Klarinet Archive - Posting 000244.txt from 2003/12

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Marcellus Mouthpiece
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 00:45:38 -0500

Anne Lenoir wrote:

> Marcellus used to play a Kasper 13 mouthpiece. I had one and I loved it.
> Unfortunately it was stolen back in 1983. Many mouthpiece makers claim
> to have mouthpieces that are just like Marcellus' Kasper 13, but they
> are not anything like them. Gregory Smith is one of these mouthpiece
> makers. Many people like his mouthpieces, but I don't trust them because
> Gregory Smith does not have a particularly good clarinet sound. So I am
> skeptical about his ability to make good clarinet mouthpieces that sound
> good. ANNIE

It's about time that someone outed Greg Smith. I've had a simply *terrible*
time picking out one of his mouthpieces. His quality control must suck,
since he doesn't even trust himself - when you order a mouthpiece, he always
sends you three hoping one might pass muster. Then you have only two weeks
to pick one - sheer torture, let me tell you.

I must not be discerning, since every time I try them out they all seem to
work just fine. In the end, I couldn't pick one, so now I've got a 1+
Chedeville model that I use for chamber work, a Cicero Kaspar copy for the
orchestra, and a nifty little bomb that perches on the top of my eepher.
Not that I particularly like them, mind you - It's just that I haven't found
any others that I like any better.

I agree with you about Greg's sound, though. It's not "particularly good."
(I'd file it under "exquisite" or perhaps "sublime" myself.) Someone must
have liked it for him to score those gigs, I guess, but no accounting for
what some people like.

Solti was always rather tasteless, don't you think?

kjf

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