 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-04-22 16:21
I have recently picked up a hard rubber B & H Imperial 1010. Its in lovely condition and is a pleasure to play, but with no push left it's still slightly flat. I'm using a Selmer HS** and a Woodwind Co Steel Ebonite marked K9*, with similar results from both.
I've tried it with a short plastic barrel from an Edgware, which slightly improves the situation but does not fix it. Could this be related to the bore of the mouthpieces I've tried? I've read that the 1010 Booseys need a large-bore mouthpiece, but I'm not sure if its fact or myth.
If all else fails I'm considering turning a millimetre or so off the barrel, But I'm reluctant to do so if there's a good alternative.Any suggestions gratefully received.
Tony F.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2012-04-22 16:45
Hi Tony,
You will need a mouthpiece with the correct bore size. This is fact. With a French bore mouthpiece you might find that the throat notes are sharp and the upper register flat though this is different on most instruments. Interesting that you have a plastic 1010.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-04-22 17:07
Hi Peter,
Many thanks. That fits in with what I thought might be the problem. The instrument is ex-British military band. They used hard rubber because of the climatic extremes that they were required to play in. Can you offer any suggestions as to who produces suitable large-bore mouthpieces?
Thank.
Tony F.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-04-22 17:44
Either you can pay a hefty price for a Peter Eaton Elite mouthpiece (as the Elite is the natural successor of the 1010) or have an existing mouthpiece bored out to 1010 spec.
B&H offered all their pro level instruments in ebonite for the tropics, so they do crop up from time to time (the ones that weren't destroyed by accident or by B&H that is).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-04-22 19:28
At a push, if the correct reamer is unavailable then your existing mouthpiece can be reamed out with a standard engineering reamer since the bore should be absolutely parallel right up to the spherical section where it enters the windway.
This will leave a small perturbation at that point that can be smoothed out with a dremel or file etc though it probably wouldn't make too much difference if left.
The correct size is 0.600" or 15.20mm.
This will of course lower overall pitch somewhat which will need to be corrected with either a shorter barrel or shortening the mouthpiece.
The typical B&H mouthpiece for 1010 (and 926 also) is actually manufactured about 2mm shorter (at about 87mm) than many French style models to provide this correction.
There is usually enough width on the outer collar of most mouthpiece tenons to allow this to be reduced plus of course a similar amount needs to be taken off the main body as well.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-04-22 21:42
My 1010 mouthpieces are the same length as a standard french mouthpiece. The difference is just the bore being cylindrical rather than conical.
Pillinger also makes large bore mouthpieces.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-04-22 22:38
Out of interest (nothing better to do!!") I have just quickly measured 30+ mouthpieces for length..
3 x B&H 1010 87.1 - 87.2 (30+ years old)
3 x B&H 926 87.6 - 87.7 (30+ years old)
2 x Pillinger 926 86.4 - 87.4 (modern)
2 x Windcraft 89.3 - 89.5
4 x Yamaha 89.3 - 89.9
1 x Noblet 89.5
1 x Vito 88.6
6 x VD Crystal 88.1 - 88.3
8 x VD Standard 89.3 - 89.6 (5 - 40 year old models)
1 x Wells Chic. 90.6 (probably 40+ years old
2 x Leblanc 88.0 - 88.1 (30+ year old)
2 x Selmer 89.2 -89.3 (20-30 year olds)
In general all B&H models are relatively short plus the Pillinger B&H models.
The Leblanc are quite short but also have a less tapered bore than most French
The VD crystals are all relatively short and again have wider, less tapered bores
This may well explain why VD crystals seem to work quite well on B&H 926s
and of course the Leblanc earlier clarinets also had wider bore than today.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-04-23 05:56
I had a sudden memory flash and recalled that some time back I bought some mouthpieces from a long-retired orchestral player. Took a while to find them, but among them were a couple of pieces that looked promising. One hard rubber no-name was a whisker under 15.2mm and measured 87.3mm. It played in tune but wasn't working very well for me, so I increased the length of the facing slightly and tidied up the rail. It now plays in pretty well in tune and blows freely with a Rico Reserve 3. The chalameu register still tends to be slightly flat, but this is obviously the way to attack the problem. Many thanks to all for the information and help. Much appreciated.
Tony F.
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