Klarinet Archive - Posting 001082.txt from 1998/09

From: Jack Kissinger <kissingerjn@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: [kl] Chedville Bb mouthpiece for sale.
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 22:09:40 -0400

Roger Garrett wrote:

> A bit of trivia.....the Ann Arbor Kaspers are made by the same individual
> as the Cicero Kaspers......virtually identical.....I have a receipt for
> one made in 1955 that was signed by Kasper with his previous address being
> listed as Cicero. There are many people who don't feel the mouthpieces
> are as good.....they are incorrect.
>
> Roger Garrett
> IWU

Actually, this does not agree with information in the article on Sneezy by
Clark Fobes (http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/Equipment/MBL/Kaspar.html).
According to Clark's article, there were, in fact, two Frank Kaspars, the elder
of whom emigrated to Chicago where he initially made mouthpieces in Chicago.
This Frank Kaspar later moved to Ann Arbor. A namesake nephew, who emigrated
to the U.S. after his uncle, first worked with his uncle in Chicago until the
uncle moved to Ann Arbor, then continued to make mouthpieces in Chicago until
he retired to Cicero where he made mouthpieces until his death. According to
Clark's article, it is difficult to tell with certainty which one made a
mouthpiece from the Chicago series. However, the Ann Arbor mouthpieces were
apparently all made by the elder Kaspar and the Cicero mouthpieces all by the
younger Kaspar. In any case, mouthpieces by both makers are highly sought
after. (Clark's article is a good read for anyone interested in Kaspar
mouthpieces. It goes on to document some differences in the the two Kaspars'
designs.)

Also, as Clark points out, the mouthpieces sometimes reputed to be of lower
quality appear to have come from Cicero after Chedeville went out of business
and was no longer a source of blanks to the younger Kaspar.

Best regards,
Jack Kissinger
St. Louis

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