Moonbeam tenor mouthpiece production and model information
How are they made?
Moonbeam starts with a uniquely great early serialed Florida Link 7* #027 precisely digital mapped via industrial x-ray tomography, which is then transformed into a digital model file, (by humans,) and meticulously tied to the original surface parameters (by hand) under my own guidance. When the model is ready it is CNC machined in several processes, then meticulously handcrafted & maximum-optimized As an avid researcher, player, and collector of the very best of historic, classic vintage mouthpieces for over 30 years, I have learned how to maximize the resonance and response of the masterpieces of the past while preserving their original tonal and playing characteristics, the good characteristics.
While these are extremely faithful recreations of the original pieces, I am also discarding the errors and flaws of the originals, rather than carrying forward troublesome aspects. I am making them play as we wish those ‘almost reliable’, ‘almost reed and user-friendly’ vintage pieces with the promise of great sound should have been. When multiple design configurations have been optimized, handcrafting setup and finish make these pieces into something more.
What we are dealing with here is not a single aspect of optimization such as a better facing, but the best-case combination of relationships between different aspects such as chamber, baffle, contour, and facing. The interrelationships between these optimized configurations results in a new dynamic that is more than the sum of those individual optimizations. The classic tonal color and character of the originals is retained while the response is new and actually a bit thrilling.
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Now that these pieces are getting into the hands of players some great reviews are coming in. They are being played by many larger and lesser known names on tenor. I am not super invested in promotion or social media but the list is growing.
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What folks are saying is that these generally out play the originals, and also outplay most of the current reproductions.
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It is my great pleasure to get these into the hands of players of all levels and contribute to wonderful music and the exhilarating experience of tone and response that the best of such pieces can offer.
We have begun the second production run of Moonbeam, having made some minor aesthetic updates and utilizing some excellent responsive metals.
Currently my original brass alloy I would consider neutral response, neither adding nor subtracting power, presence or color. In that sense it is a baseline tone and response that allows the setup of the piece to deliver in a natural way, and generally on the focused side. These pieces have only a serial number indication.
Next we have what I call E-brass alloy that offers a presence boost, slightly brighter and more resonant across the spectrum. These are all marked E after the serial.
I am also offering a bronze alloy (marked B) that I feel is slightly warmer and less bright, but with a similar presence boost as E-brass.
I started offering E and B alloys near the end of the first production run. Now, new pieces are made in E and B, though I do still have some leftover original alloy and will also be producing those.
In my experience and perception although the resonance and difference of these materials is significant, it is like a qualitative coloration of the sound and response. In many cases the specific configuration, the hand setup of the piece will dominate the material difference. What this means is that although E-brass is in general more resonant and brighter on the baseline, a Moonbeam made from Original Brass alloy that is set up in a more projecting or brighter way may still FEEL more punchy that an E-brass piece that is set up more moderately. From in front of the horn though, the resonance color is still heard differently.
Lead content and plating-
All three materials are called “lead free” which means percentage of (trace amounts) of lead is below 0.5% and in most well below 0.1%. Although lead bound in alloy is probably not much of a mobility concern, (many of us have been playing vintage brass Otto Links with heavy plating loss for decades resulting in varying degrees of stupidity) I prefer no lead involved at all, which is a motivator in my material choices.
The original Otto Link brass is likely to contain more than 3% lead if not a whole lot more due to in many cases visible and orally accessible solder at the seams. This lead aspect DOES likely have some influence on tonal color and response. Most of the metals I am using are more modern formulations. They all sound slightly different and I am very much willing to accept those subtle differences in favor of no lead.
The absence of lead negates the health/safety need for plating. Gold plating at this point is for mainly aesthetic reasons; it’s very pretty, stays a bit more clean and does not stain (much). I have plated a few Moonbeam pieces but now with the three metals I have available I am mostly opting for not plating. Why? Gold plating process is chemically harsh. It can degrade surfaces, and is results in varying degrees of plating thickness. That can disturb rail and tip precision. Additionally I am using actual (ebonite) hard rubber biteplates (rather than many contemporaries using acrylic) and those must be bonded to the brass. Adhesives that can withstand gold plating are generally more toxic and hazardous to work with and if I don’t have to deal with chemical exposure I will choose not to. I have plated a few and had several issues with degraded biteplate adhesives and surface changes that I am not so positive about, so for the moment I am not plating Moonbeam. Due to being lead free it really is not necessary. These are recreations of vintage pieces and they look vintage as they acquire patina. I still may plate some more in the future-
Ligatures
Folks have asked what ligatures are suitable for Moonbeam. It really is the size and shape of the original early FL Link so the original ligature for those will fit, however, unsurprisingly Otto Link made different body barrel sizes and different ligatures even in the FL production. The serialed early Florida pieces tend to have a slightly bigger body barrel than later Florida pieces and even some Florida Double Ring pieces. In my experience for whatever reasons almost all the Florida Double Ring ligatures will fit. ALL of the New York Double Ring and Tonemaster ligs will fit. Some of the EB ligs will fit, and most early FL ligs will fit. This issue is in fact exactly the same for any vintage early Florida Link.
I do have a stock of some early ligatures that I am willing to fit, test, and sell at market price, but that stock will eventually run out. Some people have asked about Selmer 404 and again, those sizes vary as well. Some will fit and some wont. They can in some cases be shaped to fit better. In the end, the ligature has to fit and seal properly to get the accurate experience of the mouthpiece. If you can see any daylight between the reed and the ligature closure above it, it’s not well fitted and it WILL impact the response.Most likely modern ligatures that are specifically made to universally fit Otto Links will also work fine, but some experimentation will of course be required.
My mission-
One if the original motivations for this project was the desire to preserve and to share some of the very special vintage pieces I had collected over the decades. It’s not only that they are very rare pieces, in some cases they are not. The important aspect is that they are specifically great players or great examples that are hard to find. I wanted to make those more widely available, to share my own approach to setup as well, but additionally I wanted to refine or in some cases repair/improve them without altering the surviving historic examples. In achieving that goal the door to a study was opened; Moonbeam has become something of a platform for experimentation and creativity. It is thrilling to take the foundation of a high precision early Florida Link blank and set it up in a variety of different ways. In that pursuit I have made many very unique pieces. They are all the Moonbeam vintage Link but the many faces of that mouthpiece. Each piece is a unique musical universe of its own. I am not striving to make all the pieces the same at all. I am making individual pieces with special character. This is something mass production at scale cannot and will not do.
Mass produced pieces in this current moment are not going to be able to compete with handcrafted masterpieces like these in the fine aspects of response, customized character and tone. Each piece is quite unique and individually voiced; a musical instrument of its own requiring days of hand work and obsessive testing and refining. This individual mastery is what made the originals so special. That started to fade out by the late “no USA” Florida period, and it is exactly why the early Florida pieces are so desired by players. The economics of high precision hand finish likely could not survive the demand and scale the company was trying to serve.
By that same measure, I cannot compete with corporate mass production on price either. They make them cheaply because they operate on a massive scale and cannot invest the personal time and obsessive testing. I am making masterpieces, in small numbers. I do my best on cost, but it’s never been about money. It’s about masterpieces. When considering custom ordering or buying Moonbeam pieces please keep in mind that by doing so you are supporting handcraftsmanship, a small business artisan and the valuable tradition of woodwind mouthpiece mastery, as I with this project also support working musicians and artists by creating the best equipment.
For perspective as if this writing I have yet to earn any profit from the creation and sales of these pieces; I am still attempting to repay the initial investment. That is a fact, not a complaint. Making these pieces was my dream, for myself and the horn players I have had the pleasure of serving over decades.
I generally work with players making many videos to find the most suitable sound and response among the different materials and setups. I encourage interested players/buyers to ask all the necessary questions, use the contact page to start a discussion that we can take to chat on whatsapp or other platforms, exchange videos and target a sound and response that gets you the best piece to make your sound. Personal service is what I do; I only want people buying pieces they really enjoy.
