Hi John,

Really cool to hear Johnny’s sound has turned you on to the Sax, don’t blame you at all 🙂 Johnny’s sound is unique to say the least and it’s very distinct. Even if we didn’t see a video of him playing, we could still recognize his playing simply by the sound. That’s really cool you’ve discovered your sound and you know how you wanna sound.

Johnny is using Guardala MPs and not Otto Link Tone Edge MPs. The facing/chambers of the Guardalas is completely different than an Otto Link, and this will have an impact on your sound. Guardalas have a lot more ‘punch’ to them than an Otto Link does. Otto Links are no where near as bright and edgy as Guardalas. Have you looked into the Guardala line of MPs? If you’re serious about getting that Blues, Rock and Roll sound, then you definitely look into a Guardala. https://www.howtoplaysaxophone.org/guardala-saxophone-mouthpieces/

In conjunction with having the right MP, getting that raw, edgy, rock and roll sound comes from pushing from your diaphragm like crazy and keeping an open throat. Yes, some sax players will hum a little bit while playing. It’s not quite as strong as growling–it’s more of a ‘humming’ type of technique.

It’s also important to have the right concept of sound in your head. You gotta hear the sound in your head before you can play it. Even with a powerful MP like a Guardala–which is designed for getting that sound your after–it won’t do you any good if you’re listening to Kenny G or Ben Webster all the time. To the other extreme, listening to King Curtis and Junior Walker won’t do us any good if the MP were using is limiting us from getting the Sound we wanna get.

@ Simon For sure–like you said, it takes quite a bit of practice to readjust to a different MP.
@ John One other thing to remember is that, even with an MP set up like Johnny has, we’re not going to sound exactly like Johnny. Our internal anatomy affects the way we sound.

hey John, well, lots of good replies for you so far. I can chime in on a couple things…
the otto link is a good mp but it’s the one that Dave Guardala used as a base to develop his, so they are in my opinion and many others just a bit more advanced and better obviously. But you’ll do well to spend some time with the otto.
My reed ‘s are 3’s (medium) but that doesn’t mean if you’re on a 2 you should jump to a 3. if the 2 doesn’t feel super hard then by all means see what a 2.5 feels like. If it’s just a little too hard stay with the 2.5 but try sanding it down a bit si the difference isn’t as great.
The natural cane reeds I used for decades are Vandoren Java. Now I use Fiberreed Onyx.

i agree dont try to sound like Johnny or anyone else ,from what i see , Johnny likes his growls and fall offs, that is a technique , but his style,, do your own sound, ,, it will happen later, and each MP and reed will change , this takes many months if not years