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What mouthpiece did Mendez use?


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KevinPierce
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 1:27 am    Post subject: What mouthpiece did Mendez use? Reply with quote

What type of mouthpiece did Mendez use?
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StevenPSparks
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bach 10 1/2C, I believe
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KevinPierce
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 4:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, how could someone get that nice of sound from such a small mouthpiece. I hear doc played on one of those at one point also.
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StevenPSparks
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like many of us, I think that it's pretty common knowledge that Doc is a mouthpiece junkie. I also think that there is something to be said for the adage that no matter what MP you play on, you will always sound like yourself. I have heard others that had equally amazing sounds on 10 1/2Cs & similar sized 'pieces, and am constantly amazed (although I shouldn't be...lol)
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oj
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, a Bach 10 1/2 C

- but also an Olds Mendez #1 (anyone know the size of that one?)

Btw, his horns were:

* French Besson Brevette
* Olds Mendez (a Besson copy)

Ole
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trpt.hick
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As always, OJ is correctomundo!
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AverageJoe
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got a few old 10-1/2C's laying around, as well as an Olds Mendez model. They are very similar.

Paul
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murph66
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://rouses.net/trumpet/olds.htm

Try this web site- On the left hand side of the page, there's a way to go to a site that has the specs of both the Mendez 1 and Mendez 2 mouthpieces

I have a Mendez 2, but dont use it as the tone is a little bright for what I usually play. The range and endurance are great, though. It is a small diameter mouthpiece. I have never played a Mendez 1, in fact I have never seen one, and they are not usually for sale in the marketplace or on ebay.
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oj
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paul,

I'm not surprised if the Bach and Olds piece are very similar. Could you say more about what the difference are?

If you look up the specs of Mendez #1, #2 and the Cornet mpc (at the Olds site - thanks murph66!):

http://rouses.net/trumpet/olds_specs/mendez_mpc_spec.htm

.. could someone perhaps explain some of the numbers in laymans term?

The number 5-20-52, I think I understand? The date: 20th of May 1952

Ole

P.S. I see no mention of "alfa angle"
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bulos
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:49 am    Post subject: small Reply with quote

KevinPierce wrote:
Wow, how could someone get that nice of sound from such a small mouthpiece. I hear doc played on one of those at one point also.


There have been plenty of others to play mouthpieces in the 10 1/2 area and I think they got pretty nice sounds; Clifford Brown, Timofie Dockshitzer, and Conti Candoli to name a few.
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Tim W
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, a 10 1/2 C... I played on this one, too, back in the day and when I started my "comeback" I wondered how I was ever able to play the thing!
3C and 6M Giardinelli's today!
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Hank
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:48 pm    Post subject: Mendez Mouthpiece Reply with quote

No doubt in my mind: Mendez used a Mendez #1. It was based on a Bach 10 1/2 C but redesigned to his specs. Olds, needless to say, was happy to build them for him ( along with numerous horns) and consequently had a very "Olds" look about it. There was also a #2, but I don't know where it lived in the scheme of things size-wise. I have two of the #1s; the trumpet version Rafael gave me and the cornet version I had to hunt all over the planet for many years later. As was often the case, Mendez would hold imprompto clinics backstage during his performances at high schools. I was not yet in high school when I was privileged to meet and have him pretty much to myself for the better part of his 45 minute break between his solos. (He usually played two solos in the first half of the concert--intermission-- and then closed with two more at the end of the second half) The rim on that MP is a chop cutter--really sharp and not much of it. Nevertheless, I used the MP for many years figuring maybe some day I could be the next RM . . . yeah right! Well, that sure didn't happen, but the dream was great while it lasted. I then needed the #1 cornet MP as the band I was in in HS only used cornets, (other than solo work)

That all happened a long time ago. I never saw him again but spoke with the grand gentleman several times on the phone. It feels almost like yesterday, even though I am now 64. I still recall the thrill of listening to every word he had to share with a young kid who just wanted nothing more than to play the trumpet. Now after not playing at all for a little over 15 years, I am back in the saddle again . .. the mouthpiece I now use is Parduba; ironically the #5 is a 10 1/2C (+/-) on the bottom under a primary cup with a fat rim. The piece works very well for me and has allowed me to enjoy playing my horn all over again. It just doesn't get any better than that!
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Tom Jensen
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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In 1963 I was fortunate to attend one of his concerts.Before it started we were allowed to get autographs and to talk with Mr.Mendez, I held his horn while he signed my program.The mouthpiece looked to be a Mendez style like my own,I owed a Mendez trumpet with the #2 mp and didnt like it.He carried two horns with him in a double case,during the concert he also looked to be changeing mouthpieces from his coat pocket? [/list][/list]
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Nos Mo King
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PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2011 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Btw, his horns were:

* French Besson Brevette
* Olds Mendez (a Besson copy)

Ole


A bit of silly trivia; Mr. Mendez did a clinic/ concert in Cheyenne and a tie clip / pin was left in his trumpet case. The pin somehow found its way into the 2nd valve and the horn was unplayable, and there was no way to repair the horn before the concert began.

The local music store carried Olds horns, and had a complete line of trumpets. Mr. Mendez played them all including his signature horn, and decided on an Ambassador! He played great, of course, and he did it on that good old warhorse student line horn.

Class act in every sense of the word, too. FWIW
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bixtone
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PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2011 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://bobreeves.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/from-the-archives-rafael-mendez-photo/
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JonathanM
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PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great comments, folks. It's super to hear about those of you who actually had some time around him; touching stuff. My kids have all played in instruments in school and I've showed them all (numerous times) YouTube vids of R. M. playing - and then I take him to the "...scales, scales and more scales..." vid. It's just too good not to show a novice; so basic - so brilliant.

Tom and Hank - Welcome to the Forum!! Great starts in posting to both of you!
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rafaelsatchmo
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:44 pm    Post subject: Mendez' Mouthpiece Reply with quote

Hank, excellent work on RM's mouthpieces. The Mendez 1 was indeed based on the Bach 10 1/2 C but with a slightly deeper cup. Ralph had split his lip in a terrible accident at the Fox Theatre in Detroit in the early 1930s (he played in the theatre orchestra and sat by the door into the "pit". He always was the last one in before the pit rose for a performance, but one day a bass player was late and threw open the door, which hit Ralph's horn and split his lip. It took years of surgery and healing before he could play effectively again. The small mouthpiece helped him a lot!).

About the Mendez 2: It is the same as the 1 but with a shallower cup.

As Olds would copy and improve any trumpet (and the Mendez horn was an improvement over the Bessan Meha, if only for the triggers), they would do the same on mouthpieces. There's a list on Olds Central, scanned from an original factory document, of mouthpieces made for various customers. It reads as a who's who.

Vincent Bach wasn't as well known in the 1930s and 1940s as the mouthpiece man he is today, so it shouldn't be a surprise that there were others out there making fine mouthpieces.
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cheiden
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KevinPierce wrote:
Wow, how could someone get that nice of sound from such a small mouthpiece. I hear doc played on one of those at one point also.

I think it's a relative recent notion that big ID mouthpieces are required for a big sound. I believe that cup depth and volume are far more important then ID with regard to tone.
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connicalman
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No Mendez, but yeah a split lip. And a mpc many find peculiar.

Until last year I didn't have the suppleness to connect the little bit on the left with the larger bit on the right of my upper lip - these were the parts I could feel buzzing within the mpc. There was otherwise a less 'live' slice between.

Of course it has less to do with that injury than with hours in the saddle, but my solution was to go big rather than smaller or to play to the side.

Now the whole width buzzes well. That I feel has to do with better technique, more patience, and the Wick rim. Kinda sharp on the alpha, that one, yes? Hmm...

To have met Mr Mendez must have been a thrill, and quite a source of motivation for a young man. Welcome to TH and thanks much for sharing your stories.
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