[EZ]

I am currently assessing a stock HR tenor Berg that is unmistakably hand-finished - table, rails, baffle...

Anyone else seen this? Is this a one-off, or do they (finally) get it?

Haven't played it yet by the way, but if it plays as good as it looks, my opinion of stock Bergs may be totally blown out of the water.

 

[Nefertiti]

I'll take it!

 

[EZ]

ok ok ok... with minutes - two offers to purchase it.

I should clarify - it's not mine to sell. I am reviewing it to determine what maybe can be done to accomodate the owner's preferences. Based on it's speciality of it being a factory hand finished piece, it might just be the owner's call to leave it alone and hang onto it, sell it, donate it to a needy student player, etc...

And by the way - I have sworn myself to secrecy on who owns this piece, so please don't ask who's it is or expect any confirmation on your guesses. Could make for an interesting thread, though.

 

[ThunderWhale]

Is this just one of the stock Bergs? Or is it one of the newer "specialty" ones, like the new Duckbill models.

 

[EZ]

I am not familiar enough with the package labeling to discern if it's a special model or not. How would it look or read if it was?

 

[ThunderWhale]

I too am not very familiar with the newer Bergs, maybe their official site could help.

http://www.berglarsen.com/mouthpcs.htm

 

[Nefertiti]

If it say "SP" or "V" then it's super special!

 

[BobD]

I just recieved two metal Bergs yesterday. I haven't played them yet but I can see a difference between the two. One has very thick siderails and tip rail while the other has much narrower tip and side rails. Other than that the both actually look well made. The one with narrower rails looks really good. Can't wait to see if they actually play.

 

[EZ]

I'm speaking specifically of the table, rails, and baffle being hand-finished and not just machined. There is a complete absence of machining marks on this particular Berg and the table and facing have directional finishing marks to them - indicative of a hand-lapped surface.

The cosmetic workmanship of this piece is amongst the best I've ever seen.

 

[Michael Ward]

Maybe it was one Freddy Gregory did in his brief time at Bergs.

 

[BobD]

I don't have the eye EZ has so I don't really know what to look for but there are no machine marks on these pieces. The table, baffle and rails are all very smooth and shiney. No machine marks or any marks at all anywhere on these pieces. I'll look again when I get home.

 

[brasscane]

EZ: Could you post pics of mouthpiece and packaging, please?

 

[EZ]

Here ya go...

 

[EZ]

yes - that is a wuwwa-buwwa sticker on the box

 

[brasscane]

Thanks.

 

[JimD]

What's a wuwwa-buwwa sticker?

 

[EZ]

A WWBW inventory sticker.

 

[wersax]

Well, I've not ordered a hard rubber Berg in I don't know when, but I did order a metal Berg a while back--no more than a year ago. The facing had been polished, no machine marks on the table, but it played like #$%^! And this coming from a Berg player.......daryl

 

[EZ]

This one is a very nice player - an STM-ers Berg I'd call it. A nice full dark sound. Best stock Berg I've ever seen or played. It was slated to be opened up, but it's really good for what it is - even if it's not exactly what the owner was looking for. So we're leaving good enough alone and it's going back to the owner.

 

[Grumps]

I'll fess up. It's mine. I sent EZ a note last week basically saying if Nixon could go to China, then I could go to a refacer... and yes, I stole that line from Mr. Spock. I picked the piece up on a whim looking for a way dark tenor option (it's a 125/3 M) and wanted to give refacing a fair shake to see what if anything could be done to make it more appealing to me. Ed expertly analyzed the piece, and after a bit of back and forth, and me initially wanting to open it up a bit more, I changed my mind and figured if not for me, then for someone else then.

If anyone is truly interested in this piece, just send me a PM. I'm going to try it out on another horn when I get it back, and should that not work out, it's trade fodder.