Conn Tenor Mouthpiece

[Da BeeJ]

Among the mouthpieces I recently obtained was an old all-black mouthpiece with the word Conn printed over the picture of an eagle holding a lyre, with the words Trade Mark on either side of it and U.S.A. printed below it. The symbol C* is also printed to the side of the face.

Is this one of the Conn Eagle mouthpieces that I keep reading about, and in which case, what does the C* mean?

Thanks again,
Da BeeJ

[paulwl]

Probably that someone's refaced it to Selmer C* spec. Conn didn't letter or number most of the Eagle mpcs. The good news is that I have had a couple of Eagles refaced to C* and they play very well that way.

[Da BeeJ]

The conn eagle mouthpieces I have come across are all hard rubber, but this is ebonite. Is this a different mouthpiece then?

[shmuelyosef]

Ebonite IS hard rubber...they used to make bowling balls from it...

[Da BeeJ]

Ah...

[paulwl]

Conn also made Eagle mpcs out of bakelite. They have metal rings in the shanks to keep them from cracking (which they often do anyway, up to where the ring is). The bakelite is a bit browner and glossier than HR. It was also used to make clarinets.