Concept   •    Rubber   •   Manufacturing 

Design

Refacing vintage mouthpieces and remanufacturing pre-made Zinner blanks was something we were very familiar with, but in the Vintage Collection, we were responsible for everything. We quickly learned that to design a mouthpiece from the ground-up would become an enormous task 

We had to make important decisions about Vintage Collection's measurements and geometry. It was very important to ponder things like body size, beak angle and total volume.  Other things like baffle design, bore taper, window shape, chamber volume etc. were major issues that we had contemplated for years, but the little things were equally exciting to us.  For the first time, we were responsible for every small detail.  We were able evaluate mouthpiece design with a “clean slate.”  Very exciting.

Originally we considered making Kaspar and Chedeville copies, but three things became apparent to us. 

First, we were determined to match our designs to our hard rubber, and by copying an existing mouthpiece we would not realize the full potential of our rubber’s resonance.  

Second, we discovered that our rubber is an eager recipient of a variety of designs.  We determined that several different designs would both be true to our ideals and offer significant variety to our clients.

Third, we have found our best work comes from being true to ourselves, so instead of copying existing designs we undertook to improve the classic mouthpieces of the past.  Using great Chedeville and Kaspar designs as our beginning point, we employed their successes but omitted their flaws. 

After our first test mouthpieces were completed, we enlisted a prototype development program by slightly modifying and re-modifying our designs. We were able to enhance playability as each mouthpiece was balanced to the voice of our hard rubber. Sound, resonance, intonation and response became important benchmarks in this phase.

In the end, we couldn’t have achieved our dream if it were not for the dedication of the great mouthpiece makers of the past.  We did not invent something new, we built on what they left us.  Our designs are heavily influenced by the beautiful sounding Henri Chedeville, Charles Chedeville, Selmer, and Kaspar mouthpieces of the past.  But in our analysis, we found those designs often had acoustic issues that we felt could be improved upon, so we decided to treat the classics of the past not as our ideal, but as our inspiration.