Faxx Helleberg mouthpiece

[FreeBandMusic]

I've used a Conn Helleburg and liked it a lot; I liked the R&S heavy version even better. I figured I would like the Faxx version just as well, but it didn't feel the same (I LIKE the Helleburg rim) or play the same to me... not at all. When WW&BW put the R&S on sale a couple of years ago I picked one up and I use it with my ancient Mirafone 186 Bb.

I know the Faxx is supposed to be this incredibly accurate copy of the Conn, but I've also heard there's a lot of variation from Conn to Conn... I guess Faxx copied one I didn't like and R&S copied one I did.

John
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[Tubaryan12]

I had one and sold it and I wish I still had it. A good mouthpiece at a very good price.

[cjk]

I had one and sold it and I wish I still had it. A good mouthpiece at a very good price.

You sold it to me, but you're not getting it back.

I have *lots* of mouthpieces. I'm much better at buying them than I am at selling them. I keep coming back to the Faxx.

The Faxx is a good Helleberg copy. The rim is flat, the inner edge is sharp, but not crazy sharp. It has a Bach looking exterior and only costs $35 NEW. I like it better than stuff that costs 3 to 10 times as much.

[Tubaryan12]

I had one and sold it and I wish I still had it. A good mouthpiece at a very good price.

You sold it to me, but you're not getting it back.

I have *lots* of mouthpieces. I'm much better at buying them than I am at selling them. I keep coming back to the Faxx.

The Faxx is a good Helleberg copy. The rim is flat, the inner edge is sharp, but not crazy sharp. It has a Bach looking exterior and only costs $35 NEW. I like it better than stuff that costs 3 to 10 times as much.

I bought a Faxx 18 that I'm still playing with. I like it, but I want something a little deeper to:
1. lower the pitch a hair
2. take the brightness out of the sound.

Hopefully, by week's end, I'll have a few more mouthpieces to try out.

[SplatterTone]

I add my vote that the Faxx Helleberg a good one for people needing to get a big full sound from a mouthpiece that isn't too wide. I would guess about 32.5 - 33 mm. Here lately, I've been warming up a bit to the Kellyberg. I didn't much like it for a long time. But, the face and the brain change over time. I'm starting to like it now.

[iiipopes]

I bought a Faxx 18 that I'm still playing with. I like it, but I want something a little deeper to:
1. lower the pitch a hair
2. take the brightness out of the sound.

If you have the lungs for the air that the wider throat and backbore will take, you're describing a Wick 1L.

[Tubaryan12]

I bought a Faxx 18 that I'm still playing with. I like it, but I want something a little deeper to:
1. lower the pitch a hair
2. take the brightness out of the sound.

If you have the lungs for the air that the wider throat and backbore will take, you're describing a Wick 1L.

It is on the long list of mouthpieces to try. I pretty much have eliminated anything over 32.50mm I.D. My high range gets "airy" with anything bigger than that. Going back to the 18 did do one thing for me: it reminded me why if left it in the 1st place (pitch and brightness), but I have never played any mouthpiece where I had more control.

[iiipopes]

If control is an issue, then you might find the Wick 1L a bit difficult, as it is a really, really, deep funnel. The Curry 128D has almost all the breadth and depth of tone of the Wick 1L, but has a slightly rounded bottom of the cup and a .324 throat that is much easier to control, without going bright. It really tightened up the lower register of my 186 without making it bright, and kept the smoothness of the mid and upper registers without any change in tuning tendencies.

The number on the Curry mouthpiece is the cup inside diameter, so 128 would be 1.28 inches, or 32.5 mm in diameter. If that's too large for you, I believe there is a 126D, which would be 1.26 inches or 32 mm cup diameter, in the for sale threads right now.