Looking for info on Buescher Tru-Lay mouthpieces

[paulwl]

Do you have a Buescher sax/clarinet mouthpiece marked "TRU-LAY" on the table? I'm trying to piece together info about what tip and facing sizes Buescher offered on these sweet-playing barrel chamber pieces made in the 1930s and 40s era.

Tru-Lays were made for alto, tenor, baritone sax and clarinet. Each was offered in 7 "lays" (the old word for a tip/facing combination):

M (medium facing/tip)
SC (short facing/close tip); SM (short facing/medium tip); SO (short facing/open tip)
LC (long facing/close tip); LM (long facing/medium tip); LO (long facing/open tip)

Each Tru-Lay is marked with 2 numbers and a letter, eg: "55/812 M" (.055" tip, .812" facing length, medium alto).

What I want to find out is the measurements for as many as possible of the 28 original sizes. Tru-Lays themselves are fairly easy to find, but models other than M appear to be very rare.

Here are the sizes I have verified so far:

Alto - 55/812 M (may also have been available in 53/812 and 58/812)

Tenor - 60/937 M; 55/1000 LC; 60/1031 LM; 63/812 SO

Baritone - 63/1000 M; 56/937 SC

If you have others lying around, please do let me know. You may post here or email paulwl at cyburban dot com.

Thanks -- I appreciate it.

[Rackety Sax]

Paulwl, the alto SM was 55/687. There was one listed on eBay but the auction has been shut down. I think I was able to download the pics and I'll try to post them later.

At this rate you should have all of your details by about the year 2176.

[Rackety Sax]

Sorry, image inserts broken, try these links.

Photo 1 (http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6JGl%7C%3Dup6%3DzqH%3AxxqUD7qRUrKxzX7BHpUUKx gXPGJ%3F87KR6xqpxQQ00x0PexGQ0xv8uOc5xQQQ00oloe0loe qpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPGJ%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,252,442)

Photo 2 (http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6JGa%7C%3Dup6%3DzqH%3AxxqUD7qRUrKxzX7BHpUUKx gXPGe%3F87KR6xqpxQQ00x0PexGQ0xv8uOc5xQQQ00oloe0loa qpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPGe%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,253,442)

[Rackety Sax]

Only a little more than one year to find another one of these, things are picking up! This one is an alto Aristocrat model, not a Tru-Lay, but it uses the same type of numbering and lettering system to id the lay. That's not to say the numbers are the same as on the Tru-Lay though, I have no way of proving that until I see a Tru-Lay LO model. Must be a pretty rare mouthpiece. The Aristocrat branded ones seem pretty uncommon. On top of that, this is one of the non-standard facings (i.e., something other than M). This just sold on eBay, the pics are from the listing.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/chitownjazz/AristocratLO5.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/chitownjazz/AristocratLO4.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/chitownjazz/AristocratLO3.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/chitownjazz/AristocratLO2.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l149/chitownjazz/AristocratLO1.jpg

[zxcvbnm]

Wow, nice find! How does it play? Aren't these reputed to be like a standard Tru-lay but with more projection?

[Rackety Sax]

Wow, nice find! How does it play? Aren't these reputed to be like a standard Tru-lay but with more projection?

The auction just finished a few minutes ago, and I didn't say I won it (though maybe I did :twisted:).

I have played a 400-branded Buescher mouthpiece (the early black HR one, not the later white plastic one), and your description would apply to that, it's got a little edge to it unlike the older Buescher mouthpieces.

[Rackety Sax]

I received this mouthpiece. If you look at the second from the bottom pic above, you'll see file marks on the baffle area. If there was a raised baffle there it has been filed off, so I have no way of knowing what it was like originally.