Questions about an old mouthpiece: Conn-Baritone 2
TLDR: Is it even safe to use? How do I restore it? What is the modern equivalent?
Old-school Mouthpiece: Conn-Baritone 2. If googling is right, it could be +100 years old.
Hey there folks, story time.
I came across this old mouthpiece after having forgotten about it for some time. For context, I am a returning player. I played in middle school through college (minored in music). I started as a trumpet player, where in high school I added baritone. At some point, came across this mouthpiece, and came to favor it. I went college with it, where folks immediately commented about how I needed a new mouthpiece because it was too old, and new mouthpieces are better. Cue my departure from the mouthpiece...
Fast forward, and here I am, an adult returning to brass, choosing trombone. It's been almost four years now. Grateful to have returned to music. I came across this mouthpiece again in my old stuff and tried it out. First off, man my mouth tastes like metal. Which is saying something when you do niche metal fabrication work. Second, dots connected. I could squirrel around above C5 (with actually decent sound) and punch out pedals on my student straight horn. My sound was focused, it could sizzle when I pumped some oomph into it and breathing was more intuitive. Third, this thing is way smaller than the 6 1/2 small shank I've been playing on. In many ways it feels like something between a modern trombone and trumpet mouthpiece.
So, here I am. Remembering why I liked this mouthpiece. If anyone has any insight or resources for restoring it, general history and fun facts about the horns and companies in the pre 1950s or what the modern equivalent of the mouthpiece is, I would be grateful.