Klarinet Archive - Posting 000263.txt from 1996/02

From: DR CHARLES W WEST <NGSH50A@-----.COM>
Subj: Mouthpieces
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 10:58:11 -0500

Though somewhat sporadically, I've followed the discussion involving
Everett Austin, Bill Fogle and others about mouthpieces with some
interest. Who knows how many mouthpieces have gone through my hands
in the last thirty years--it would be a large number, including many
of the legendary names that you have discussed. Certainly we all
have our own goals for our mouthpieces--Chedeville enthusiasts will
gravitate toward the small bore, old French style of mouthpiece,
Kaspar enthusiasts toward the somewhat larger. The facings on these
mouthpieces have to work in concert with the bore style--the facing
that works on one bore style might (probably) not produce results as
satisfactory on another bore style.

All this is just to preface my suggestion to you if you're looking
for an old "Ched" and are not being well-satisfied. Several of Jim
Pyne's NSK and PK mothpieces have passed through my hands in the last
few years--with a bore style very similar to old French mouthpiece
and asymmetric facing like Buddy Wright's: I think Jimmy's product
is more than convincing. He also makes something that approximates
the Kaspar a little more which he calls Jx, one of which I'm playing
on the clarinet I leave down at the University (so I don't have to
schlepp an instrument every day). While my "concert" setup is his
"M" mouthpiece--with which I am most pleased--I'm very comfortable in
making the PK-NSK or Jx suggestions to anyone whose goals are Ched or
Kaspar respectively. (He doesn't market them as "copies" of Ched or
Kaspar).

I do make a little different reed for my Jx than for my M's--and also
I vary reed style with the time of the year and altitude. For
example, I use a steeper slope (more like the old Morre) in the
summer here in Virginia, and a shallower one once I get to my summer
job at 7000 feet in Arizona or someplace like Denver or Mexico City.
BIG difference. The Jx mouthpiece takes less slope than the M--but
this is all very controllable in the reedmaking process and in fact,
I'm only aware of fitting a reed to whatever mouthpiece is in my hand
at the time and the slope just comes out that way. It would be a
difference like using regular Vandorens on one and V-12's on another--
a very tiny difference, but I'm into tiny differences. Whether you
handmake or use commercial reeds, you might end up adjusting or
picking different reeds for different bore style-facing combinations.

Good luck and happy mouthpiece hunting to all!

Chuck West