I just want to tell you that I also sendt a question to Vandoren Paris 
about this mouthpiece, and I have recieved a mail from Mr Laurent 
Sultan at Vandoren. He vrote that the reason why the AL3 mouthpiece 
have such a broad tip rail was to add resistance, and also give the 
mouthpiece a round-warm sound.- Just thougt I should send you a note 
about this if anybody out there still was curious about this mouthpiece.
   Helge