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That's impressive in and of itself you have those rare models. All things considered, how much a pop are we talking about with these reproductions?

Seeing as you have a few different Hellebergs and whatnot, you should first (if you haven't already) scan every singe one and find out what the differences are in every dimension, write it down, and hide this information forever.

Seriously, if the Hellebergs vary, as we are told that they do, you could produce an exact copy of each and market them separately. I think (I might be wrong) that the Dillon versions all have "improved" rims. I like the Dillon mouthpieces, especially the Geib line, but having an accurate reproduction of original rims may be of interest to many people.

The other thing I would offer is a skeletonized version. Heck, Mr. Jacobs used one quite often, but no one makes one except maybe the Floyd Cooley Helleberg, which is a little small.

You could see if offering a standard-weight and reduced-wieght (for more money, because it actually does require more machining, unlike heavy mouthpieces) would be feasable.

Depending on the setup time, which may be very little due to CDC lathes, you could make a few of each and see what people think of them all, including the various Helleberg versions. I guarantee if you stamp letters or numbers on the sides of the Helleberg copies, people will have a favorite which may not always be the same.

Matthew Gilchrest wrote: The other thing I would offer is a skeletonized version. Heck, Mr. Jacobs used one quite often, but no one makes one except maybe the Floyd Cooley Helleberg, which is a little small.

Doesn't Marcinkiewicz offer something along that line?

http://www.marcinkiewicz.com/mouthpieces/tuba/ch.htm

Matthew Gilchrest wrote:
The other thing I would offer is a skeletonized version. Heck, Mr. Jacobs used one quite often, but no one makes one except maybe the Floyd Cooley Helleberg, which is a little small.

Despite the fact the Cooley Helleberg is made by JK, is has a "blank" that is very similar (at least in the way it looks) to UMI's Conn Helleberg. I wouldn't consider the Conn to be skeletonized...more like "standard" to me. What mades you say that the Cooley is skeletonized?

Chuck(G) wrote:

Matthew Gilchrest wrote: The other thing I would offer is a skeletonized version. Heck, Mr. Jacobs used one quite often, but no one makes one except maybe the Floyd Cooley Helleberg, which is a little small.

Doesn't Marcinkiewicz offer something along that line?

http://www.marcinkiewicz.com/mouthpieces/tuba/ch.htm

I thought that the concert line was an "added mass" mouthpiece by marc. whereupon the mass was placed scientifically to prodce the best results?

Marcinkeiwicz Website wrote:The net result is a mouthpiece that gives an extremely stable center of pitch, allows unprecedented dynamic levels without distortion and provides a rich, dark symphonic sound without the additional mass of a conventional heavy wall mouthpiece.

Tom wrote:Despite the fact the Cooley Helleberg is made by JK, is has a "blank" that is very similar (at least in the way it looks) to UMI's Conn Helleberg. I wouldn't consider the Conn to be skeletonized...more like "standard" to me. What mades you say that the Cooley is skeletonized?

Key word was maybe...

Going back and reading the website, I do not see any evidence of this point. I was simply stating something I though I had heard or read a while back.

In trying mouthpieces for my new toy, a King 2268 American style euphonium, I tried several different versions of the Bach 5GB and noticed that there was one that I really liked above the others. It was definitely older than the others.

I had a few trombone students try this mouthpiece in comparison to the other 5BGs that I had and they all found the one I liked to feel better, too.

When measuring the mouthpiece with calipers, it was not any different in terms or rim width or inner diameter, but looked a little more rounded on the inner rim bite.

I have never noticed this variance on similar models of tuba mouthpieces before. Perhaps, if you stumble across a helleberg or other mouthpiece that has thas that barely quantifiable special something, you could be onto something. I believe there is a trumpet mouthpiece manufacturer (New York) that makes "faithful" replicas of the old New York Bach mouthieces and sells them at a considerable mark up... over a hundred bucks a piece.

I would suspect there is interest, but the cynic in me wonders how wide a marked it could be. As a consumer I would ask, "There are so many "Hellebergs" out there... is yours really any different."

I am amazed at how much technology it takes to copy old world craftsmanship.