The Conn Mouthpiece Page
This page contains information relevant to Conn Mouthpieces. Here you will find what I know, or think I know, about Conn mouthpieces. Which isn't as much as I would like, since unfortunately information on this topic is difficult to come by.
The January 1969 issue of the Conn Chord magazine (in other words, right at the end of the Elkhart period) has an article about Conn mouthpieces since the start of the company. Apparently there was a large display of Conn's cup mouthpieces from the start in 1874. The article shows a picture of this display. From the picture and the article it appears that in this display Conn indicated several periods of its mouthpieces. The first three periods are just that: a period with a generic description covering a several different mouthpieces each. After that the periods are really individual models of mouthpieces with specific end dates. However, it is obvious from the article and from the evidence in catalogs and eBay (and common sense) that these end dates are not always true. For example, the period 1929-1931 is listed as "All Star mouthpieces", being a mouthpiece used specifically by the Pan American Company. The suggestion that between 1929 and 1931 no other mouthpieces were made by Conn than the Pan American "All Stars" is patently untrue. The start dates are a little more instructive, though.
What follows is a breakdown of known Conn cup mouthpieces. It partly follows Conn's own periods, and partly not.
Index of pages
Earliest models (1874 - 1884)
Golden Age of concert bands (1885 - 1913)
Famous artist era Includes period of mouthpiece names in the format "AI-346" (1914 - 1935)
Pan American All Stars mouthpieces (1929 - 1957)
Gold-Tone mouthpieces (1932-1941)
Precision mouthpieces (1936 - 1957)
E-Z Tone mouthpiece (1958 - 196?)
Improved Precision mouthpieces (1958-1969)
Connstellation Mouthpieces (1962 - 19??)
Mouthpiece related articles
The short and long of cornet mouthpieces
Conn Trumpet Mouthpiece Design