A fantastic mouthpiece-the rebirth of the 'H'

[bisontuba]

Hi-
I am happy to report that after months of work on replicating my original Conn BBbB 'H' Helleberg mouthpiece--truly the "Mother" Helleberg-from the turn of the 20th Century, Mike Finn has created a masterpiece reproduction of this American classic August 'Gus' Helleberg mouthpiece. The original 'H' Conn Helleberg mouthpiece has a different shape and dimensions than the latter small & large original Conn Helleberg's, and produce a beautiful organ like tone. Mike has faithfully replicated this in his 'H' reproduction. It is simply a wonderful mouthpiece--it produces a glorious sound. All those who have wanted one of these mouthpieces for their playing, but who couldn't find one --or who couldn't afford one!--can now have the unique sound of an original Conn H Helleberg courtesy of Mike Finn--the Mike Finn MF 'H"--HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! He just got the first production and they are available--contact Mike directly. Thank you Mike for bringing this classic back!

Regards-
mark jones
jonestuba@juno.com" target="_blank
Buffalo, NY

[skeath]

Does this have the narrow, flat rim typical of Hellebergs?

[TubaTodd]

Question for Mike Finn...

When can we expect to see your latest additions added to your website?

[Donn]

More information? All we know so far is that it's different. The Mike Finn tuba mouthpieces are just about the best documented in the business, so hopefully all will be revealed in due time.

[Mike Finn]

Those of you who know me know that I don't go in for a lot of hype or over-the-top marketing, but I am very excited about this mouthpiece. Thanks to Mark Jones for the loan of his original to make this possible. Now, some details:

With a rim diameter of 32mm this is not what you would call a large mouthpiece, but a look at the cut-away below shows that it is every bit as deep as my MF3. The slightly larger throat (8.48mm) makes this a very free-blowing mouthpiece. Rim is not sharp and narrow like the modern 120s, nor is it as round and "puffy" as the 7B. I'd call it "semi-flat" or perhaps "slightly rounded". There is is bit more bite to the inside edge than my non-H rims. Width is about 8mm, although this measurement is deceptive because the outer edge falls off a bit. (Hopefully the photo below will do a better job of illustrating this point.)

The good news: I've got a couple dozen of these and will be offering special pricing to my TubeNet and Facebook friends of $125 in bright silver plate.

The bad news: I've already sold the handful that I had plated, it will be a couple of weeks before I get the next batch back from the platers.

As I haven't got these listed on my site yet (and none of my dealers have them yet either) if you'd like to reserve one you may send $125 to sales<at>mikefinnmouthpieces.com with PayPal, or give me a call at seven-five-seven, four-seven-nine, nine-five-eight-oh with a credit card. (No calls after 8pm EST please.)

[Tubaryan12]

32.00mm.....must.....resist.........

[sailn2ba]

What's the shank size?

[Mike Finn]

What's the shank size?

Confession time: I have managed for nine years to stock a single shank size of .525" without any complaints. It's perfectly in between "American" and "European" - perhaps I should refer to it as Atlantic? The new "H" has this same shank. The five one-thousandths of an inch difference either way has not seemed to cause any problems. (On my original heavyweight designs, the "bulb" at the bottom of the cup admittedly makes the shank appear shorter when in a large Euro receiver, the lighter designs will not have this issue.)

I have on a few occasions sent a bare brass mpc to Vladmir at Dillon's for re-shanking, when the tuba for which it is intended has a particularly large or small receiver. They'll buff and plate it afterwards, and drop ship it for me. This generally only adds a week or so to delivery time, the work is top quality, and the price is very reasonable.

[bisontuba]

Hi-
Just another plug for the fine workmanship of Mike Finn in replicating the Conn 'H' Helleberg mouthpiece (MF 'H' mouthpiece)--each day, I love the sound it produces more and more--a fantastic mouthpiece.
Regards-
mark
jonestuba@juno.com" target="_blank

[Mike Finn]

Just a bit of news: the second batch has shipped; those who placed orders in the last couple of weeks should see their mouthpiece Thursday if it didn't show up today.

It will likely be the middle to end of January before the next batch is ready, but I've still got a couple of these in silver plate in stock right now, and a single satin silver with gold rim/cup as well. These are not on my site yet, e-mail me directly if you are intersted. I intend to have a bunch of these with me at TUSAB-TEC in January.

[PhilSloan]

An absolutely incredible mouthpiece!
While I believe the right equipment can make all the difference in the world, I am not one of those guys who tinkers constantly in hopes of finding the holy grail horn and mouthpiece combination. I have been extremely faithful to my Schilke Helleberg II for a couple of decades now. When Mike Finn told me about his new "H" model about a month ago I was interested but not expecting dramatic results. I was dead wrong! I tried it for the first time at a concert band rehearsal. I was immediately impressed with the way the notes "slotted" and the response throughout the entire range of the horn (FWIW I play a Rudy Meinl CC). I have been playing the MF "H" ever since and can't find a flaw. The sound was solid in the band setting as well as in brass quintet playing and I can't wait for my symphony season to resume to test that venue. I highly recommend giving the MF "H" a try, no matter how comfortable you might be with your current mouthpiece.