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How easily do the Kelly plastic mouthpieces crack/break?

My 1-year-old son just loves watching me play tuba, and likes to take one of my mouthpieces and put it up against his mouth while I'm playing. Metal seems a little dangerous, but if something plastic might be safer, that would be good. Either way, I want to encourage this behavior.

Both of my daughters wanted to do the same thing. I gave them each a Kelly mouthpiece to "buzz" while I practiced and they had a lot of fun. They have had the Kelly mouthpieces for about 4 years, and they are still in excellent condition which is unbelievable considering how many times they were thrown on the floor

Thanks! That's all I needed to hear!

I got my Kellyberg over 11 years ago, and in that time, I've dropped it -- accidentally -- twice (from roughly shoulder-height) onto concrete surfaces. Both times, it bounced high enough that I just reached out and grabbed it, and there was no apparent damage either time. Still in daily use! I've no doubt they *can* be damaged or broken, but it would probably require tools (vise grips, hammer, etc.) to do so.

They are very sturdy, though not indestructable. I dropped mine the other day on concrete and there is a small hairline crack in the rim. Barely noticable, and no chink or missing material. Had that been a brass mp it would have been a serious ding or a compromised shank.

Furthermore, and maybe this qualifies as highjacking a thread, BUT:

I have a clear Kelly 18. It is great as a visualizer. (I always like to see how things work) plus it is very comfortable even in normal temperatures and seems to work just fine. When the chops are a little sore, it feels a little more comfortable. I doubt that I would play it on a serious classical orch gig, but again, heck, why not?

Plastics are an interesting alternative to metal and because of their lightness, they tend to respond differently from a metal mp and for that matter heavy mass mps like the Monette.

But yes, I think having one, for any one of a number of reasons, would be a good investment.

Way back when, (OK 1975) I was in NYC doing a recording session. Another tuba player on the gig had a clear lyncite mp, (a form of plastic) It was his pride and joy as it was custom made. It was a freezing day. When he was unloading from his car in the ramp, the mp fell to the concrete and shattered in to tiny pieces. Needless to say, he wept. But today we are using lexan and delrin which is much, much sturdier.

I've dropped a Kellyburg 12 feet onto concrete and saw it bounce with barely a scratch. However, I loaned one to a tuba player who dropped the mouthpiece and set his horn down on it hard. It broke in a circle just above the rim.

Kelly has a replacement policy for broken mouthpieces. Send them the old mouthpiece and $10, and they send you a new one. http://www.kellymouthpieces.com/guarantee/index.asp I did that and got an replacement within a couple of weeks (post office lost the package for several days).

PaulMaybery wrote:Plastics are an interesting alternative to metal and because of their lightness, they tend to respond differently from a metal mp and for that matter heavy mass mps like the Monette.

In case someone exists who hasn't been through one of these threads before, this isn't strictly a consensus opinion. I expect those of us who find no difference between heavy, light and very light mouthpieces, probably also can't hear grass grow - there are lots of possible explanations, anyway, but there it is. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, of all the things that can be different about two mouthpieces, what they're made of is far down on the list of things that affect the sound.

Schlepporello wrote:I've lost count of how many Kelly mouthpieces I have and I've never broken any of them.

What happened to them?

A friend asked "Why do play that plastic mouthpiece?" and I bounce passed it like a basketball to where she was standing, just for dramatic effect.
A trombonist noticed it, very surprised as he had been performing next to me all morning and not aware of a sound issue. I demonstrated the bounce for him also.
I suppose a hammer might break it but it does not appear to be damaged by it's own weight, no matter how it is handled.

I have played a Kelly 18 for several years, not long after I got back into playing tuba about a decade ago after being away for a couple of decades. I believe it is absolutely necessary to have one for playing in inclement weather and temperature extremes, since they don't break, they don't stick, they don't freeze or sear your embouchure, and they are always great to have as a spare or to buzz in the car or otherwise. For the price, everybody should have either an Kelly 18 or Kellyburg in the desired color. I prefer the "marching maroon," because that matches the colors of the community band, Shrine band and other ensembles I play with. I did have a blue one, but another forumite needed one and gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. If for some reason I lost it, I would immediately replace it. Currently it semi-permanently resides on my Selmer/Bundy 'glass souzy. Break or crack? No. Lexan just doesn't do that. It is tough.

When a Kelly 18 is used on a Besson comp, it changes the usual "ah as in father" tone from using the traditional Wick 1 deep funnel, to instead sound like "Our American Cousin" "aah as in dad" tone. Neither is better or worse, just a nice way to make a color choice at minimal expense.

About eight years ago, I had the use of a Cavalier (14K predecessor) sousaphone for a short time. At the time, I had both a Bach 18 that (with Bach's notorious inconsistency) actually had a cup that measured the same 1.28 inside diameter as my Kelly. I asked the community band director and a couple of other directors who played low brass in the band to stand at the podium and I asked if they could tell any difference in the two mouthpieces. Even with their trained ears and post-graduate degrees, and their reputations for discernment, and the quality of the ensembles they have conducted throughout their careers, even they could not tell any difference tonally.

I would not hesitate at all to purchase one for a young person to learn how to buzz. The only thing I do which, of course for all the obvious reasons, would not do on one purposed for a child, is to put one ring of golfer's lead tape around the throat to stabilize dynamic extremes.

I purchased a Kelly 18, one of those mixed color budget items, and gave it to my nephew. He plays in his high school marching band and is the leader of the Sousaphone section. I gave it to him because I had given him a new brass mouthpiece for his concert playing and I expected it would get dropped and destroyed during marching practice. He liked the Kelly for the Sousa and has convinced the director to purchase Kellies for the rest of the section. I think that is a good move. They are inexpensive compared to a brass mouthpiece and have a high potential to last much longer than brass ones under typical student care.

I have a whole bunch of Kelly mpcs; mostly Kelly 18's. They are very sturdy and light. I've dropped em (cuz I'm clumsy) multiple times, on my hardwood floor, hard laminate floors and even outside concrete. That one time I dropped a Kellyburg on concrete it put a teeny tiny 'dent' on the rim. It would have been much worse had the mpc been metal, trust me. And Kelly shanks don't bend/dent in at all like metal mpcs.
I've used Kelly 18's on 'serious' indoor gigs, but use them mostly for outdoor gigs and for practice/testing tubas

I keep a Kellyberg in my cases for that day when I forget my regular mouthpiece at home. Only happened once but it was nice to just give a shoulder shrug and play the rehearsal. Nobody noticed a difference including the player next to me.
ScottM

All my backup mouthpieces in the car are Kellys. Good for bad weather and light in the glovebox

My son is learning on a Kelly 25.

The only time I saw damage to a Kelly was when my Akita chewed the shank. The damage would've been similar on the exhaust pipe of a car.

J.c.S.