Klarinet Archive - Posting 000181.txt from 1999/08

From: "Mark Weinstein" <cpaok@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Student mouthpieces
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 14:21:02 -0400

In response to Roger's last posting:

So what would you recommend for a beginner ---- a Van Doren 5RV ? Street
price on these should be about $52-56, right, I always assumed that all Van
Doren's were hard rubber ? Wrong ?

Anything out there to compete with Van Doren's prices, without moving up to
high-end blanks that the NAMES all sell for $100 - 175 ?

Thanks.
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Date: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 12:22 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] Student mouthpieces

>At 05:16 PM 8/10/99 -0000, you wrote:
>>All three I mentioned are plastic. Two I am personally familiar with
>>(the Debut and Premier) as I helped two young students get them a
>>couple of years back. Both are in remarkable shape today - I put
>>a mouthpiece patch on them to preclude any problems with wear. Both
>>young students are still using them, and are doing very well after 2
>>years of use.
>>
>>Mark C.
>
>My only reason for mentioning plastic was to point out the difference in
>case a buyer has a preference for hard rubber or plastic. I don't have my
>beginning students purchase a plastic mouthpiece - I ask them to go to hard
>rubber. While many people may disagree, I personally believe a plastic
>mouthpiece will never sound quite as nice as a duplicate hard rubber. In
>other words, a well made plastic mouthpiece doesn't, generally, sound as
>good as an equally well made hard rubber mouthpiece. Mouthpiece makers
>sell plastic cheaper because they get it cheaper, but their markup is
>considerably higher. In many cases, the difference between a plastic blank
>and an identical hard rubber blank is between $5 and $8. Many mouthpiece
>makers then sell the plastic for $15 over what they paid and the hard
>rubber anywhere between $25 and $150 over what they paid. My observation
>is that the mouthpiece makers, by virtue of their pricing, appear to favor
>the hard rubber mouthpiece as representative of their work over the
>plastic. This indicates to me that they also prefer the hard rubber. It
>is also possible that they rely on the public to assume hard rubber is
>better and raise their price accordingly. I don't know for sure what they
>think - only what I and close colleagues think about the differences.
>
>
>Roger Garrett
>Professor of Clarinet
>Director, Concert Band/Symphonic Winds/Titan Band
>Advisor, Recording Studio
>Illinois Wesleyan University
>Office: (309) 556-3268
>Fax: (309) 556-3411
>
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