Klarinet Archive - Posting 000289.txt from 1999/12

From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Ligature for Gennusa GE [was Re: [kl] buying a new mouthpiece]
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 00:06:33 -0500

At 07:26 AM 12/08/1999 -0700, Shouryu Nohe wrote:
>For me, it happens to be a Gennusa GE with V12 4.5
>reeds.

Let's discuss your GE for a moment. (I don't play enough to get any sound
out of a V12 4.5, but I'm not here to discuss reeds today.) I'm wondering
what you are -- and anyone else who uses a Gennusa mouthpiece is -- using
for a ligature.

I've been playing a GE for about a year and a half, ever since I tested one
at the 1998 ClarinetFest and immediately bought it from its maker. Up until
then I had been playing a (Ciscero) Kaspar that I ordered from Frank
himself in 1967; the Kaspar is now my backup mouthpiece. No ligature (that
I've tried so far) seems to fit or hold well on the Gennusa. I've never had
this problem with any other mouthpiece. The Gennusa gets larger at the base
than every other mouthpiece in my mouthpiece drawer.

The Rovner that I used successfully on my Kaspar is not large enough. I'm
using it, but its screw continues to dig a groove on the top of the
mouthpiece. Several people have mentioned that this groove-digging is
sometimes a characteristic of the Rovner, but I don't have this problem
with any other mouthpiece -- just with the Gennusa. Some Rovner
advertisements mention the need to specify the mouthpiece brand. Do they
really make a larger one for a Gennusa?

My Bonade ligatures, both regular and inverted, which fit all of my other
mouthpieces, do not expand wide enough to work on the Gennusa. I even
ordered a new inverted Bonade (on the basis of David Niethamer's post of a
couple of years ago advising users to buy a new one every year), thinking
that my old one was worn out. The old, worn out, stretched inverted Bonade
almost fits; the new one doesn't even come close. I can get my regular
Bonade to work if I'm willing to accept that it doesn't close completely
and the ribs are on the outer edges of the reed.

I've tried several other ligatures, including stock Selmers and Buffets,
and nothing seems to fit, so I stick with the Rovner that is digging a
groove in the top. Should I try ordering a new Rovner and specifying that I
use a Gennusa? Will I really get a slightly longer strip of material?

Back to my question: What are others who play this mouthpiece using for a
ligature?

Oh yes, I avoided the reed *strength* issue, because I don't think it's
relevant to my question; but reed *thickness* might be. I typically use
thick blank reeds -- either V12s or Zondas, depending on which ones are
working on any given day; but I've also tried various non-thick reeds with
various ligatures on this mouthpiece without being able to get a good grip.

Comments? Advice? Suggestions? Empathy?

Mitch Bassman
Burke, Virginia, USA

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