Posted by Jeff Hicks on January 22, 2002 at 23:14:41:
In Reply to: Re: A trip to the dark side.......... posted by Lew on January 22, 2002 at 18:42:58:
I actually have a very rare Giardinelli Helleberg that I tried. It is ok. It is very close to a Denis Wick. It is in really rough shape and needs replating really bad. Lee Stofer is going to redo it for me and possibly make some copies if someone wants one. I was playing on a Bach 12 which is very close to it. The backbore on the Helleberg is much more open. I think that helps it a lot. I had a Schilke 69C4 that i played on forever. It was a nice mouthpiece but it seems to have disappeared. It had the best rim i ever played on. Joe Sellmansberger offered to sell me one with an enlarged backbore and it was tempting to order one. I got a good deal on the Conn so I tried it. I tried the Conn though tonight on a Yamaha 105 and it was just awful for it. I think it was too open. The Yamaha was just too small. It had great valves though. Much better than either one of my Conns. I hope this is somewhat informative.
Jeff Hicks