Founders Mark & Brian have been friends since they met 4th grade. Both began playing saxophone in 5th grade and continued together playing in college at the same school. After leaving college and playing with various groups throughout the years, each found they were interested in the business side of saxophone products – buying, restoring and reselling vintage instruments.

In 2006 they partnered with a saxophone manufacturer in China and began importing and distributing saxophone parts, saxophones and other musical instruments under different brand names. Seeing that these instruments were very well made – good materials, quality manufacturing – it led them to explore many other manufacturers in China and Taiwan to find the best products to carry their own brand name -CE Winds.

During a discussion about saxophone mouthpiece prices – vintage saxophone mouthpieces in particular, we asked – why can’t we take all the good qualities of these mouthpieces and replicate them into something affordable for most players?
In 2010 we began studying and measuring the best mouthpieces from our collections. Guardala MB1, MB2, Studio, Otto Link Tone Master & Tone Edge, Meyer New York & Bros, Vandoren Jumbo Java A45, Dukoff Miami – what was it about these mouthpieces that attracted so much attention? That brought the prices? Was it the just players that played them, or was it something else?
In most cases, not two of the same model mouthpieces were exactly the same. Some were better than others, but for the core of the sound, they were very similar.
In 2011, after over a year of research, our quest to manufacture saxophone mouthpieces began in our shop in Ft Myers, Florida. In 2012 we had our first production pieces, and in 2013 we sold our first handmade saxophone mouthpiece.
The models handmade in Ft Myers from 2012-2018 were:
Soprano:
The Duke D8

Alto:
Five Spot Jazz
Five Spot Legacy
Mainstream Jumbo Blue A45
Le Noir Soloista
Concert Classic
Studio Sonic
SaxWorks D8
Pure Vintage M Bros
Pure Vintage NYM

Tenor

The Legend
The Legend II
The Sig
The Super Sig
The Florida
The Florida Pompano
The Hollywood
Pure Vintage OLSS

Tradeshows are a huge part of the musical instrument industry. It is the best way to get your products in front of players of all levels. After attending several industry shows from 2010-2013, we wanted to bring something different – something that stood out and said “Here we are!”
We blinged out some instruments in Swarovski crystals – a trumpet and a flute, and brought the concept horns to a show in Texas (2014) as a drawing / giveaway. We did not realize how much attention this was going to give us at the tradeshow. Players lined up to take pictures with the horns. We had hundreds of entries from students wanting to own these. What started as a gimmick was born into a new product concept.
When we went back to the workshop the following week, we started designing the concept of the blinged out instruments as a product offering. In 2015 we released The Original Diamond Series Saxophones at the NAMM Show. Attendees either loved them or hated them, but they were talking about them all the same. Saxophone players typically played them on a dare – not expecting them to be good instruments. Many realized that not only would these instruments fit what they were trying to accomplish musically, they allowed them to express themselves artistically.

CE Winds The Original Diamond Series instruments are in the hands of many well-known professional players worldwide – including James Carter, Leo P (Too Many Zoos), Eddie M (Sheila E), Darryl Wakefield (KEM), Arturo Tappin, and our very good friend and partner, John Michalak (Miami Sound Machine).

CE Winds released the newest generations of their best selling saxophone mouthpiece offerings in 2022 – The Slant Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece, the Pure Vintage NYM Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece, and the Mainstream Jumbo Blue A45 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece. All CNC produced and hand finished in Ft Myers, FL.

The Legend X was released in 2024 – CNC Produced, and hand finished by the CE Winds team (facing by John Yoakum).
The CE Winds Saxophone line was reintroduced under the Studio Series name and were offered in several familiar finishes.
The Studio S – Gold Lacquer
The Studio M2 – Nightfall, Ice Storm, Super Vintage, Pure Resonance
The Studio Pro – Miami, Hollywood, New York, Kansas City
The Original Diamond Series

A generous portion of the sale of CE Winds Instruments, Mouthpieces or Accessories goes to help stop Human Trafficking through our partnership with Branch of Life. https://www.branchoflife.org/indiamissions