Klarinet Archive - Posting 000488.txt from 2004/07
From: "Chuck Currie" <reedguy@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] reeds and planned obselesence
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:48:02 -0400
Dear Christy,
Don't worry, Christy, I took no offense whatsoever. I guess I consider =
Tom
Alexander a friend from all our communications and also want to help any
colleagues that end up trying these reeds and liking them. Tom really =
feels
a sense of mission about doing something great with these reeds, since =
he
had some health problems that ended his playing career. =20
I hear you loud and clear on our "use up and throw out" culture. It is =
nice
that as musicians, we can have vintage instruments that can be used for
generations. One of my dear friends here in town is an expert repairman =
who
also retails used horns. I tried out some Selmer saxophones recently =
from
the 40's and 50's that presented a compelling case for "retaining the =
old."
Wes Foster of the Vancouver Symphony had Morrie Backun bore out the =
first
few inches on the top joint of an old "blown out" A clarinet and make a
Cocobolo insert. It's now his number one horn. Incredibly sweet and =
pure
sound.
Best regards,
Chuck Currie
Sax Noir Studio
www.saxnoir.com
reedguy@-----.net
604 254-9625
604 970-2694
2105 E 3rd Ave
Vancouver, BC
V5N 1H9
=20
-----Original Message-----
From: Christy Erickson [mailto:perickso@-----.net]=20
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 9:26 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: RE: [kl] micro mesh sandpaper
Chuck, I was, of course, only teasing about the car sales. I have an =
old
friend who happens to work as a chemist for 3M so I'm going to contact =
her
about this Micromesh sandpaper. High end furniture refinishing =
retailers
simply don't exist where I live, but then again, I'm not sure you will =
find
many in the US. Our motto seems to be, "throw away the old and buy
something new." The new things are made cheaply, of course, they wear =
out
quickly and we are forced to purchase another inferior new model of
something. I just had this experience with a washer and this time =
around I
got a commercial grade washer. There are no guarantees, but I took the
advice of my appliance repairman, who seems very honest. I swear our
corporate boardrooms are filled with folks who sit around dreaming up =
ways
to manufacture things that almost surely will need to be replaced within =
a
short period of time. =20
Christy
>=20
> Dear Christy,
>=20
> I must admit I may come off a little over-enthusiastic about the =
Superial
> product, but you know how life is a as a reed player...endlessly
> unfulfilled
> expectations. As a doubler, I have half a dozen reeds on the go for =
each
> of 11 instruments, plus 4 or 5 backup boxes of each. Not an
> inconsiderable
> investment of time and money.
>=20
> I embarked a mouthpiece customization project 2 years ago with Morrie
> Backun
> when he first opened his shop. He cleaned up the inside and refaced =
all
> my
> mouthpieces, using the Micromesh sandpaper for final polishing on
> mouthpiece
> tables...the grit was 12,000 per square inch. Once my mouthpieces =
were
> that
> smooth, I purchased a nice piece of very dense and flat granite for
> reedwork
> and picked up 3200, 6000 and 12,000 grit paper from a high end =
furniture
> refinishing retailer. I use the 12,000 for polishing my students'
> mouthpiece
> tables. Micromesh is made with a latex/cloth backing that allows the =
fine
> sanded reed particulate to go through the paper without building up on =
the
> surface. The sandpaper is very expensive, but lasts a very long time. =
It
> was originally developed to polish scratches out of aircraft windows. =
I
> go
> through one or two pieces of each grit per year. I carry some in my =
road
> reed kit, and have sanded many colleagues reeds...they are usually
> delighted
> with the improved response and articulation.
>=20
> The first three days I play a reed, I soak them about 10 minutes, play
> them
> for only 5-10 minutes, then sand the tables with 3200 the first day, =
6000
> the next two. The next 4 days I play them progressively more each =
day,
> and
> do any adjusting necessary (which is not much on Superial--my tendency =
is
> too play reeds that feel just a little hard and scrape the lowest end =
of
> the
> reed to open up the warmth and response of the low notes.) I find I =
need
> another few strokes on the 6000 paper after about 3 weeks of playing, =
as
> the
> table of the reed "roughs" up. With any decent reed, the results are
> great...with Superials the table of the reed is as smooth as glass!
>=20
> If you don't have a high end furniture refinishing supply retailer =
hand,
> you
> can search for micro-mesh on the web and purchase it via mail order.
>=20
>=20
> Chuck Currie
> Quality Food, Systems & Training
> Sax Noir Studio
> www.saxnoir.com
> reedguy@-----.net
> 604 254-9625
> 604 970-2694
> 2105 E 3rd Ave
> Vancouver, BC
> V5N 1H9
>=20
>=20
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