Klarinet Archive - Posting 000934.txt from 1998/02

From: SAXY R13 <SAXYR13@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Borbeck mouthpieces
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 22:08:38 -0500

>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

Today my mouthpiece came in. The model is the Borbeck 11. I've never played
a Borbeck before, so I'm not too familiar with them. I don't know if the
Borbeck 11 is an older model or a newer model, but it plays great. I'm really
happy with it so far.

Robyn