TromboneChat

Stumbled upon these today.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARL-FONTANA-OWNED-MOUTHPIECE-PHD-S4-SET-OF-3-John-peppy-Pettinato-RARE-/182510834617?hash=item2a7e7e53b9:g:TXwAAOSwCU1Y3t8r

My favorite part of this is in the Description where it says "THEY ARE IN USED CONDITION!!  *******MOUTHPIECE HAS TARNISH, SCRATCHES, DENTS AND/OR DINGS!!******* THERE IS TAPE ATTACHED TO MOUTHPIECES WITH NUMBER WRITING ON THEM. I AM ASSUMING THEY ARE NUMBERED FOR A CERTAIN SONGLIST( not included)  IN WHICH HE USED THE DIFFERENT MOUTHPIECES. (SEE PICTURES)"

Right....

And a few more.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARL-FONTANA-OWNED-MOUTHPIECE-J-MARCINKIEWICZ-GLENDALE-CA-MODEL-NO-11-/182541736545?hash=item2a8055da61:g:8EYAAOSww3tY3TRT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARL-FONTANA-OWNED-MOUTHPIECE-ZOTOLLA-96B-PORT-CHESTER-NEW-YORK-/182539301574?hash=item2a8030b2c6:g:d3QAAOSwCU1Y3BIl

Seen a number of these ads, redo lupus prices and everyone knows Carl had a huge bag of 'magic' mouthpieces as he used to call them!

I bought some mouthpieces from his daughter Felicia, and I can say that two of these DID have these numbered tape squares on them.  It's still a mystery to me what they meant, but I'm quite sure they had nothing to do with a song list!

The ad is from Felicia.  He numbered the pieces so he could tell them apart. 

I know what they mean. I stayed at Carl's house one weekend when I was living in Santa Barbara. He showed me his drawer of mouthpieces. They were mostly Bach 11C's. He put tape on them and numberrd them in order to keep track of which one was which.

It always makes me sad to see mouthpieces or horns priced in a range that will put them outside what most great players will be able to spend.  They'll probably end up as part of someone's glass case display. 

Edit: before the flaming happens-- I understand that my personal philosophy on where good gear should end up isn't what dictates pricing-- rather, what one is willing to pay for a good or service dictates its pricing.  I get it.   I still wish that good gear would end up in the hands of players and not collectors. 

It always makes me sad to see mouthpieces or horns priced in a range that will put them outside what most great players will be able to spend.  They'll probably end up as part of someone's glass case display. 

Edit: before the flaming happens-- I understand that my personal philosophy on where good gear should end up isn't what dictates pricing-- rather, what one is willing to pay for a good or service dictates its pricing.  I get it.   I still wish that good gear would end up in the hands of players and not collectors.