BERG LARSEN Duck Bill - Stainless Steel (-)

The design behind the Duck Bill Berg Larsen is very different from its earlier vintage "Special" stainless steel model.  Berg made the change from the "Special" Stainless Steel Slant Signatures to the Duck Bill model in the early 1950's.  The Duck Bill model does have some similarities to its predicessor such as the Duck Bill beak, and bullet chamber, but the rest of the mouthpiece was changed quite a bit.  One of the first noticeable differences is the Berg Larsen signature stamp.  On all Duck Bill vintage metal Bergs the signature goes straight across the chamber, instead of being slanted.  The second is the length of the mouthpiece.  The Duck Bill Bergs are just a hair shorter than the Slant Sigs, but at a glance they look quite a bit shorter because the table is no where near as long as it used to be.  The floor of these mouthpieces doesn't extend as far down as well.  As a result the bullet chamber looks bigger, and more pronounced.  The orginal facing work on these mouthpieces is still very good and clean.  The earliest models of these Duck Bills still had the denim milling machine markings on the table.  Sometime during this mouthpieces production the Berg Larsen factory moved, and the tooling was changed.  The later models have more arced machine markings.

 

Charecteristics of Duck Bill Stainless Steel:

  • Straight Berg Larsen signature stamp
  • Tip opening, baffle height, and facing length stamp on shank under table
  • Offset M and SMS facing length stamps
  • Duckbill Beak
  • Bullet Chamber
  • Denim milling lines on table on early models
  • Arced milling lines on table on later models
  • "P" stamp above Berg Larsen stamp on some early models(explained below)

 

All of these vintage Duck Bill Bergs still had the Offset M or SMS stamping on the shank.  Some of the very first models that were released did have the "P" marking at the top of the back of shank.  This P stood for Precision.  These mouthpieces are definitely more rare than regular Duck Bill Bergs. 

 

The overall body of these mouthpieces is also thicker than the earlier Slant Sigs.  This allows for a little more vibration because there is more metal to work with.  These mouthpieces are known for their flexibility in the upper register and altissimo range.  They take a little bit of time to learn to control, but once mastered they are great for getting an edgy sound. 

 

These mouthpieces are generally seen with a silver two screw ligature, and matching cap.  Berg released these mouthpieces with several different kind of ligs, but the two screw is the one most commonly found.

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The design behind the Duck Bill Berg Larsen is very different from its earlier vintage "Special" stainless steel model.  Berg made the change from the "Special" Stainless Steel Slant Signatures to the Duck Bill model in the early 1950's.  The Duck Bill model does have some similarities ...   [more]

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