Klarinet Archive - Posting 000348.txt from 2002/04

From: Jim Alguire <jalguire@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Mouthpiece mystery
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 14:22:00 -0400

Sometime earlier this year there was a post that said, in effect, 'forget
the search for a perfect mouthpiece until you can play well enough to tell
the difference.' Ah, I should have listened.

I have a very nice Evette & Schaeffer I had my local music shop go through
as a Christmas present. I just had an excellent technician fix what the
local shop did, but that's another story. Since my mouthpiece was old and
not in very good shape, I purchased a very nice Buffet mouthpiece on E-bay.
It is working just fine.

Then I got to noticing that the radius of the tip was just a hair larger
than the radius of my reeds (I was using Rico and now I am using Vandoren
traditional). This appeared to be the case for the several other mouthpieces
I have. Since I was playing Vandoren reeds, I decided to purchase a Vandoren
mouthpiece (B45) and give it a try. Interestingly, the B45 radius also seems
a little larger than that of the reed.

I don't have the tools or enough hands to really measure the differences
between these mouthpieces, but the tip opening on the Buffet is just a hair
more open than the B45 and the facing 'looks' the same. The windway in the
facing also look the same, but I would swear the B45 flares out more at the
tip although they measure the same.

Well, here is my frustration. I can play a passage perfectly with the
Buffet, but when I use the same reed and ligature on the B45, I can get
nothing but squeaks. I can't help but feel I am missing something here, but
I can't quite pin it down.

Well, I don't see a question in there anywhere, but thanks for letting me do
a little venting.

Jim Alguire
J A Design Studio
Ketchikan, Alaska

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