MT Vernon mouthpieces

[Lingon]

In tromboneland a Bach Mt Vernon mouthpiece is a rare very sought after piece, some of them a lot better than the modern ones and some not so good.
How about the tuba versions, are they also something special that people would hunt like the Holy Grail, or just considered something you can have or miss without any special feelings?

[Alex C]

Not so much. There are die-hard Bach users but fewer as time goes on.

For tuba players the Holy Grail is the original Helleberg mouthpiece made by Conn in the 30's and 40's. The magical qualities of this mouthpiece have been discussed in detail on this BBS before. I won't bore you by repeating them.

[Ace]

The only thing that I really know of that seems to be particularly valued (ref: the "crazy" prices that you see old Conn Hb mpcs' go for) is the size "1" trumpet mouthpiece. It wasn't quite as large as later versions, seemed to offer a bit more brilliance and ...well ...Mr. Bud used one.

Very interesting. That gives a bit of insight in the following incident. In the mid-1990's, I was playing trumpet in a local orchestra with the late Joe Alessi Sr, retired 2nd trumpet from the Met orchestra. I was using a Yamaha 6445 C trumpet most of the time. Joe asked if I had any other trumpets he could try out. He dropped by my house and his eyes caught sight of my 1947 Bach Strad Bb trumpet. (This was a horn I purchased new when I was in high school, and it served me well in college and six years in various Army bands.) He loved the horn, but was even more excited to see the mouthpiece I had always used on the instrument. It was a NYC (pre- Mt. Vernon) Bach 1. Joe said it might be fairly valuable. Later, when I sold the horn to a young man in upstate New York, I forgot what Joe had said and I left the mouthpiece in the case when I shipped it. Darn.

Ace