C Melody Saxophone Forum

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C Melody Saxophone Forum / Neck Straight versus Curved / Conn C melody 1905 model straightneck w

Dan Raczkowski
User ID: 8102723 Dec 22nd 12:25 PM
Great Web site, I have a Conn C melody with a straight neck with tuner on it. I have it in for some pad work. The shop looked up the serial # and said it was manufactured in 1905. The finish is in good shape and after the pad work I am looking forward to playing. I have an old Conn Tenor that my father gave me that plays great. I have a Selmer Jazz mouthpiece on my Tenor. My C melody has a hard rubber mouthpiece. I was wondering if there is anybody out there who would know if I could get a metal mouthpiece for my C melody? The gentleman I bought the C melody from was using Tenor reeds on the rubber mouthpiece. Any info would be helpfull.
Thanks, Dan R.

Roger Aldridge
User ID: 2644644 Dec 22nd 1:34 PM
Dan,

I'm very curious about your c-melody! 1905 seems terrible early for a straight neck Conn. Would you mind giving us the serial number (like 30,xxx)?

Dan Raczkowski
User ID: 8102723 Dec 22nd 3:33 PM
Roger,the sax is at the shop at this time. I am going to call there tommorrow and have them give me the serial #. The owner of the business looked it up in his book and said 1905. I did find a Conn Serial # list at www.drrick.com/conn.html. My Conn tenor is M 186909 with an L below the number. This dates my Tenor as 1926. If anybody has any info on what the M and L mean I would appreciate it. I live near Wausau Wisconsin and the shops name is Band Instrument Repair Specialists. I trust the owner as he reconditioned my Tenor about 18 years ago. Maybe he just made a mistake on the date but I will post the serial #. I had a Goose neck C Melody Conn about 20 years ago. It always sounded stuffy so I sold it. The one I now own I purchased approx 1 year ago from a man in Stevens Point, Wisconsin along with a LeBlanc wood C clarinet. The C melody played but several of the pads are in tough shape, the silver finish is in good shape. I'll be in touch.

Dan R
User ID: 8102723 Dec 23rd 9:07 AM
Roger, The Serial # is 90510. According to the Serial # list this horn was made in 1922. Does this sound right to you? Do you know of anyone that could help me in regards to a jazz type mouthpiece for this horn?
Dan R

Roger Aldridge
User ID: 2644644 Dec 23rd 1:29 PM
Dan,

Yes, 1922 sounds right. It's my understanding that straight neck Conns started production somewhere around 1920. Thus, the 1905 date blew my mind!

I don't know of anyone currently making metal mouthpieces for c-melody. If your heart is set on a metal mouthpiece you'll probably have to resort to using a metal tenor or alto mouthpiece.

However, this could be a tricky way to go. It's possible that you might get lucky and find a piece that works okay on your c-mel. On the other hand, it's more likely that you'll have intonation problems due to a combination of the mouthpiece length and amount of chamber volume not being right for the c-melody. The c-melody, after all, isn't really a slightly smaller tenor sax. It has a different bore design. Thus, in my personal opinion, it's best to use a mouthpiece that is specifically designed for the c-melody. Having said that, I know of a number of c-melody players who get good results with an alto or tenor mouthpiece. But, at least with MY c-melody the intonation would be absolutely terrible if I'd try that.

For a Conn c-melody, people usually get good results with the Morgan or Runyon c-melody mouthpieces. There are others mouthpieces on the market that you can try. Personally, I prefer Morgan. In my experience it has a bigger, richer, and more projecting sound than Runyon.

Now, there could be an interesting possibility here! The Morgan c-melody mouthpiece is actually based on the Morgan M (jazz) tenor sax piece. It might be possible for Ralph and his staff to make a special order c-melody mouthpiece based on the Excalibur model. This is still a hard rubber mouthpiece. But, it has thinner chamber walls and a different hard rubber formula than the other Morgan mouthpieces. Ralph Morgan describes Excalibur has having some of the playing characteristics of older metal mouthpieces such as a Link. This could be a really interesting avenue to explore!

A good way to get more information about Morgan mouthpieces is through Dave Hoskins at www.junkdude.com.

I've been getting excellent results on my l919 Conn with the Morgan 6 (.090) mouthpiece and a Francois Louis ligature (in brass). The FL lig, in particular, helps to really open up one's sound. In my experience it allows a Morgan mouthpiece to work at its optimal level.

Good luck!!! Please let us know what works for you.

Dan R
User ID: 8102723 Dec 23rd 5:36 PM
Thanks for the info, I will not get the C back for 2 weeks but will try it with the original mouthpiece after the pad work is done. I'll let you know how it performs, in the meantime I will check out Dave Hoskins and see what he has to say. Thanks for all the help.
Dan R.

spiderjames
User ID: 8402073 Feb 28th 9:29 AM
I had a goldbeck metal alto mouthpiece that work well on my buescher c melody. As i recall it was a fairly large chamber mouthpiece for an alto and had a relatively small tip opening 4 I believe. I do ocasionally see old c mel metal mouthpieces on ebay, and some have been all metal or metal inside HR.

soreliprick
User ID: 0756324 Sep 22nd 12:15 AM
I was lucky to find a Goldbeck C Melody metal mouthpiece, actually two! A friend in N. Carolina found them at a shop and sent me the pick of the litter, for only $75! I love it, I have a tenor and an alto Goldbeck as well. When I first got my 1926 Conn C it had a red King C melody mouthpiece and was stuffy, until I put a Dukoff 8M metallite alto piece on it. It's what started me looking for a real metal C piece because the intonation was all over the place and.....it was a Dukoff. The Goldbeck is great for the Conn C, but since then I've also picked up a 1922 Martin Goldplated C that came with a mouthpiece only marked 'C' and I prefer that piece over the Goldbeck as it sounds perfect the way it is without adding the extra volume possible with the Goldbeck. Now, if I could find a goldplated Goldbeck........

Dan Raczkowski User ID: 8102723	Dec 22nd 12:25 PM Great Web site, I have a Conn C melody with a straight neck with tuner on it. I have it in for some pad work. The shop looked up the serial # and said it was manufactured in 1905. The finish is in good shape and after the pad work I am looking forward to playing. I have an old Conn Tenor that my father gave me that plays great. I have a Selmer Jazz mouthpiece on my Tenor. My C melody has a hard rubber mouthpiece. I was wondering if there is anybody out there who would know if I could get a metal mouthpiece for my C melody? The gentleman I bought the C melody from was using Tenor reeds on the rubber mouthpiece. Any info would be helpfull. Thanks, Dan R.
Roger Aldridge User ID: 2644644	Dec 22nd 1:34 PM Dan, I'm very curious about your c-melody! 1905 seems terrible early for a straight neck Conn. Would you mind giving us the serial number (like 30,xxx)?
Dan Raczkowski User ID: 8102723	Dec 22nd 3:33 PM Roger,the sax is at the shop at this time. I am going to call there tommorrow and have them give me the serial #. The owner of the business looked it up in his book and said 1905. I did find a Conn Serial # list at www.drrick.com/conn.html. My Conn tenor is M 186909 with an L below the number. This dates my Tenor as 1926. If anybody has any info on what the M and L mean I would appreciate it. I live near Wausau Wisconsin and the shops name is Band Instrument Repair Specialists. I trust the owner as he reconditioned my Tenor about 18 years ago. Maybe he just made a mistake on the date but I will post the serial #. I had a Goose neck C Melody Conn about 20 years ago. It always sounded stuffy so I sold it. The one I now own I purchased approx 1 year ago from a man in Stevens Point, Wisconsin along with a LeBlanc wood C clarinet. The C melody played but several of the pads are in tough shape, the silver finish is in good shape. I'll be in touch.
Dan R User ID: 8102723	Dec 23rd 9:07 AM Roger, The Serial # is 90510. According to the Serial # list this horn was made in 1922. Does this sound right to you? Do you know of anyone that could help me in regards to a jazz type mouthpiece for this horn? Dan R
Roger Aldridge User ID: 2644644	Dec 23rd 1:29 PM Dan, Yes, 1922 sounds right. It's my understanding that straight neck Conns started production somewhere around 1920. Thus, the 1905 date blew my mind! I don't know of anyone currently making metal mouthpieces for c-melody. If your heart is set on a metal mouthpiece you'll probably have to resort to using a metal tenor or alto mouthpiece. However, this could be a tricky way to go. It's possible that you might get lucky and find a piece that works okay on your c-mel. On the other hand, it's more likely that you'll have intonation problems due to a combination of the mouthpiece length and amount of chamber volume not being right for the c-melody. The c-melody, after all, isn't really a slightly smaller tenor sax. It has a different bore design. Thus, in my personal opinion, it's best to use a mouthpiece that is specifically designed for the c-melody. Having said that, I know of a number of c-melody players who get good results with an alto or tenor mouthpiece. But, at least with MY c-melody the intonation would be absolutely terrible if I'd try that. For a Conn c-melody, people usually get good results with the Morgan or Runyon c-melody mouthpieces. There are others mouthpieces on the market that you can try. Personally, I prefer Morgan. In my experience it has a bigger, richer, and more projecting sound than Runyon. Now, there could be an interesting possibility here! The Morgan c-melody mouthpiece is actually based on the Morgan M (jazz) tenor sax piece. It might be possible for Ralph and his staff to make a special order c-melody mouthpiece based on the Excalibur model. This is still a hard rubber mouthpiece. But, it has thinner chamber walls and a different hard rubber formula than the other Morgan mouthpieces. Ralph Morgan describes Excalibur has having some of the playing characteristics of older metal mouthpieces such as a Link. This could be a really interesting avenue to explore! A good way to get more information about Morgan mouthpieces is through Dave Hoskins at www.junkdude.com. I've been getting excellent results on my l919 Conn with the Morgan 6 (.090) mouthpiece and a Francois Louis ligature (in brass). The FL lig, in particular, helps to really open up one's sound. In my experience it allows a Morgan mouthpiece to work at its optimal level. Good luck!!! Please let us know what works for you.
Dan R User ID: 8102723	Dec 23rd 5:36 PM Thanks for the info, I will not get the C back for 2 weeks but will try it with the original mouthpiece after the pad work is done. I'll let you know how it performs, in the meantime I will check out Dave Hoskins and see what he has to say. Thanks for all the help. Dan R.
spiderjames User ID: 8402073	Feb 28th 9:29 AM I had a goldbeck metal alto mouthpiece that work well on my buescher c melody. As i recall it was a fairly large chamber mouthpiece for an alto and had a relatively small tip opening 4 I believe. I do ocasionally see old c mel metal mouthpieces on ebay, and some have been all metal or metal inside HR.
soreliprick User ID: 0756324	Sep 22nd 12:15 AM I was lucky to find a Goldbeck C Melody metal mouthpiece, actually two! A friend in N. Carolina found them at a shop and sent me the pick of the litter, for only $75! I love it, I have a tenor and an alto Goldbeck as well. When I first got my 1926 Conn C it had a red King C melody mouthpiece and was stuffy, until I put a Dukoff 8M metallite alto piece on it. It's what started me looking for a real metal C piece because the intonation was all over the place and.....it was a Dukoff. The Goldbeck is great for the Conn C, but since then I've also picked up a 1922 Martin Goldplated C that came with a mouthpiece only marked 'C' and I prefer that piece over the Goldbeck as it sounds perfect the way it is without adding the extra volume possible with the Goldbeck. Now, if I could find a goldplated Goldbeck........