Klarinet Archive - Posting 000100.txt from 2005/04

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Vito 7214; info on Selmer student mpc?
Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2005 00:20:14 -0400

At 08:22 PM 4/6/2005 -0400, Lelia Loban wrote:
>Last weekend, I bought a Vito model 7214 clarinet (a current USA model,
>made of wood-grained Resonite plastic, sold for beginners) that came with a
>Selmer mouthpiece I can't figure out. I can hear why people are so
>enthusiastic about the Vito for beginners, btw. It's a free-blowing
>clarinet, with comfortable keys and generally good intonation, and seems
>very well-made, though the chalumeau Bb is so sharp that I have to put down
>my 4th finger to lower the pitch. Oddly, the corresponding clarion F plays
>in tune. I'm used to beginner clarinets having wide 12ths. Never ran into
>this particular problem before, where the chalumeau note is much sharper
>than the same fingering in clarion. Does anyone know how long the model
>7214 has been on the market?

If I am not mistaken, the 7214 came out only in the last few years
(2000?). It has a smaller bore than the ubiquitous .584 model 7212, that
being the current popular trend in student clarinets. (Either that or it
is the 7212 with a nickel bell ring. I can't find my catalogue right
now.) Keywork is the same on both, well designed for smaller hands, and
not really significantly different from that on the Noblets and even
lower-level pro Leblancs.

>Can anyone tell me anything about this model of mouthpiece? It's hard
>rubber and I believe it's modern, though possibly a bit older than the
>clarinet. An unusually large Selmer logo is at the bottom, just above the
>tenon, on the opposite side from the table. There's no country of origin
>marked, so I take it this is a Selmer USA mouthpiece. There's no model
>name or indication of the facing. The only other marking besides the logo
>is engraved and looks like a sideways L in sans serif font (or the top and
>left side of the outline of a square), placed near the lower right-hand
>side of the table, if I look at the mouthpiece with the reed-side toward
>me. I've never seen that half-square marking and I'm curious what it
>means. I can't find anything like it in the Selmer catalogue that was
>being given out at ClarinetFest 2004.

The Selmer USA mouthpiece is probably the stock mouthpiece for some
current/recent model Selmer student clarinets. Is it hard
rubber? Probably, since I think their plastic ones still say "Bundy."

>... Of course, it's also possible that the dealer
>was BS-ing and that the two clarinets have nothing to do with each other,
>or that the dealer or a customer switched the mouthpiece from one case to
>the other. Is a US Selmer mouthpiece now available as a standard throw-in
>with Vito clarinets since Selmer's parent company bought Leblanc?

I don't think they have integrated that fully yet. It does look like the
Woodwind line of mouthpieces might be a casualty of the merger,
though. Good think I have a couple of extra K10M's!

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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