Klarinet Archive - Posting 000293.txt from 2001/07

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] Re:Mouthpieces misconceptions!!!!!
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 19:23:52 -0400

DAve Kumpf says (among other comments):

<<Roger Garrett's original message suggested that he had seen quite a variation in the tip openings of the Vandoren B45's he had measured. Perhaps there was poor control in the molding process and so the pecifications for facing length and tip opening are cast aside in an effort to get the mouthpieces to play reasonably at all...>>

Dave, some of the questions you asked in your post would have to be answered by the factory, the original manufacturer of the mouthpiece or "blank".

Just about everyone who makes mouthpieces purchases blanks from a manufacturer, and there are several. Many of the mouthpiece gurus have worked extensively with the manufacturer, to come up with a consistent blank that can be easily customized and/or finished.

I terms of your above comment, there is a built in assumption that someone actually PLAYS a stock mouthpiece before it enter the distribution chain.

I doubt that this is true except in a very few cases.

One envisions a gnarled little man, sitting in the "XYZ" factory snatching each mouthpiece off the assembly line and playing "Daphnis" or "Rite of Spring", and angrily casting aside all mouthpieces that dont make the cut.

I can tell you right now, that doesn't happen.

In almost all cases, the first person to play a particular mouthpiece is the customer in the music store. That's where the quality control is.

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com

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