saxofonist saxophonist saxo sax saxophon Ruud de Vries jazz dj DJ dance house funk blues soul live band Beter R. de Vries Scoops Partysax Extra Lounge Concept Kiers en de Vries

Ruud played besides the saxophones described on the right side of this page over the years also the following brands and types of saxophone:

• Selmer Super Action II goudlak
• Selmer Mark 6 1972 goudlak/zilver
• Selmer Reference 54
• Keilwerth Toneking Special
• King Super 20
• Cannonball Mad Meg
• SML King Marigaux
• The Martin 1946 - 160809
• Dave Guardala New York - 008974
• Selmer Super Action II zilver - 448178

OTTO LINK
An Otto Link allows you to create your own, various sounds: bright, warm, with edge or mellow. But you have to make an effort for it, especially when you play large tip openings. You also have to deal with the reed problems, it's often difficult to find a good working reed.. Often it's not the reed that causes trouble but the combination with a heavy mouthpiece. A reed that doesn't perform on your big tipopening Otto Link might function quite well on another mouthpiece. For a nice and reliable history of Otto Links visit the site of mouthpiece Guru Theo Wanne..

OTTO LINK: WARBURTON modified Otto Link Super Tone Master 10*
The American company Warburton modified new Otto Links to make it a better sounding/playing mouthpiece. Awsome! Unfortunately, they seem to have stopped production of these pieces. See Warburton-USA. Click beneath and listen to Ruud playing "The Nearness of You" on this Warburton in combination with his Selmer Mark 6.

Warburton modified Otto Link STM

OTTO LINK "Super" Tone Master U.S.A. 10*
Ruud has always blown a metal Otto Link. At first a size 9* and very soon a 10*. This is about the largest playable opening. There are (rare) bigger openings: Hans Dulfer has a size 14 in his collection! The current Otto Links are fine mouthpieces, though the quality varies enormously.

Ruud's totally worn out Otto Link "Super"
Tone Master U.S.A. 10*

OTTO LINK "Super" Tone Master U.S.A. 10 Florida model
A nice piece in Ruud's collection is a Florida model nr. 10. So, a little bit smaller but it's easy to get adjusted to that. This mouthpiece is less stuffy and has a large dynamical range. Perfect for acoustical settings. When amplified, the sound gets often too bright compared to a current Otto Link.

Otto Link "Super" Tone Master U.S.A.
Florida Model

OTTO LINK "Super" Tone Master U.S.A. 10* Florida 0.137"
Fantastic piece. Very big sound and also sounding good on the high notes. Harder to play than a Florida No USA or a current Otto Link. But....beautiful! And hard to find.

OTTO LINK "Super" Tone Master U.S.A.
10* Florida

DRAKE "New York Jazz" M 0.120
Remarkable piece! Deep 'wooden' tone and fantastic projection. Reminds me of my Otto Link Florida No USA, but much easier to play, of course also because it's a 0.120 and not a 0.130 like I'm used to. I can't believe these are not famous yet in Holland. Players, check this out!

Drake "New York Jazz Tenor" M

Gottsu Susu Carbon-In Tenor 10
Truly unique mouthpiece from Japan. Made of bamboo in combination with synthetic resin. Beautiful sound, incomparable with any other mouthpiece. A joy to play! Wow!

Gottsu bamboo mouthpieces. Visit for more information: www.bamboomouthpiece.com

Ruud played Rico Royal, 3.5. for a very long time but switched in 2006 to the expensive Francois Louis reeds, no. 3. These reeds are much longer lasting and there are more playable reeds in a box. So: less frustration! Still, in 2012, blowing these reeds.

SELMER MARK VI
Ruud mainly plays a Selmer Mark VI tenor sax from 1957. Serial number: M.70720. This is the most complete saxophone when it comes to sound, overall quality, the way it is build and playability.

Vintage Selmer MK VI

YAMAHA YTS-62 PURPLE LOGO

Older Yamaha tenor saxophone. One of the first Japanese saxophones to compete with the Selmer Mark VI. Terrific ergonomics, good and flexible clear sound. Serial number: 022928.

Yamaha YTS-62 purple logo

SELMER USA TS-100
This tenor sax was produced and marketed by Selmer USA in the 80's, but only for a short period.. Was that because this sax was too competitive to the Selmer Super Action? This sax has a great sound (fat!) and is build/feels almost like a Mark VI!. Only the E-flat and C-keys are positioned uncomfortable but you can have that solved by replacing the thumbrest a little higher. Serial number: 827380.

Selmer TS-100, not in production anymore

CONN 10M LADYFACE

Since 1992 Ruud plays an old American saxophone, a Conn 10 M 'Ladyface', build in 1935. Serial number: 265026. Legendary saxophone with a full bodied, flexible sound. All jazz sax masters of the past have played this sax (a.o. Dexter Gordon!) Soundwise this Conn is a totally different world when you compare it with a Selmer Mark VI. With the Conn you can create a more outrageous and flexible sound. Comfort of the keys is less than a Selmer.

Vintage CONN 10M Ladyface.

KEILWERTH THE NEW KING

Old, silver plated sax from the fifties. These fine saxophones, build by the German Keilwerth company are famous for their big warm sound. This 'The New King' is sometimes confused with a Toneking Special, but this is not the case: The New King has a normal, short bow instead of the extreme wide bow of the Tonekings and nowadays Keilwerths. Strangely, the The New King has a kind of 'modern' feel and shape. The shape of the neck, body, bow and bell look very up to date! The keys are not so modern constructed, but feel and play good enough!

Vintage Keilwerth The New King