a traditional sounding group.

Other: Here’s a surprise for me and maybe you as well. Beneath the bite plate is the latin like Omicron-Tau type symbol. The same symbol on the body of the mouthpiece. I suspect it is to identify forgeries as there are many Asian copies of the over all design of the DV. In my research I’d never seen this feature mentioned in respect to a JJ mouthpiece.

Bite Plate: I contacted JJ reps about the missing bite plate. They informed me that the repair would entail inspection, cleaning, bite place replacement if possible,and re-plating. Though, the re-plating was somewhat optional but highly recommended. It would look like new for a very tidy sum and a month in their care. I decided to hold off and perhaps seek Keith Bradbury MojoBari‘s service to fashion a new bite plate. But in clear so that I can see that great engraving.

TAKE AWAY:  This piece meets the marketing description on Jody’s page to a tee. It’s easy to play, bright, and beautifully well made. It’s value per dollar new is an individual choice because there are a great many options that cost less and play just as well but this still something different and lovely to play. That being said, it is not for the faint of heart or for people who are new to bright high-baffle pieces. This takes time to learn to control and find your sound on this piece.
 

Jody Jazz DV 8 – Without Biteplate

Jody Jazz DV 8 – Showing Table cutout

Jody Jazz DV 8 – right profile

Jody Jazz DV 8 – Engraving under bite plate

Jody Jazz DV 8 – Tip opening stamp

Jody Jazz DV 8 – Close up of baffle throat termination

Jody Jazz DV 8