 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jacoblikesmusic
Date: 2009-11-24 03:58
For those of you that have a k14 or a k13*, what reeds and strengths have you found to work out the best? Also what ligature have you found to work well with it?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-11-24 11:06
Walter Grabner on his website recommends 3-1/2 V12 for the K13* and 3 or 3-1/2 V12 for the K14, which is slightly more open. I use a Grabner mouthpiece (now apparently discontinued) that is slightly closer-tipped than the K11, so I can't really tell you how those strengths work from first-hand experience on K13* and K14, but I'd trust Walter's recommendation as a starting point. If you already own or are considering buying one of those, buy a box of V12 #3 and one of #3.5 and see how they feel to you.
Ligatures are a different animal - not the same issue as reed strength. Although response and sound of a given moutpiece will vary a little with different ligatures, the choice is really much more personal. A #5 V12 out of the box probably doesn't play comfortably for anyone on either of the mouthpieces you asked about, but any ligature will allow anyone to play either mouthpiece with the right reed. The differences in whatever effect each ligature has on the playing qualities of a mouthpiece-reed combination are more subtle and personal.
No ligature will make a mouthpiece unplayable with the right reed. No ligature will make the wrong reed sound good on any mouthpiece. For more opinion about ligatures, do a search for other discussion threads about them - there have been almost as many as there have been about reeds.
Good luck,
Karl
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-11-24 12:15
I have both K14(3 and 3.5 recommended) and SW1 Personal(now C35 with 3.5 and 4 recommended). Now I've used #3.5 on both now ether Glotin GIII and V-12 and I found that I go towards the heaviest in the box of V-12 so I ordered the new 3.5+ strength V-12. It's also helpful to know that when I got the K-14 for test I got two and the one I took was more closed and the other one although more open was still closer than my teacher's K14 at that time. The reason I go towards more heavier reeds on the K14 is that I found it project too much for me now so I mainly use it if I really need to push it and also for lighter music.
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Author: Roger Aldridge
Date: 2009-11-24 16:07
I'm a big fan of the Vandoren Klassik string ligature on Grabner Kaspar-style mouthpieces.
I have several K14s. Walter Grabner did some additional facing work on both of them for me. I do not know exactly what Walter did; however, these K14s are perfect for what I want in a clarinet mouthpiece and for my tonal conception. Wish I had these K14s YEARS ago!
I normally use a Legere #3 Quebec as my clarinet reed of choice on the K14...especially, since much of my playing is in doubling situations. This set up is an exceptionally good match for the bore design and amount of resistance of my 70's Couesnon Monopole.
Roger
http://www.amc.net/RogerMAldridge
Post Edited (2009-11-24 16:09)
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Author: mozartklar
Date: 2009-12-02 02:24
I have two K13* mouthpieces and have been very happy with them. Walter first came to my attention on the clarinet bboards and since then, I have purchased his mouthpieces for my clarinets, e-flat and bass clarinet. Initially I was using V-12 3.5s on my K13* but quickly I found that the mouthpiece just didn't do what I wanted it to do. The sound was grainy and opaque. So, I decided to compare my former mouthpiece (Vandoren M15) with Walter's and found that the tip of each mouthpiece was entirely different.
The Vandoren (and all I have seen) seem to be made specifically for the V12 reed. Each tip is wide and more flat at the top. Walter's Zinners are more narrow and curved at the top. Hence, I took out an old box of traditional Vandoren 3.5s and 4s that I had lying around and tried them. To my astonishment, the mouthpiece played even better than I could have hoped for! The tip of the traditional reeds seem to match the tip of my K13* much better than a V12. Hence, I've switched to traditional Vandoren 3.5s and have been quite happy! To top it all off, the traditional reeds are a bit cheaper than the V12.
I would be interested to know if any of you have tried this and what your reaction is.
Best Wishes,
Peter
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-12-02 02:35
I found the tip of the V-12 to fit very well with my Grabner mouthpieces. But I've played in the past B40 mouthpiece(like 13 years ago) and I really have to say that the first thing when comparing it to Bay,Grabner,Morgan and other handcrafted mouthpieces is that they are SO much more reed friendly than the Vandoren.
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Author: kilo
Date: 2009-12-02 10:42
I use Legere Quebec 3.25's on my K13 with either a Vinson or a Luyben ligature.
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Author: FrankM
Date: 2009-12-02 18:14
Roger, you mentioned sending back your "stock" k 14 mouthpieces to Walter Grabner and he refaced them and now they're perfect ...I curious, what did you tell him to do? In other words did you say "more free blowing" or something specific like " I need a longer lay"?
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Author: Roger Aldridge
Date: 2009-12-02 18:51
Frank,
Oops, I misspoke. I had Walter make some adjustments to one of my K14s and also to my backup LB bass clarinet mouthpiece.
One of the K14s I have is absolutely incredible -- perfect for what I want. I use it as my performance mouthpiece. The other K14, while certainly a good mouthpiece, was not quite at the other's level. So, I asked Walter to face it as closely as possible to my performance K14. As I recall, I also used words like "bigger sound and more resonant". The K14 came back from Walter playing exactly as I wanted.
Similar story with the LB mouthpiece.
I've purchased a number of mouthpieces from Walter and he's come to have a good sense of what I like. However, I also need to say that my performance K14 was the first Bb clarinet mouthpiece I got from him. So, for me, his K14 hit the ball out of the park with the first swing.
Roger
Post Edited (2009-12-02 18:54)
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Author: LonDear
Date: 2009-12-03 02:34
I have both, and I have tried several of each. They have all been good.
I agree with Roger about Walter's ability to tailor a mouthpiece to an individual's needs. A friend of mine ordered a couple of K14s and sent them back to make them higher pitched, more-free blowing and other characteristics and they came back with mind-blowing excellent results.
I use a Legere Quebec cut 3.5 on both, and I have for several years. They are my main mouthpieces. The K14 is on the Bb and the K13 is on the A. I played a really old Selmer HS* with a 2.5 on my Bb for this evening's gig just for kicks (it didn't pay much and we had to play WAY to softly), but I'll be back to my W.G. K14 before the week is out.
Since you are on the "big" end of the clarinet mouthpiece sizes, you might want to try a Vandoren 5JB and send it to the junkdude for balancing and have it really "opened up". I have one that I use for gigs that are purely swing or jazz and know the tunes well enough to know the melody exactly. I can't use it on classical gigs or in most musicals, in fact anything that I'm reading music. I only use it when my total concentration can be on the music, not the pages of music.
All of Walter's mouthpieces that I've tried are really Legere friendly.
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Author: LonDear
Date: 2009-12-03 02:43
Sorry, Jacob I didn't answer both questions; Rovner, but I don't think that matters nearly as much as the reeds.
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