Klarinet Archive - Posting 000346.txt from 2005/01

From: "James Fay" <fay.james@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Gennusa mouthpiece-a review
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 11:57:33 -0500

I recently was able to drive down to Edgewater, MD to visit Ben Redwine
(www.redwinejazz.com) to purchase one of his Gennusa mouthpieces. I went
looking for a second mouthpiece to backup my Zinner-based mouthpiece. I =
came
home with a new first mouthpiece.

Iggy Gennusa was with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Peabody
Conservatory. He was known for his beautiful sound and played on a Henry
Chedville mouthpiece. Iggy started selling his mouthpieces as copies of =
his.

Ben bought the business from Gennusa and Iggy taught him all about
mouthpieces before he passed away in 2003. Ben is a clarinetist with the =
US
Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, MD.

The mouthpieces are made for him by the JJ Babbitt Company in Elkhart,
Indiana (www.jjbabbitt.com - very informative web site). Ben owns the =
mold
and is constantly tweaking the settings.

Babbitt makes their mouthpieces from scratch and even vulcanizes their =
own
rubber. The mouthpieces are molded and machine faced, with some hand
finishing. I think Ben touches them up when necessary.

The model I chose was the GE*, with a 102-106 tip. GE has a tip under =
102
and GE** has an over 106 tip.

He also sells Gennusa mouthpieces with Zinner blanks. He said, however, =
that
he has not been happy with these blanks, and he is working with Hans =
Zinner
to develop a new blank for him. It will be interesting to see how that =
works
out.

I tried about 6 of them (Ben brought an armful into the room) and I =
found
one that worked very well with my setup (40 year-old Moennig-Buffet,
Gonzalez FOF, BG ligature). I has a wonderful warm, very resonant and
focused tone and seems to tune well. The facing is almost exactly the =
same
as what I currently play on, but the mouthpiece feels very different.

I did notice differences between the ones I tried, convincing me that =
trying
a bunch is the only way to go.

Compared to the Zinner-based models I have, the baffle seems more =
concave
with a slight scoop at its bottom, the window is slightly longer, and is
wider at its bottom. The bore is smaller (exit bore=3D 0.584", my =
Zinners
measure 0.591").

I think the rubber might be a little softer then the Zinners. I gave it =
my
"ping" test, hitting the rubber with a small steel ruler, it "rings" a
quarter-tone lower then a Zinner.

The facing appears machine made, and the bore shows no signs of hand
reaming. The baffle had been hand worked.

Darn thing plays great, and for just under $100!

My guess is that the secret to this mouthpiece is the combination of
Gennusa's original Chedville and how he, Ben Redwine, and the Babbitt
company have adapted the dimensions and materials to suit modern
manufacturing.

--Jim Fay

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