Chester Schmitz and Monette

[bort]

Which CC tuba was Chester Schmitz using when he helped design the Monette tuba mouthpieces? Was he still on his Alexander, or had he already moved onto the Yorkbrunner? (Or maybe even the PT-6?)

I don't know much about the history or chronology of all of this, but curious how it worked out.

Please try to reserve your opinions about Monette mouthpieces, and/or don't post the photo of Mr. Tuba Posture.

[cjk]

I have to wonder if the Monette tuba mouthpiece model numbers are the years they came out (94, 95, 97, 98, 99).

The earliest I seem them mentioned on tubenet was 1999.

https://www.monette.net/single-post/200 ... outhpieces" target="_blank
says that the first one was made in 1991.

[Matt G]

I don’t know which horn, but I believe the timeframe was early 90s maybe late 80s?

Edit: I recall Claude K. having his (I think that’s the 99???) around 1993 or so.

[cjk]

The Hirsbrunner York became a thing in the early 1980s. Surely Mr. Schmitz moved on to the Yorkbrunner before 1991.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=71669" target="_blank
says that Mr. Schmitz's and the BSO's Yorkbrunners came out of the 1982 batch.

[Matt G]

Also, as a point of reference, I think Sean only started archiving threads around 1998 or later. Any discussion of a Monette mouthpiece would be limited buy that.

Edit:

Per Monette, it was 1991.

https://www.monette.net/single-post/200 ... outhpieces" target="_blank" target="_blank

Edit 2:

I missed cjk’s edit...

[Tom Gregory]

I can tell you he was on the Hirsbrunner. I studied with him from ‘85-‘89. I think I first saw the raw version in the winter of ‘87 and the silver plated version followed soon after. He used it on the Alex claiming it made playing it easier. In the early ‘90s he had DM make him a large lead pipe for the Hirsbrunner that looked like the trumpet lead pipes. I know he had two Hirsbrunner. One was owned by the BSO one was his personal instrument (as far as I know, he still has it). The last time I saw either of those horns, neither had the lead pipe.

[Tom Gregory]

BTW, I had one of the first productions from the first batch (#5). That was gold plated like they are now. Chester’s final versions were gold plated. It did indeed make the horn I was playing at the time(pt5), better. I later sold the mouthpiece because it didn’t match up well with what I play now.

[toobagrowl]

Saw Mr. Schmitz w/ Boston Pops many times on PBS during the 1990s, during my middle and high school years. He seemed to use the Yorkbrunner a lot. But I also saw him with his Alex 163, Getzen G-50 and Yamaha 822 F on a few occasions. He always had his Monette mpc plugged into whatever tuba he was using. Pretty sure the model 94 was made for him. Those Monette mpcs are not my bag o' chips, but they seemed to do well for Mr. Schmitz. Miss seeing and hearing his playing

[bort]

Thanks everyone!

Another highly trusted source says that Chester used his Monette on every tuba. So I guess that's that. Thanks for a fun convo!

[Jobey Wilson]

Hi all,
I was in Chester’s last studio at NEC. He was playing the Yorkbrunner/Monette 98 and a B&S Symphonie F/Monette 94-F mostly in the BSO, and he often played a Getzen G-50/Monette 98 in Pops. I had twin Alexanders (CC & F) which he loved and made him nostalgic, so he actually pulled his Alexander out quite a bit his last two seasons. If I recall correctly, his last concert in Symphony Hall in 2001 was Brahms 2 on his Alex. CJK might be right about the Monette model numbers corresponding the years. I bought one of the first 99‘s in production shortly after starting with Chester in fall of 99...the Monette 99 worked really well with my Alex. Bort...Chester used varying models of Monette mouthpieces, but they all had the SAME RIMS! He was very adamant about all of his mouthpieces having the same rim. He even had a custom Monette mouthpiece made for Euph/bass bone with the tuba rim. Fun to reminisce...I absolutely loved my time with him, and we catch up from time to time. Jobey

[gary]

I too heard that the Yorkbrunner was not Chester's idea. Wonderful player and person. I have a Monette 94.328 that I like very much. I have no idea what the difference is between mine and the 94.

[bort]

I too heard that the Yorkbrunner was not Chester's idea. Wonderful player and person. I have a Monette 94.328 that I like very much. I have no idea what the difference is between mine and the 94.

I'm assuming it's a .328 in bore (about 8.33 mm). Not sure if that is bigger or smaller than usual, the actual specs of Monette mouthpieces don't seem to be published anywhere. That said... they are all made to order, so modifications shouldn't be an issue, as long as you're willing to wait for it to be made.

[Rick Denney]

https://images.app.goo.gl/8wbB6i63CsswES4s6

A better link: https://www.monette.net/single-post/200 ... outhpieces

Rick "it's about the words as much as the images" Denney

[bort]

https://images.app.goo.gl/8wbB6i63CsswES4s6

A better link: https://www.monette.net/single-post/200 ... outhpieces

Rick "it's about the words as much as the images" Denney

Please try to reserve your opinions about Monette mouthpieces, and/or don't post the photo of Mr. Tuba Posture.

Well, we made it about 30 hours before this appeared, so I guess that's some progress...

[barry grrr-ero]

I can well imagine that Ozawa might have asked for the Yorkbrunner. He was used to hearing Mr. Jacobs in Chicago and Floyd Cooley on his Holton 345 in S.F. (Peter Warhoftig owns that horn now). Personally, I think the big Yorkbrunner sounds great throughout Ozawa's Mahler cycle on Philips.

[Rick Denney]

https://images.app.goo.gl/8wbB6i63CsswES4s6

A better link: https://www.monette.net/single-post/200 ... outhpieces

Rick "it's about the words as much as the images" Denney

Please try to reserve your opinions about Monette mouthpieces, and/or don't post the photo of Mr. Tuba Posture.

Well, we made it about 30 hours before this appeared, so I guess that's some progress...

I just wanted a link that worked.

Rick "not responsible for the opinions expressed by the hosts" Denney

[Tom]

Getting bogged down in the weeds here, but I’ve been wondering about something:

Every Monette tuba mouthpiece I’ve seen has the goofy, thick walled, stubby shank on it. If I recall correctly they’re all American shank size.

To use these on an Alexander would have required either specially made larger shanks, smaller leadpipes/receivers (Alexanders don’t really have receivers), adaptors, or some other custom solution. So, how did Chester fit the his Monette mouthpieces to his Alexander?

[cjk]

Getting bogged down in the weeds here, but I’ve been wondering about something:

Every Monette tuba mouthpiece I’ve seen has the goofy, thick walled, stubby shank on it. If I recall correctly they’re all American shank size.

To use these on an Alexander would have required either specially made larger shanks, smaller leadpipes/receivers (Alexanders don’t really have receivers), adaptors, or some other custom solution. So, how did Chester fit the his Monette mouthpieces to his Alexander?

I thought they were like they had been made with an American shank, but last the quarter inch of the shank had been cut off where the shank measured a little over .530". Like you had taken an American shank mouthpiece and filed off the end of the shank, thus making the shank effectively a bit bigger at the end, but the mouthpiece shorter overall.

I could certainly be mistaken.

Edit:
Since he was working with Monette on the designs, presumably he could have Monette make whatever shank he needed.
When he joined the Boston symphony, he was playing an Alexander CC tuba with a Conn Helleberg mouthpiece, so he had figured out some way to put an American shank mouthpiece in an Alexander "receiver" already.

[Tom]

Good point about being able to get whatever he needed made by Monette. Likewise on the Conn Helleberg use. He had certainly figured something out to make it work.

[bort]

Why not just ask Chester? Mostly because I don't know him, and some of you do know him. I've gotten very accurate second hand accounts here (public and private), and I think all has been answered pretty well publicly.

TLDR; Chester is the man, and he'll sound great on anything.