Klarinet Archive - Posting 000191.txt from 2004/06

From: Andy Jablonski <ajablons@-----.org>
Subj: RE: [kl] What I have been up to...
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 12:43:58 -0400

Interesting read, thanks for posting it.

-----Original Message-----
From: GrabnerWG@-----.com]
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 9:38 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] What I have been up to...

I had an interesting week last week. Along with the usual new mouthpiece
orders, and a couple of clarinet overhauls, I had 5 mouthpieces come in for
refacing/repair.

Working on an existing mouthpiece is an interesting experience. It can be a
bit scary, as there can be the possibility of making the mouthpiece worse
instead of better, or even ruining it completely!

There are some mouthpiece that are just beyond repair/restoration.

One of the mouthpieces I looked at last week was in that category. It was an
older Selmer C* bass clarinet mouthpiece. When you played it, the first
impression was that it had a nice agreeable sound. Then you began to realize
that none of the attacks in the clarion were secure. When I examined the
mouthpiece, I found that the table was not flat. Sometimes, there is just a
"bump,"
usually right at the end of the windway. That can be removed, with some
careful, patient work. In the case of this mouthpiece, the table was rounded
"downhill"
toward the bottom of the mouthpiece. I have no idea how a mouthpiece can get
in that condition. The table was polished and showed no sign of wear.
However, the amount of downward curve was so great, I did not see how the
mouthpiece table could be made flat and still preserve the playing
characteristics of the mouthpiece. I sent this one back to the customer --
no charge -- and advised him to use it as a doorstop.

Interestingly, another older C* he sent me responded to my "treatments" and
became a very fine mouthpiece. You never know!

A third mouthpiece that came to me was a "Robert Marcellus" mouthpiece that
was nearly unplayable. My customer had even tried to return it. When I
worked on it, I realized that the blank was basically fine, but the facing
and table had never been finished properly. The table, in particular, was
rough, grainy, even gritty. How this can get past QC, I'll never know. After
polishing the table, then redoing the existing facing. The mouthpiece played
really nicely.

Another mouthpiece that interested me was an old Woodwind Company bass
clarinet mouthpiece (a G6 I think). It had a very very short and close
facing which made it difficult to control, but it had a beautiful sound.
After refacing it, I wanted to buy it from my customer! It has a very
different sound - warm, full, not in any way buzzy or growly. The sound was
like pure chocolate. It had a very wide opening at the rails close to the
tip. I don't know how it would project in a big orchestra, but I would love
to play chamber music on it!

My last challenge is an older Pyne, that the customer says has "gone
downhill" in the last few years. It also has a warped table, but only
slightly, so I'm very hopeful.

Interesting stuff.

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetXpress.com
World-class clarinet mouthpieces

---------------------------------------------------------------------
klarinet-owner@-----.
http://www.woodwind.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org