BRILHART Great Neck New York (-)

The "Great Neck, NY" vintage mouthpieces are highly sought after.  They came in all of the different models, but most commonly found are the Tonalin and Ebolin.  These mouthpieces are commonly considered to be at the point where Brilhart crossed into the five digit serial numbers.  We have pictures of a very early Tonalin tenor mouthpiece below with a four digit serial number, and it even has its original box, and warranty card.  There also isn't a facing stamp to be found anywhere on the piece.  Usually the really early pieces still had the facing stamped on the bottom of the table, but they later switched it around to the other side of the mouthpiece, putting it on the back underneath the Brilhart stamp.  Once again the original facings don't really mean a whole lot.  They are still all over the place, and Brilhart never really did work to fix this problem.

Charecteristics of Great Neck New York:

  • Brilhart stamped at slant across back of barrel
  • Facing number stamped on bottom of table (on early models)
  • Facing number under Brilhart stamp (not all models have a facing number)
  • Serial number to the right of table, typically 5 digits
  • "Arnold Brilhart Great Neck, N.Y." stamped on shank under table
  • Tonalin, Ebolin, or Hard Rubber stamped on shank under Brilhart stamp 
  • White bite plate on Ebolins and Black bite plate on Tonalins
 

These mouthpieces can also be seen in the Streamline models.  The Streamlines are some of the rarest Brilharts, and were made throughout the entire run.  These mouthpieces are commonly seen having a small hairline crack that runs up the shank.  Over time they develop these small cracks from being put on the neck.  It is nearly unavoidable if the mouthpiece is being used a lot.  They are also commonly seen with metal rings around the shank.  These are put on either to help the mouthpiece seal if it already has a crack, or to help prevent a crack from ever happening.
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The "Great Neck, NY" vintage mouthpieces are highly sought after.  They came in all of the different models, but most commonly found are the Tonalin and Ebolin.  These mouthpieces are commonly considered to be at the point where Brilhart crossed into the five digit serial numbers. ...   [more]

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