BergLarsen

Berg Larsen

Model: Duckbill ‘P’ or ‘Personal’ model 90/2M

Sax: tenor, alto

Material: stainless steel

Chamber: medium, medium-small

Baffle: medium ‘bullet’

Description: The Duckbill has a Duckbill’d beak, which is a gradual slope starting from the tip to the shank. It is a rather rare “P” or “Personal” model with only a few being made in the 40s and 50s. It has a large dynamic range, is loud but not too edgy or shrill. It can play anywhere from soft ballads to loud rock. Pictured on the left is an alto model.

Model:

Sax: tenor, alto

Material: stainless steel

Chamber: medium, medium-small

Baffle:

Description: Berg Larsen mouthpieces are labeled as, e.g. “95/2/M” , where the first number denotes the tip opening (0.92”), the second number the chamber size (from 0-3) and the letters the facing (M=short, SMS=short). Sonny Rollins (see picture) has been playing a Berg Larsen 120/2 since 1966, and Bill Clinton used a Berg Larsen on his famous 1986 Saturday Night Life musical guest appearance.

Model: Early production, no name

Sax: bari

Material: hard rubber

Chamber:

Baffle:

Description: This is a picture of an early production (probably 1940s) Berg Larsen baritone mouthpiece. The tip opening “90” (as in 0.90”) is stamped at the bottom of the shank. A slanted signature ‘Berg Larsen’ is stamped on the other side. Some of these models also had a ‘T’ stamped on the shank, which indicates that the baritone mouthpieces had a facing for tenor reeds (probably due to a shortage of baritone reeds in the late 1940s). Stan Getz used a hard rubber Berg Larsen during the years 1954-1957, which can be heard on the recording with Gerry Mulligan (see below).

www.berglarsen.com

Berg Larsen made his name as a musician, and while not working, he produced reeds. in 1945, he started to design and manufacture ebonite clarinet and saxophone mouthpieces, and later added a line of metal mouthpieces.

Berg Larsen

On the left is a 75/2/SMS tenor Duckbill with a long table (longer than the reed), slanted signature on the shank and a built-in microphone pickup.

For a comprehensive history of Berg Larsen mouthpieces please visit Theo Wanne's Larsen page here.

Model: 1960s (?)

Sax: soprano

Material: hard rubber

Chamber:

Baffle:

Description: On the left is a Berg Larsen soprano mouthpiece marked ‘65/2/SMS’. It has arced machining marks, which likely makes it a post 1950s mouthpiece.