Mouthpiece information

[hooch1964]

A colleague was clearing out her late father's loft recently and discovered a few old bits & pieces, including this mouthpiece. It is stamped 'B&H London' on the shank and '83 Patent' on the bowl.

The shaped rim is clearly part of the design. Does anyone have any information about its possible age and the reason for the shaped profile?

Mark

 

[pbirch]

I have never seen a mouthpiece of that era deliberately shaped like that, and to me it does actually look damaged rather than designed. some modern manufacturers are experimenting with asymmetrical mouthpiece designs, but are not common
instrument manufacturers did supply the mouthpiece with their instruments, B&H is Boosey and Hawkes, a great British name in brass from the 19th and 20th century, now swallowed up in Besson and the Buffet Group,
the 83 will refer to a casting or milling design for a mouthpieces for a particular instrument and I would think that this is probably pre war, 1950s at the latest. Hope that helps

 

[Tom-King]

Several manufacturers played around with these sorts of designs at one time or another...

i don't have any specifics for this one, but I'd be 99.9% sure it was made that way on purpose.

 

[MoominDave]

Agree with Tom. This isn't the first older British mouthpiece I've seen with that rim profile.

 

[Tom-King]

Not just British, pretty sure Conn played with it, too.

 

[J. Jericho]

Currently Wedge The Wedge Mouthpiece - unlike any mouthpiece you have tried before! makes an asymmetrical mouthpiece that appears to be less radical than yours, but the theory behind its design may be similar.

 

[Mello]

It may well have been made as a specific player model....a kind of copy of a special players own mouthpiece . That used to happen at B& H ...and with other makers also. It still happens but no longer at B&H obviously.Unless some one who has one of those m/pieces recognises it ..there is little chance of finding out as the manufacturer usually made a limited number.