Live from NAMM Show 2026: Donna sat down with Matt Ambrose, Chief Machinist and CAD Designer at Theo Wanne Saxophone Mouthpieces, to talk about the new partnership with JJ Babbitt and what it means for the future of some of the most iconic saxophone mouthpieces ever made.
Donna and Matt talked about the classic Otto Link models, hard rubber vs. metal mouthpieces, modern production techniques, and Theo Wanne's continued evolution, including the Essentials Collection!
👇 Here's what we get into:
00:09 Introductions
00:41 The Big Reveal
01:26 How the partnership started
02:25 The Metal Otto Link - The NY
03:34 Super Tone Master
04:15 Double Ring Florida
04:45 The Metal LA
05:06 The Link tenor sax line in metal and hard rubber
05:18 More on the collaboration story
06:13 Hard Rubber NY
06:49 LA Hard Rubber
07:08 The nature of molding hard rubber mouthpieces
07:48 The new manufacturing process
09:05 Patreon subscriber question and Theo's process
10:42 Always innovating
11:23 Philosophy of working with JJ Babbitt
12:17 The reverence Theo pays to legendary mouthpieces
16:07 2025 Essentials Mouthpieces from Theo Wanne
👉 Explore more about Theo Wanne and their socials-all in one place:
https://saxophonepodcast.com/matt-ambrose-of-theo-wanne-saxophone-mouthpieces-the-new-partnership-with-jj-babbitt-live-at-the-namm-show-2026-ep-261
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