Page Last Update 06/19/2011

Some Basic Clone Info 

As told on another page, we received some information from Chris D.  about the progression of instruments that Rudy Mück made or sold.

The first few instruments were New York Bach clones which were usually 3-digit or 4-digit serial numbers.  Then with Blessing and Carl Fischer were Blessing clones usually 5-digit serial numbers.  Next in England  with the Dallas Company, the balanced model clones appeared.  These were probably made by Courtois, as they made most almost all the horns in Europe, except the Selmers such as Buffet, LeBlanc and more.  Lastly the lower quality Rudy Mück horns with 6 digit numbers were made by a maker in Germany.

We have had emails from others who have verified much of this.  For instance, a year or so ago, we sold a Rudy Mück trumpet which was a 5-digit Blessing look-a-like (see the Blessing clone comparison at right)
Charmaine tells us that:

A tidbit about Rudy's design -- he used many Blessing parts-this looks like the early BLESSING (SUPER) ARTIST.  One thing Rudy did which Blessing did not is to use the tuning slide crook to continue expanding the taper from the leadpipe. If you were to turn the main slide over, the bottom should not fit into the top tube. This was a departure from most (like French LeBlanc, Selmer) designs, where the bottom is actually SMALLER than the top. Rudy opened up the horn to be more flexible & responsive...your horn would have a large bore of .468

If you have a picture or few of a Rudy Mück instrument or other information to add to this, please contact or email us at:  [email protected] and include your picture or pictures in the email.  Thank you!