About 25 years ago, when I started playing the flugelhorn, I bought this mouthpiece new. I compared several of the same model at the music store and chose the one that was best for playing high notes and had the best sound. At the time, I was playing with the thin plastic reeds that were just starting to appear for this mouthpiece. High notes come out easily. ARB mouthpieces were also well-regarded by some people, so I bought two online and tried them, but they were too light for me. My high notes would flip over and I couldn't control them, so I immediately sold both on Yahoo Auctions. It's an old mouthpiece. Please refrain from purchasing if you are concerned about its condition.