Bach Mt Vernon pieces

[Benge.nut]

Ok, I get it. There is some magic with Mt Vernon era Bach mouthpieces.

Can somebody PLEASE explain the insane premium cost for these? I understand they are no longer made, and we're possibly crafted by the old man Bach, but how different, or how much better are these pieces vs. fabrications or modern Bach pieces.

I've seen pricing recently for very good condition Mt Vernon Bach mouthpieces priced from a few hundred to upwards of $800 for a Bach 1C.....and was hoping somebody could educate me.

Thanks!

[RandyTX]

[Ragnarok]

[Benge.nut]

Wow! I had no idea, I thought the prices were typos!!!

o_O 🤔

[rockford]

[TKSop]

Rockford would have a much better idea than I would... but I doubt "old man Bach himself" made many mouthpieces himself during the Mt Vernon period?

I have a pre-corp NY6 which it's possible he would've made (though my knowledge of Bach history isn't extensive enough to do more than guess), but I can't imagine he was still cutting pieces by the time they moved to Mt Vernon?



Regardless... onto the proper topic...
I don't know about "magic" but I would certainly say that, for me, the very best Bach mouthpieces I've played have been either Mt Vernon's or no-dot Corp's (the earliest pieces post-Mt Vernon) - but having said that, I don't use any Bach's at all these days.

If I were in a situation where I was expected to use some kind of Bach (where using anything else might raise an eyebrow), especially if my income depended on it, I'd want the best Bach I could find - and that would probably be from that period.... if you want a size that lots of people want and that not many pieces were made (aforementioned 3C and bigger), the supply:demand ratio is going to make them very expensive.

[ablazek]

So, if they're so magical, who are the great living artists who currently play on these mythic relics?

[TKSop]

[Grits Burgh]

[Ragnarok]

[Ragnarok]

[Benge.nut]

Thanks for the replays fellas.

But this all just confuses me even more. Bach like other mouthpiece makers at the time were made by hand. And it seems very inconsistent. Just like more modern days of Bach.

So if there are such discrepancies between the same model of mouthpiece why would one specific piece be so desirable? I mean maybe it's good maybe not?

Or am off base, and the Mt Vernons were more uniformly consistent?

[TKSop]

[RandyTX]

The Bach mouthpieces being discussed above were made long before modern CNC equipment, on manual machines. No problem with that on the surface, but if you use the tooling all day, every day making mouthpieces, there is wear on that tooling. As it wears, the dimensions of the parts you are making change gradually as it happens. Discussions about this going back many years claim Bach ran the same fixtures until they were unusable before replacing them.

So, if you bought three 3C (or whatever) mouthpieces back then, that all came off the same machine on the same day, they'd be very close to each other. If bought three random ones from a store shelf, especially at different times, there was no telling what you'd get. One from the day the tooling was replaced for being worn out would be radically different from one made on the day it was replaced with a new one.

With modern CNC equipment, the control software measures and corrects for minute dimensional differences as the tooling wears. So, as long as the equipment is working properly and programmed well, every part made should be nearly identical.
_________________
"Music is like candy, you throw the (w)rappers away."

[rockford]

[chapahi]

It's only because sizes like 1C and 3C were rare during the Mt. Vernon era. Killer Mt. Vernon 10 1/2 C's in good shape are 10 dollars on ebay usually.
_________________
Sima, Kanstul 1525 Flugel and Kanstul pocket trumpet. Olds Super

[Benge.nut]

[TKSop]

[Irving]

Some people do very well on large mouthpieces. One of the strongest classical players I know plays on a 1C rim. Others do better on smaller diameters. The trick is to know what YOU do better on, and then use that diameter.

[JetJaguar]