UMI/Benge Mello 6 mouthpiece

[mchromik]

Yes, in general the all the various Mello 6 pieces are rather small. The cup depth and shape have become an unofficial standard for what a mello piece should be. A few lines have found they can standardize on this piece for their entire mello line for it is a fairly good compromise for 99% of players. It is thought to help with the various intonation and tone challenges of the mello. That is how we approached it at Star and it worked for us.

BTW A Bach Mello 6 and the various Conn/Benge/UMI 6 are not interchangable. Looking at the old version of the Bach Mouthpiece manual it is based on Tenor Horn pieces like you would use in British Brass Band. In other words it should be noticably larger then the modern mello pieces which are more related to Cornet or Flugel pieces.

Personally I wouldn't get to caught up on matching your trumpet/soprano piece to your mello piece. When I played mello in corps it was on a Benge 6, but my off season trumpet playing was on a much larger Warburton piece. I actually liked having the different sizes to help reinforce the different playing approach the mello required. No real problems switching back and forth.

Many of the Star Alumni Mellos are pretty much mello freaks and have such mello enthusiasts as Scooter Pirtle who published the Middle Voice Leader magazine in the early 90s. We have been experimenting with various ideas in mello pieces in an effort to move forward past the mello 6. Alot of us have found that the Currey TF Cup piece is really interesting. It is a short shanked trumpet piece with an extremely deep cup that is both concave and convex. Best of all it is availlible in various sizes while keeping the same cup and rim. Some guys liked the 1TF which was simply huge in comparo to the ol' mello 6. I have been using the 3TF and find it produces a huge volume of dark tone. It would be interesting to see one of the more active junior corps lines try these puppies out.

[BMBob]

I know I have been suggesting the mello 6 mouthpieces. This is because I like them and they tend to be a standard. I did, however, play on a Curry 1TF with Carolina Gold. I loved that it was bigger and still gave a dark tone, because of the hybrid cup. I found it more flexible and better for producing lots of volume.

[mchromik]

Nice to hear that someone else has liked the Currey TF. It is the first thing I have found that seemed like a viable replacement for the good old M6. Seems to work really well with my Kanstul F mello. Very dark and full. But when I play my two valve King mello, I prefer the Benge 6. Just seems like 'home'.

[BMBob]

I used the Curry with a Kanstul G mello - the two seemed to work well together, although it felt good on the dynasty horns some of the other members played on too.

[jfmello]

I love my Curry 1TF. I also own a 5TF (same backbore and rim shape, but a 16.7mm inner rim diameter as opposed to the 17.2 on the 1TF). I found the 5TF to be a bit small for my taste. The only thing you have to worry about with the TFs is that, even though it is short-shanked, it is a trumpet shank. I did not think this would work with the Kanstul mellos (don't they have a smaller receiver, Mike?); however, they work very well with any mello that takes a trumpet piece (e.g., Yamaha and Dynasty).

[mchromik]

Jeff, the Currey shank fits perfectly in the Kanstul. The receiver on that horn is interesting. The horn shipped with a mello shanked Kanstul 6, but it seems a tad small for the receiver. It swallows the entire shank all the way until the first decorative turnings. When playing, the first bend of the bell is actually behind your chin. Even a regular trumpet shank fits fine if you want to try something silly like a 3C.The Currey shank adds less than a quarter inch to the overall length, just enough to require moving the slides.

I played on Sean's heavy blank 1TF and thought it felt like a Contra mp. At least compared to the mello 6. The 3 was the ticket for me. I think we have found our mp, unless Scooter can supply an entire line of those Monet Frumpet pieces! Now I guess your guys will want me to get the Yamaha mello to better fit in.

[BMBob]

I think that would actually be my preferred setup now - one of the new Yamaha mellos with a Curry 1TF or 3TF.

[mchromik]

For our 04' Star Alumni performance we had about 50% of our mellos on the new Yamaha. It is popular with alot of the serious mello players and all the horns we borrowed from Blast were the newer YMP203Ms. I played a little bit on them. I like the mass and solidity of it. That flakey top-line F wasn't very fun. The Currey heavy bottom valve caps seem to help from what I am told, jfmello can give more details as to that.

It seems that the Yamaha/Currey TF will be our favored combo moving forward with our small Star Alumni performances. I think I will stick with my personal Kanstul till they pry it from my cold dead hands! Or the other guys shame me into switching. I easily fold under peer pressure.

Jeff, we need to lean on Eric to make us a deal from that fleet of un-used mellos they have.

[BMBob]

I agree that the Kanstul is also a great horn. I own a Kanstul 3 valve G mello, and love it. My favorite thing about it is the thumb ring and the fact that it is a tune-every-note, with control in such an easy, natural place - I don't like using my third finger to move slides.

[jfmello]

For our 04' Star Alumni performance we had about 50% of our mellos on the new Yamaha. It is popular with alot of the serious mello players and all the horns we borrowed from Blast were the newer YMP203Ms. I played a little bit on them. I like the mass and solidity of it. That flakey top-line F wasn't very fun. The Currey heavy bottom valve caps seem to help from what I am told, jfmello can give more details as to that.

It seems that the Yamaha/Currey TF will be our favored combo moving forward with our small Star Alumni performances. I think I will stick with my personal Kanstul till they pry it from my cold dead hands! Or the other guys shame me into switching. I easily fold under peer pressure.

Jeff, we need to lean on Eric to make us a deal from that fleet of un-used mellos they have.

Mike:

The heavy bottom valve caps do help with that goofy top-line F; after that addition, and the 1TF, I am very happy with the sound and response I am getting out of the 203. I think at least some of the mellos we used at the gala were the old Blast 202s, which were, to put it bluntly, horrible pieces of plumbing. I hope Eric has 203s; we really should make him a deal.

I would like to take a spin on your Kanstul sometime. I've heard good things about the horn. How does it slot? The Yamaha slots more like a French horn than most mellos I've played (which I like). Who knows, maybe we'll move to Kanstuls rather than Yamahas. We also need to remember that Yamaha has a new prototype mello out; first reports are good. I'd like to take one of those for a spin, too.