Klarinet Archive - Posting 000930.txt from 1998/02

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Borbeck mouthpieces
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 19:36:37 -0500

On Wed, 25 Feb 1998 SAXYR13@-----.com wrote:

> A few days ago, I bought a Borbeck mouthpiece from the Woodwind and Brasswind.
> I'm still waiting for it to be shipped in; it will probably come tomorrow.
> This is the first time I've bought a Borbeck; has anyone tried this brand?

The are at least two editions of the Borbeck, but I do not know
where the chronological divider is between them. I suspect the
later editions date within the last 5 years or so. I tried a
few of these at the ClarinetFest in Arizona in '95 and hated
them. As I sat there, sounding terrible, Borbeck would interject
a matter-of-fact "beautiful" and "sounds great" in between
orchestral excerpts. I got the impression he was trying to
convince me that the sound I was producing was acceptable,
which it wasn't. The reason I was interested at all was
because I had owned one of his older edition mouthpieces,
which had passed from Dave Breeden to Don Carroll (principal
to bass clarinet of the San Francisco Symphony, respectively)
to a friend of mine, and finally to me. This was a wonderful
mouthpiece and served me well for several years. I was dis-
appointed at the results of Borbeck's latest design efforts.
His new mouthpieces might be great for some, but they didn't
work for me. 'Definitely a case where "they don't make them
the way they used to."

Neil