These are in high demand and now just harder and harder to find.  Those who have good ones mostly are not letting them go.  This one is at .097 which is a classic and great tip size for these, with the crisp detail of a slightly smaller size, yet still plays very big and expansive. Coltrane’s facings were all under 6* from what I heard, which makes a lot of sense given the bright, present sound he got.  This type of compact crispness can only be achieved under .100″.

I received this piece in poor setup and put a very responsive facing and tip finish on it in the traditional style.  The baffle was not low to start with and I have not tried to alter that further.  It is definitely on the bright side for Links, FL double rings in general were not especially dark in original condition either, until you get to larger tip sizes. This one is quite a detailed shimmering player with a lot of body.  I have no complaints about this piece, and could play it with a stiff 2.5 or harder as needed.

The nickel plating you see there is original, obviously with some wear to it.  It would have gold over that as well originally, for pieces of this particular period. For those who have been looking for a great playing double ring, this will not last long.

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These are wonderful early Link treasures.  We have two, both marked “master Link” and one of them also marked “four star”.  The body barrel of the ‘four star’ model is slightly wider and longer but otherwise they appear quite similar.

The previous owner had both of these sent to a professional refacing outfit that was most likely Babbitt due to the presence of clear denim milling on the table and rails.  The likely babbitt reface is very very clean and intact with no further alterations.  They have both been very nicely gold plated as well, of which all seems to remain intact also.  Both pieces measure around .070 (Otto Link 5*).

Large chamber early alto Links with clean (babbitt) factory facings at a slightly larger than original size that is very comfortable for alto. Original ligatures included for each.

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Here we have left to right a motley gathering of the world’s most insidious runaway mouthpieces:

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Another unruly group of vintage Links.  Grab them and break up the family, everyone’s doing it! We have, (left to right or top to bottom in pics):

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The very early ‘slant sig’ models sharing the same time period and aesthetic as the ‘Master Link’ and ‘Four Star’ models.  These have a large round chamber, quite scooped out and tend to play big and dark.  That darkness can be offset to some degree with baffle.  This one has had a facing to quite a large tip size for these.

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This one was refaced by someone unnamed.  Measures approx. 0.078 and the facing work looks clean.  There is enough mouthpiece here to have it setup to any specific nuance you want.  Cosmetically the outside shows age, but it’s a real one.

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Here we have a very very nice original (100% authentic) late Florida Otto Link ‘straight signature’ tenor piece at it’s original 5 facing, unaltered and a wonderful player as well.  Body is quite clean, facing curve untouched, tip in good shape, original long clamshell baffle (hand finished) and original table milling obvious and present.  They don’t get much nicer than this.  Most of the examples we see for sale out there now are fakes, this is real and these are hard to find.  Generally these are a bit more powerful than slant sig but mostly the same mouthpiece, probably the best of the hard rubber Florida models for projection.

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Vintage Mouthpiece find/  For sale as a group or individually.

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Here we have an otto Link 8 with a serial number of the early Florida production.  These serial numbered pieces are either exactly the same as a FL double ring inside or extremely close to it.  They are extremely difficult to find in any condition, but good to original condition is next to impossible.  This one I was lucky to get on a trade.  It was a great piece to start with, but I have very gently optimized it by cleaning up the tip rail and balancing the rails only.  The piece has not been opened or radically altered from its original configuration.  It plays exceptionally well and just has a specifically great voice.

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This is an interesting piece in that it has an early Tonemaster body style yet shows a later 3 digit serial from the ‘improved’ model.  On the opposite side the normal Patent stamps are missing.  I am wondering if this was a prototype or transition to the improved model?  Anyhow it’s been refaced to 0.96.  Someone has installed a wedge baffle that I removed and did some minor cleanup as well.  This piece has a lot of potential, could use a little work.

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