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by mbross
(1 post)
11 years ago

Mouthpiece Advice Needed

Years back, I received a Mark VI tenor as a gift. The previous owner left a small collection of mouthpieces. I've played them, but there is one I can't make heads or tails of. I will use your advice to decide if I want to sell some of them. If I do sell them I will move this to the marketplace. Please advise on the value and anything I should be aware of for each piece. Most importantly, does this collection say anything about the previous owner? It would be really cool to know something about the guy that played this horn.

1. Wolfe Tayne, metal, tenor, 5 --> all edges are free of nicks. The metal (silver color) is slightly tarnished. The ligature is a plain double screw model of the same color metal.

2. Berg Larsen , metal, tenor, 95/o m --> all edges are free of nicks. The metal (silver color) is in excellent condition. the black plastic bite plate has a few small marks and it is slightly browned. It has the original inscribed ligature, two screws on the bottom, same color.

3. Bilger-Morgan, black plastic, tenor, Inscription on the metal band around the shank is Excalibur, 9605 6 E, and Bilger-Morgan with the treble clef as the "i".

4. The odd ball. I have searched several times on the internet and have found only the most fleeting mention of this piece.

Rovner, metal, tenor, 6 on the table. The facing length is over half the length of the mouthpiece. The word Rovner is inscribed on the top of the mouthpiece as if done with a hand engraver. The metal is silver colored and in near mint condition. It has a slim rovner ligature. It looks like it has rarely been played.


I really appreciate any information you guys can share with me.

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  2. by GFC
    (842 posts)
    11 years ago

    Re: Mouthpiece Advice Needed

    Lucky dog!

    I'm at a loss to comment on the Wolf Tayne.  All I can say about the Berg Larsen is that its value would be highly dependent on when it was produced.  Most of the big names in vintage mouthpieces changed their production processes from ones with a lot of hand finishing to ones with more machine work, resulting in less consistent products.  Sometimes the designs were changed to make them more suitable to machine production.  It will take some digging to find out exactly what you have.  Theo Wanne has an online museum of vintage mouthpieces,  If that doesn't clear it up, you might contact Theo Wanne directly.  Maybe he could also tell you about the Wolf Tayne.  

    http://theowanne.com/knowledge/mouthpiece-museum

    The Bilger-Morgan is a very interesting piece.  Bilger-Morgan was a partnership that the famous Ralph Morgan entered around 1980 and he personally finished the Bilger-Morgan pieces.  The original Morgan Excalibur is a legend among classical players and the Bilger-Morgan pieces are quite rare.  The serial # sequence for Bilger-Morgan pieces started at 7000.  Maybe the "Excalibur" would be worth more than other Bilger-Morgan pieces.

    Your description of the Rovner piece is consistent with it being a Rovner Eagle.  From what I gather, it's in the bright, modern pop ballpark.  It seems not to be in current production per the Rovner website.  New old stock examples are north of $200.  
     

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