The Neill Sanders Mouthpiece

One unique and classic line of mouthpieces was produced into the late 1980s by hornist Neill Sanders. Perhaps most remembered for giving a bit more comfort to students with braces, this wide rim horn mouthpiece is one that if you have ever seen one you will remember it. This photo is of an example that I have, a 17M.

When it comes to horn information I have long been a saver. I actually still have the Neill Sanders flyer sent to me postmarked in October of 1984. It contains a complete list of the models available, which included five horn models, five trumpet models, a Flugel model, four cornet models, five trombone models, two baritone models, and four tuba models. The unique thing about the whole line is the rim, which was for all the instruments actually on the wide end of the spectrum and of a reverse peak design. That is, the high point of the rim is at the outside edge so it visually tips inward to the cup. Trumpet soloist David Hickman was at the time an endorsing artist and he explains why he prefers this rim in the flyer.

I prefer the NEILL SANDERS Mouthpiece because of the CONTOUR of the rim. It seems to fit the curvature of the teeth better than other mouthpieces. The angle of the rim creates a smoother connection between rim, cup, and bite of the mouthpiece, improving COMFORT, FLEXIBILITY and ENDURANCE.

The second photo is the front of the flyer, which highlights the main selling points of the mouthpiece. Neill Sanders (1923—1992) was a British player who among other things performed with Dennis Brain and was a very active player in London. In 1970 he came to the United States and he served for a number of years on the faculty of Western Michigan University. A longer bio may be found here.

According to the flyer Sanders started selling mouthpieces in 1966. The photo below shows how radical the rim is compared to standard horn mouthpieces.

I used a Sanders mouthpiece for several months in 1983. It was in the period where I was still working out my first embouchure change. To this day I don’t know what really happened but I had what I will just call an event. My perception was it was a slight tear in the lower lip, maybe it was just a bruise. Something happened so that I was in pain when I played. A bass trombone playing brass teaching assistant at my undergraduate school had a Neill Sanders horn mouthpiece, and I borrowed it and used it to try to bridge the painful area. After a few months it healed to the point I could use a standard rim. For this reason alone a Sanders mouthpiece would remain a useful item for any teacher to have around.

They are long out of production but if you want to buy a Neill Sanders horn mouthpiece you are not out of luck, Moosewood for example can make you a copy of their rim to fit his cups [UPDATE: as can Osmun, see the comments below]. Also ASU Regents Professor of trumpet David Hickman to this day uses a mouthpiece faced with a rim inspired by the Neill Sanders mouthpiece he endorsed years ago; his signature model mouthpiece currently sold by Giddings and Webster has a very similar rim. The design does live on for high brass.