[J.Max]

Yes, folks do refer to these are "airflow"

but strictly speaking.... they shouldnt!!!!

there was an earlier version which had AIRFLOW stamped on the table. I used to have a few. may still have some, im not sure!!

depends how pedantic we are going to be.

I really like these. they are darker than soloists, and possibly a bit more resistant. this one was a D . I had Morgan Fry open it to an E. .78. It plays fantastic now. has that short shank ring, but darker.

I have an original e in tenor, which I also love.

on alto I like this version and the short shank. hard to choose. ( I also had Morgan open a short shank to .78, E. love them both )

on tenor, I much prefer this version over the later Soloist versions

OK. The Airflow is a very, very different mouthpiece than the Soloist. If the piece has a round "squeeze" chamber, a slightly shorter shank like the one you have on the right, it's an Airflow, regardless of whether it has the stamp on on it or not.

In fact, Theo Wanne has this wrong on his website, BTW, the LATER ones have "Air-flow" stamped on them to distinguish them from short shank Soloists. I have actually found long shank mouthpieces marked Airflow, which actually wouldn't have happened if the earlier supposition the the early ones were the marked ones.

You have to remember that up until the advent of the Soloist, Selmer only made two mouthpieces: what would come to be known as the Airflow and the metal classics. After they released the first short shank Soloists in 1960, they started stamping the round chambered ones "Air Flow". When Selmer started to phase out the AirFlow, Larry Teal asked them if they were still going to make a round chambered piece, so they did and named it after him.

The ones that should NOT be called Airflows are the earlier "barrel chambered" ones with either the scroll engraving or the metal rings. These were NEVER marketed as Airflows. They should be called "table" or pre-Airflow.

I have done a silly amount of research on this subject, and my main mouthpieces on alto and soprano are actually Airflow pieces.

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[J.Max]

It is not pedantic to make this distinction. They are not easy to tell apart in a sales ad if you don’t know any better, and the Soloist and Airflows have very, very different playing characteristics.


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[J.Max]

I was talking about Theo’s site. (The OP mentioned Ted Klum, so I had his name in my head...) He’s incorrect about when the “Air Flow” stamp was on the mouthpiece. There are a few other things in that article that I’m pretty sure are also incorrect, but I can’t prove them yet.

The Airflow and the Soloist were produced concurrently for at least a little while. I’ll have to check my notes, but I believe that 1960 is correct for the end date of the Airflow. I have to check when the LT came out because the Airflow was “discontinued” shortly before that. I have been researching these for about ten years now, but I’m living in Denmark,my notes are at home and I’m working from memory.

Selmer has a history of using older blanks on “personalized” pieces. There’s a Claude Luter soprano mouthpiece on eBay right now that they based off of the pre-Ariflow blank.

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[J.Max]

As an aside, I’ve been looking for a tenor original D forever. I have a C right now that I’m trying to sell because the opeining is too small. I refuse to reface these because the facing work on Airflows is generally the most perfect original facing work you’ll ever see. Older Links and Meyers too.


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[J.Max]

Do you play an Airflow on Bari? I do too, but I've had tuning issues. Just curious if you have had any of the same problems.

As much as I love a good Soloist, it's hard to beat an original EB Link.
An original Air Flow C* is the best bari mouthpiece I've played.
I'm sure the Selmer mouthpiece you're selling plays great.
Maybe throw it on eBay and a Ted Klimt fan will pay a decent price for it.

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