V16 A5 Alto Sax Mouthpiece by Vandoren Review

Kevin Busse Jun 17, 2025

14 People Read

In this video, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite Vandoren Mouthpieces for Alto Saxophone.

This mouthpiece is the V16 A5 mouthpiece with a medium chamber by Vandoren.

Vandoren V16 A5 Medium Chamber Mouthpiece Review

I've used this mouthpiece in over 300+ of the videos I've created on my YouTube channel @ KB Sax Lessons.

I highly recommend it, it has lots of great reviews on Amazon and you can find it in the link below.

Furthermore, I've chipped one of these alto mouthpieces before and went out and bought a new one as quickly as I could because I know this is the best mouthpiece for me!

Pros

Versatility
Perfect for Big Band
Great tone

This mouthpiece offers versatility that's not commonly found in many mouthpieces. It offers the edge needed to cut through a jazz band while offering a tone that is hard to compete with.

Cons

Not great for Classical Saxophone
Won't cut through in a Rock Band
Needs to be mic'd in very loud envirnoments

This mouthpiece, while great for bands, won't cut through against other electronic instruments. Especially, loud electric guitar, electric keyboard, and DJ's.

This mouthpiece needs to be mic'd especially if competing against a rock guitar or other amplified instruments.

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I always use the Vandoren V 16 A5 hard rubber mouthpiece in all the videos at KB Sax Lessons on YouTube!

Vandoren V16 A5 Medium chamber

I like this mouthpiece because I can easily switch over to playing classical saxophone and also play through jazz solos. So, it's an extremely versatile mouthpiece and I've trusted it for the last decade of saxophone playing.

Vandoren V16 Alto Mouthpiece Sax Solo

Here's a video of me playing the sax solo in Midnight City by M83 on my Vandoren V16 A5 Alto Sax Mouthpiece.

As you can tell in the image below, I've gotten so much use out of my mouthpiece that I can hardly see the original engravings.

Vandoren V16 A5 Medium chamber

Since this is the second V16 I've owned, I can attest to say that you're not going to find a defective mouthpiece. It's a great choice because this played exactly like the one I owned before.

So, let me know what you think if you try out this mouthpiece, good luck!