TubaForum.net

Hello everyone,

I wanted to see your opinions on rare tuba mouthpieces - what mouthpieces would you consider rare and hard to find? Does anyone have interesting mouthpieces they want to share and how they got them?

I can't wait to see what everyone says!

Conn Geib -- The only made a couple of them, and this was at least 100 years ago. It was made for Fred Geib, so each of the copies that were made somehow or another went through him to the next owners. The one that I had for a few months is the exact one copied by Lee Stofer, so there is a modern version of it in existence.

I actually had the original and the new copy side by side for a while. I thought they played very differently, even though they were said to have been nearly duplicates. The new one is a very nice mouthpiece, and hard to dislike, especially for large rotary instruments in my experience. The original, was capable of producing the most gorgeous sound. I never thought much about how a mouthpiece may affect that, but it certainly seemed to do so. The downfall, was that it had a very small for or throat or both. So playing anything above mezzo forte was difficult because fast and plentiful air would back up on you. So much, that I found it to be nearly unusable. So is a gorgeous soft tone, but not particularly useful in any way.

To have the other Geib copies as well, the one that I had from James r new was excellent as well. I had a regular one, and also one where I asked them to get it a larger bore. That one could really cook, I thought it was an excellent adaptation of it. Coincidentally, I think that's exactly what the Lee Stofer Air Corps mouthpiece is all about.

But anyway, those original Conn Geib mouthpieces are extremely rare and almost just don't exist at all

BRS wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 5:30 pm Huh, never heard that. I owned a Conn Geib (along with a bunch of 1910’s -1930’s Hellebergs, etc.) for years and years until I finally sold it to a collector who asked to buy it. I have some that Jim New made for me. I liked the original, but I like Jim’s as much or more. I still have my favorite 1930’s Helleberg for now and a bunch of other stuff.

I wonder if you and I separately owned the same one? Otherwise, that's hilarious that I'm sitting here saying they are as rare as hens teeth, and minutes later someone else says they had one.

I agree about the Jim New models. I had one or two from Kanstul when he worked there... And ordered a few from him in SW Utah as well. I should probably try to get another. He won't be doing this forever.

For a modern rarity, a Perantucci PT-82. The real ones from years ago, not the current mouthpiece that is called the same thing and made by someone else. It doesn't get as much press as the more famous models, such as the PT-50 and others. But if you can find one, it is a great mouthpiece. Bob has re-issued it as the RT-82. I have one. It is as close to perfect as can be for my application: supporting a community band on a large 4/4 tuba. It has depth, core of tone, security of intonation throughout the range, and has great response and dynamic flexibility.

Shouldn't this be moved to Music Chatter?

I've got an adjustable cup-depth mouthpiece marked "Kingross"; supposedly belonged to A. Jacobs many years ago, although Brian Fredricson has no memory of it. I've posted pix of it on that other site years ago (since deleted).

UncleBeer wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:18 pm I've got an adjustable cup-depth mouthpiece marked "Kingross"; supposedly belonged to A. Jacobs many years ago, although Brian Fredricson has no memory of it. I've posted pix of it on that other site years ago (since deleted).



jpeg-optimizer_IMG_20240107_141249160_HDR.jpg

Uncle Beer ! Super cool mouthpiece, I would love to know more about it as it seems hard to find any information on the internet - would also love to find one to purchase as well! Thanks for the share

I have two mouthpieces stamped
Fred Geib
318

This is per my memory as they're not next to me at the moment. I've never seen a third or heard anyone talk about having one either.

They are nicer to play and prettier sounding than the Conn Geib, so I was willing to sell the Conn to Bort.

I had a set of vintage Conn Helleberg, Chief, and Geib.
The Chief is the only of these which I still have.
I used to also have a Conn 1, 2, and 3 tuba mouthpieces. I'm pretty sure I sold all of those.

I do have a pair of Marzan mouthpieces, one large and ine small. I think Bort would like the large one as it's Geib-ish with a bigger throat.

Any mouthpiece associated with a famous player, especially if the model is no longer made, could be considered valuable. That said, there's a mp that was supposedly owned by Howard Johnson that the current owner has been trying to sell at an inflated price for quite a while now.

cjk wrote: ↑Tue Mar 05, 2024 5:28 pm I have two mouthpieces stamped
Fred Geib
318

This is per my memory as they're not next to me at the moment. I've never seen a third or heard anyone talk about having one either.

They are nicer to play and prettier sounding than the Conn Geib, so I was willing to sell the Conn to Bort.

I had a set of vintage Conn Helleberg, Chief, and Geib.
The Chief is the only of these which I still have.
I used to also have a Conn 1, 2, and 3 tuba mouthpieces. I'm pretty sure I sold all of those.

I do have a pair of Marzan mouthpieces, one large and ine small. I think Bort would like the large one as it's Geib-ish with a bigger throat.

Pictures or it didn't happen.

Or rather, pictures, or it's gonna drive me crazy to not see them. :)

I've sold nearly all of my stuff, and had so many things over the years, I simply don't remember it all. But I did have one small Marzan mouthpiece... I always guessed it must have been for a small Eb. (Yes, there were a few -- or at least one -- Marzan-branded Eb.) It was a very small mouthpiece, which was not really useful for anything.

Any history or details about the Fred Geib? The Conn Geib sounded beautiful, up until a healthy messo forte. After that, it backed up quickly because of the small bore.

Jim New's Geib copy -- ordered with a larger throat -- was the best Geib that I've had. I had that before Lee Stofer offered his Air Corps... Which I think is the same general idea. I haven't had a chance to try one yet though.

Side note -- someone around here had Jim New do a run of the Conn...1 or 2??... So I'm sure he still has the plans for it.

Tricky thing with Jim, though, is that he can (no pun intended) turn out multiple trumpet pieces in the time it takes to do 1 tuba piece. So it takes a little planning and getting on his schedule. I think he thought he charged a premium for it, but at least back then, the price was quite reasonable.

Side note #2 -- best mouthpiece on my Marzan was a Mike Finn H. Which is also rare to come by these days.

Modern/rare -- I've had two Thein tuba mouthpieces, the RCMF and RCC

The RCMF was nice, very good sound and nice medium size. But I like large mouthpieces better.

The RCC was my favorite and I used it for all 5(?) years that I had it, exclusively. Loved it. Never thought i would sell it, but I needed the money, and didn't have a big tuba anymore anyway.

I hope to get back in the game, someday...

Topic moved to Music Chatter forum.

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 10:33 am
Pictures or it didn't happen.
....

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... A-u17D_LaB

Nice Fred collection! (Geib + Marzan)

cjk wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 12:47 pm

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 10:33 am
Pictures or it didn't happen.
....

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... A-u17D_LaB

Thanks! That's really cool!

My marzan mouthpiece, I believe, was different than those. I'll have to see if I still have a photo of it.

Also, That's some disappointing attention to detail in the alignment of the letters in his name.

Modern uncommon: tuba mouthpieces made by the Atkinson French Horn maker in Burbank, CA.

If anyone has one, I’d be interested in it as I’m an Atkinson too, but not related.