Klarinet Archive - Posting 000286.txt from 2001/07

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl] Re:Mouthpieces recommendations - worth??
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 13:46:05 -0400

Another thought:

A Zinner blank, purchased from IMS, with the appropriate facing and window
size/tip and side rail thickness, can be made by most of the competent
clarinet players/mouthpiece makers out there. The cost of a U.S purchased
Zinner blank is about $30. Most of these can be faced and adjusted by many
people to play as well or better than a large number of Kaspar mouthpieces
still found today. A medium tip (1.10-1.14) mouthpiece with a standard
medium curve (used by Kaspar) is very easy to put onto a mouthpiece. The
window and tip/side rail sizes can all simulate what the Kaspars did. Even
the bore can be closely matched - with the correct reamers. No one has
access to the same blanks that the Kaspars did in the pre-1965 days. There
are no blanks made today that are made with the same materials as those
used by the Kaspars. Dimensions can be reproduced - but the material
cannot be.

But keep in mind that any U.S. purchased Zinner mouthpiece that is used to
make a mouthpiece is not really as close to the Kaspar mouthpieces as some
may claim they are. The Kaspar mouthpieces were not known for the very,
very deep, scooped baffle - nor the style of sidewall/interior chamber that
the U.S. purchased Zinners employ. Zinners available from Germany (at a
significant cost - unless purchased in bulk) that employ other
characteristics (different molds - thus, different blanks) are available,
but the straight baffle that was used by Kaspar (prior to his filing) is
nothing like the baffles in the Zinners that can be purchased here in the
U.S. Hans Zinner will also manufacture a Zinner blank for anyone who can
fund the cost of the process.

Some of the Ann Arbor Kaspars were made from Babbitt blanks in the later
years - specifically, the 13b blank. They were considered, by Kaspar, to
be inferior blanks compared to the Chedevilles, but he "made them work" so
as to not be able to tell a difference.

Best wishes,
Roger Garrett

Roger Garrett
Clarinet Professor
Director, Symphonic Winds
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
Phone: (309) 556-3268
Fax: (309) 556-3121

"A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes
another's."
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825)

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