Klarinet Archive - Posting 000124.txt from 2000/11

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] new jazz clarinet?
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 16:56:08 -0500

jason.servetar@-----.com wrote,
>Ok here is the rub, I wasn't the cork that did not fit, in the barrel but
>the RUBBER/PLASTIC. If it were only the cork, I'd be playing it now, but it
>was the actual mouthpiece itself. It was about 1 mm too wide. Has this
>happened to anyone else?

George Kidder wrote,
>>Yes. I have a flea-market special on which the barrel/mouthpiece joint is
>>somewhat bigger than conventional, so much so that I can play it only with
>>the mouthpiece that came with it. The instrument is named "Three Star", is
>>plastic or the like (rubber?),and is probably a stencil, but from whom I
>>have no idea. So yours is not the only case, although in your case the
>>tenon is too small.

I believe the Three Star was made by Cundy Bettoney. Interesting, because I
have a metal H. Bettoney "Silva-Bet" from about 1930, with a mouthpiece
socket that's larger in diameter than the barrel of any of my other
clarinets. The Silva-Bet only fits with the mouthpiece I corked with an
extra-fat cork, especially for that neck.

On the earlier question, though, for the *rubber or plastic* part of the mpc
to be as much as 1mm too wide to fit in the socket, *without* cork -- wow.
That's a huge difference. I wonder if this might be an alto clarinet
mouthpiece. On used instruments, especially from school surplus auctions,
equipment often ends up jumbled around in the wrong cases. I once bought a
cornet and didn't notice until I got it home that it came with a mouthpiece
for a baritone horn.

This may sound wacky, but are you sure it's a *clarinet* mouthpiece? Does it
have a sharp edge between the bottom of the mouthpiece and the tenon, with
cork (or traces of old cork and glue) around the outside of the tenon?
Because I'm wondering if it's an alto sax mouthpiece, designed to fit over a
sax neck cork. If the mouthpece tapers smoothly into what looks like a tenon
and there's no trace of cork on the outside of it, then I'll bet it's a sax
mpc. Some old alto sax mpcs from the 1920s are very small compared to modern
ones. (See if there are any traces of cork grease *inside* the apparent
tenon.)

Lelia

Lelia

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