Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
Forum rules
This section is for posts that are directly related to performance, performers, or equipment. Social issues are allowed, as long as they are directly related to those categories. If you see a post that you cannot respond to with respect and courtesy, we ask that you do not respond at all.
This section is for posts that are directly related to performance, performers, or equipment. Social issues are allowed, as long as they are directly related to those categories. If you see a post that you cannot respond to with respect and courtesy, we ask that you do not respond at all.
- iiipopes
- Posts: 1054
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:26 pm
- Has thanked: 138 times
- Been thanked: 187 times
Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
Well, well, well! After I purchased my Boosey & Hawkes 921 cornet some months ago, it prompted me to a mouthpiece safari. In researching other items, I ran across articles about the Lausmann company in Germany, which makes mouthpieces on contract for other companies. This includes Wick, Faxx, GEWA, some B&S, and Blessing, among others.
For years, I had said the Blessing version of the 18 is the best tuba mouthpiece Bach never made. Well, I must now modify that to say since the sale of the Bach company to Selmer. The urban legend is that Bach gave a case of specimen mouthpieces to someone when the company was moved from Mt. Vernon to Elkhart. Somewhere along the line, that case of specimen mouthpieces made its way to Lausmann, whether on a subcontract basis while Selmer got up to speed, or surreptitiously, or whatever. Lausmann scanned them. So when you purchase a Blessing tuba mouthpiece, you are essentially purchasing a Mt. Vernon 18 or 24AW, which do have some manufacturing differences to current Selmer production, including the sloping rim of the 18, which is different to current production.
I have a GEWA 1 1/2 C that came with the cornet in addition to the "standard" Wick 4B. Yes, it feels and plays like a Mt. Vernon 1 1/2 C, not a current production 1 1/2 C. Why care? If you really want to see what the close-to-mythical Mt. Vernon mouthpieces were all about, you can purchase a GEWA 3C trumpet mouthpiece for @$50 including shipping instead of @$3-500 for a "real" Mt. Vernon 3C mouthpiece, or similar price differential for the tuba mouthpieces.
So, I modify my comments from years earlier: a Blessing 18, as made by Lausmann, is the best 18 Bach never made after the sale of the company to Selmer.
For years, I had said the Blessing version of the 18 is the best tuba mouthpiece Bach never made. Well, I must now modify that to say since the sale of the Bach company to Selmer. The urban legend is that Bach gave a case of specimen mouthpieces to someone when the company was moved from Mt. Vernon to Elkhart. Somewhere along the line, that case of specimen mouthpieces made its way to Lausmann, whether on a subcontract basis while Selmer got up to speed, or surreptitiously, or whatever. Lausmann scanned them. So when you purchase a Blessing tuba mouthpiece, you are essentially purchasing a Mt. Vernon 18 or 24AW, which do have some manufacturing differences to current Selmer production, including the sloping rim of the 18, which is different to current production.
I have a GEWA 1 1/2 C that came with the cornet in addition to the "standard" Wick 4B. Yes, it feels and plays like a Mt. Vernon 1 1/2 C, not a current production 1 1/2 C. Why care? If you really want to see what the close-to-mythical Mt. Vernon mouthpieces were all about, you can purchase a GEWA 3C trumpet mouthpiece for @$50 including shipping instead of @$3-500 for a "real" Mt. Vernon 3C mouthpiece, or similar price differential for the tuba mouthpieces.
So, I modify my comments from years earlier: a Blessing 18, as made by Lausmann, is the best 18 Bach never made after the sale of the company to Selmer.
Last edited by iiipopes on Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jupiter JTU1110 - K&G 3F
"Real" Conn 36K - JK 4B Classic
"Real" Conn 36K - JK 4B Classic
- bloke
- Mid South Music
- Posts: 19285
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:55 am
- Location: western Tennessee - near Memphis
- Has thanked: 3841 times
- Been thanked: 4086 times
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
I don't know about that narrative/legend...but the tone of it reminds me of others I've heard - about all sorts of things - which are dubious.
Prior to the type of scanning that is done today, mechanical tracing was plenty accurate.
It's easy to pick out a "really good example of a blah-blah" and scan it.
Prior to the type of scanning that is done today, mechanical tracing was plenty accurate.
It's easy to pick out a "really good example of a blah-blah" and scan it.
- bloke
- Mid South Music
- Posts: 19285
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:55 am
- Location: western Tennessee - near Memphis
- Has thanked: 3841 times
- Been thanked: 4086 times
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
Blessing offered some very well-made tuba mouthpieces (whether-or-not any individual was interested in those sizes) prior to being shuttered (as it's now only a brand name).
Their trumpet mouthpieces - though (Bach-style and Bach numbers) - all seemed to be just about the same on the inside (??)
Their trumpet mouthpieces - though (Bach-style and Bach numbers) - all seemed to be just about the same on the inside (??)
- arpthark
- Posts: 3899
- Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:25 pm
- Location: Southeastern Connecticut
- Has thanked: 951 times
- Been thanked: 1068 times
- Contact:
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
I had a newer Bach 18 and an older Blessing 18 here at the same time.
They were definitely different. Although I didn't really care for either in my particular tuba, I liked the Blessing more. They're both now at a high school in North Carolina or thereabouts.
They were definitely different. Although I didn't really care for either in my particular tuba, I liked the Blessing more. They're both now at a high school in North Carolina or thereabouts.
Blake
Bean Hill Brass
Bean Hill Brass
- iiipopes
- Posts: 1054
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:26 pm
- Has thanked: 138 times
- Been thanked: 187 times
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
Indeed. Hence my reference as "urban legend." But it is interesting that the entire line of GEWA mouthpieces, which include selected popular models of essentially every brass instrument, all have the same Bach fluting between the cup and shank without modification.bloke wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:32 am I don't know about that narrative/legend...but the tone of it reminds me of others I've heard - about all sorts of things - which are dubious.
Prior to the type of scanning that is done today, mechanical tracing was plenty accurate.
It's easy to pick out a "really good example of a blah-blah" and scan it.
And again, when the family still operated the company, I have a Blessing 13 trumpet mouthpiece and I gave my uncle's Blessing 13 cornet mouthpiece to my son, which were very popular mouthpieces back in the day, very similar to a Bach 10 1/2 D.
Jupiter JTU1110 - K&G 3F
"Real" Conn 36K - JK 4B Classic
"Real" Conn 36K - JK 4B Classic
- the elephant
- Posts: 3378
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:39 am
- Location: 404 - Not Found
- Has thanked: 1896 times
- Been thanked: 1335 times
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
I have been sending students to buy the Blessing 18 since about 1995 when I discovered they were a lot more consistent (and very good) than what Bach was selling at that time. I still have a Bach 18, a Mt. Vernon 18, and my trusty Blessing 18. The Blessing is better (for me) than either of the genuine articles.
- These users thanked the author the elephant for the post:
- iiipopes (Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:33 am)
- bloke
- Mid South Music
- Posts: 19285
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:55 am
- Location: western Tennessee - near Memphis
- Has thanked: 3841 times
- Been thanked: 4086 times
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
I used to buy gobs and gobs of those things and sold them at my brick and mortar store until the better part of a couple of decades ago, when it became too dangerous and too expensive tax-wise to run a brick-and-mortar store and own a fairly nice house in Memphis. Now that St Louis Music Supply owns the Blessing name, does it seem as though the Blessing mouthpieces are still made by the same people as before, and is the quality still holding up? Is anyone buying new ones?
The Blessing/Johnson family originally built valve sets for other Elkhart manufacturers, and always seemed to be pretty conscientious about quality of components. As an example, they purchased rotor assemblies for their trombones from Joe Marcinkiewicz out west, and it seemed to me that the tolerances on those rotor assemblies exceeded those of Vincent Bach.
The Blessing/Johnson family originally built valve sets for other Elkhart manufacturers, and always seemed to be pretty conscientious about quality of components. As an example, they purchased rotor assemblies for their trombones from Joe Marcinkiewicz out west, and it seemed to me that the tolerances on those rotor assemblies exceeded those of Vincent Bach.
- iiipopes
- Posts: 1054
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:26 pm
- Has thanked: 138 times
- Been thanked: 187 times
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
I have a new Blessing 7C cornet mouthpiece on the way to try out for my Eb soprano cornet. It will be here in about a week, but I will be gone for about a week after that, so please give me a couple weeks after that to really put it through its paces and I will report back.bloke wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:05 am I used to buy gobs and gobs of those things and sold them at my brick and mortar store until the better part of a couple of decades ago, when it became too dangerous and too expensive tax-wise to run a brick-and-mortar store and own a fairly nice house in Memphis. Now that St Louis Music Supply owns the Blessing name, does it seem as though the Blessing mouthpieces are still made by the same people as before, and is the quality still holding up? Is anyone buying new ones?
The Blessing/Johnson family originally built valve sets for other Elkhart manufacturers, and always seemed to be pretty conscientious about quality of components. As an example, they purchased rotor assemblies for their trombones from Joe Marcinkiewicz out west, and it seemed to me that the tolerances on those rotor assemblies exceeded those of Vincent Bach.
Jupiter JTU1110 - K&G 3F
"Real" Conn 36K - JK 4B Classic
"Real" Conn 36K - JK 4B Classic
Re: Blessing Tuba Mouthpieces
I've got a former student who was playing a mouthpiece of similar size and we got him one of these. He still plays it to this day and still sounds great on it. If they ever size it up to 32.7 to 33mm version, I would at least like to add it to the collection.
- bloke
- Mid South Music
- Posts: 19285
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:55 am
- Location: western Tennessee - near Memphis
- Has thanked: 3841 times
- Been thanked: 4086 times