UMI/Benge Mello 6 mouthpiece

[Nex]

UMI is now a defunct brand, but I got a small town music store to order me a CKB Mello 6 (exact same mouthpiece, it's just the company's changed hands) and it was there within 5 days. It was about $35 - $40, and it wasn't that hard to get a hold of. Maybe that'll help anyone else looking for one.

Edited October 25, 2005 by Nex

[Shadow_7]

Finally got my mello 6. Fits in my rexcraft bugle just fine, so should fit a mellophone pretty good too.

Only it appears to be a Conn CKB Mello 6. And it differs greatly from my Bach Mello 6. Noting how UMI is the conglomeration of a couple companies, one of which is Conn. It doesn't look anything like any of the older Benges I've seen here and there. And makes the bach look huge.

Bach Mello 6 - 17.5mm inner rim

Conn Mello 6 - 16.8mm inner rim

The bach is also much deeper cup wise. The conn seems good though, I was gonna change to a 16.8mm inner rim french horn piece anyway(bach 10S). Currently using a Schilke 31(17.2mm). messurements +/- .3 as they are eyeballed via a plastic ruler. Basically the Conn looks like an oversized trumpet piece, the Bach looks like a mini 6 1/2al baritone piece. Baring that smaller shank thing. Didn't really expect the two piece to be so radically different, just kind of expected a larger shank.

It's all good though. Not sure if this is the usual treatment, but the conn came in a nice plastic case with a mouthpiece brush. Not a bad deal for the money I guess. The brush is bigger than my other two, so it just might do pretty good. I almost have to use my valve brush on my low brass pieces. One day shy of five weeks later I finally got it. Two weeks till Open House.

[Shadow_7]

On a side note. The CKB M6 fits into my powerbore sop. Much recessed, and only because it wedges eventually in there, but it fits. And doesn't sound half bad either. I can build a mello chop with out ever owning a mello. woohoo!!! Of course my schilke 15B has a wider rim than this thing.

[hobscrk777]

Hate to beat an old horse, but it seems the general consensus on these boards is that the UMI 6 is a consistent, good mello mouthpiece, but does anyone know anything about the "Xtreme Brass" Mello mouthpiece?

Here's a link if you're curious.

https://www.xtremebrass.com/store/product_i...&products_id=35

[BMBob]

It's the mouthpiece used by the Blue Devils mello line. In my opinion (just my opinion - don't yell at me) this line has a much brighter sound than some of the other mello lines out there, which is obviously what Wayne Downey prefers, since the mouthpiece description states that it gives a bright sound and sizzling high range. I think this is good for really high lead parts to blend with BD's soprano (trumpet) sound, but in most other corps, I look for the mellos to be more of a bridge from soprano to baritone, with a darker sound throughout as much of the range as possible.

All that being said, I don't have any actual experience with the mouthpiece, so it's definitely worth a try, and I might very well be completely wrong. It may be great piece of equipment. You can't say the Blue Devils aren't quality! I wish I had seventy bucks to get one - I'm curious now.

[hobscrk777]

Hm...Thanks for the input. I'm just really curious about this mouthpiece since Xtreme Brass has a plug from DCP. You'd think it would have to be top-notch, wouldn't you?

[hobscrk777]

Anyone know anything about it?

[BMBob]

The biggest thing in choosing a mouthpiece is you. It's a very individual decision. Playing around town with other horn players, I've played with people who despise the mouthpiece I'm playing on and play on a mouthpiece that I can't get a decent sound out of to save my life. The truth is that both of those pieces of equipment are probably high quality. It's just the way the mouthpiece interacts with your individual technique that makes it work (or not) for you. The Xtreme brass mouthpiece is probably very well-made and a good mouthpiece. Whether it will work for you or me, I don't know...

[mchromik]

I've never put a micrometer to them or anything, but the Kanstul Mello 6 my Kanstul Mello came with seems to be balls on cup-wise compared to my Benge Mello 6, which I believe is indentical to the UMI Mello 6. The Kanstul piece looks a little different, ie. fancier, on the outside, but again looks to have the same cup. I believe the Kanstul Mello 6 is readily available.

[Shadow_7]

Well, I ordered a UMI Mello 6. My final invoice says UMI Mello 6. However the piece I got was a Conn CKB Mello 6. Which according to someone who actually plays mello is a rather small piece. I tend to agree since most of my Trumpet and Sop pieces are bigger at least inner rim wise to this piece. It is a fairly deep cup to use on a Sop or Trumpet. Although dwarfs in comparisson to my Bach Mello 6(17.5mm), small shank not with standing.

I've actually started tayloring my other pieces around this piece. I like the sound it gets on my powerbore soprano. Even though the shank is totally mismatched. I have a Schilke 13a4a on order because the inner rim more closely matches the Conn CKB Mello 6. And a Stork Myers M1 on order for the same. Not quite sure how either will work out yet. And probably wont know until after christmas, when/if I ever get said pieces. But it should put all of my high brass pieces in that 16.8/16.7 range instead of the 17.2/17.1 range. I recently shifted my embochure set which seems to favor these relatively smaller pieces.