 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2005-04-13 22:42
Please pardon what may seem an odd question, but can anyone who has one describe what he or she especially enjoys about a Wells Chicago mouthpiece? I'd really be interested in reading comments from players who enjoy these. I've had one, original and playable facing, for about 3 years and I've never "gotten" them - what the fuss is about. Airy, difficult to match to a reed. Very different.
Bill.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-04-14 00:17
Frank Wells of near Chicago has a patent [his only one I believe] US 4,449,431 on a key-slot shaped "wind-cut" opening which has been cited in later patents as "prior art. US 6,501,010 and its CIP to Sullivan has an extensive listing of patent #'s and some comments on cl mps. Years ago, I was given a Wells mp [B2 facing, I believe] which I played for several years before I found better. Others please help ! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2005-04-14 03:02
Bill,
I play both a Stowell Wells Schneider B2 (the pre-Wells edition) and several Portnoy BP02s. Both mouthpieces are very reed friendly and I have a large and well focused tone. I use LaVoz MH and VD 3 as well as 3 1/2 reeds. Articluation is clean and intonation is good.
I do have spares of each MP that do not play as well as my primary ones. For the record, I also use a Buffet C, a C Crown, and a VD 2RV with good results.
HRL
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Author: rc_clarinetlady
Date: 2005-04-14 04:23
Hi Bill,
I have a Wells B2 that I have owned and loved for 30 years. Actually, I only played it for about 15 years and then quit playing for awhile. When I returned to playing, the mouthpiece didn't play as well as I remembered it playing so I gave up trying and replaced it with several different ones in an attempt to find that sweet, warm sound I had during the Wells glory days. I loved the Wells when I played it in the mid 70's and all through the 80's. I was told by many that my sound was so pure and sweet. I, of course, attributed my sound to my mouthpiece as I couldn't get that sound with any other.
I had Walt Grabner reface it in an attempt to get it back to where I remembered it sounding. He said he didn't have to do much to it and gave great attention to making sure it was restored to the original Wells specs. It has such a great sound but is still a little bit bright for the orchestral type playing I do. Walt agreed that it had developed a bright sound and worked to reduce that brightness. The ariticulation and response on that mouthpiece is still unparralled by any other. If it had a warmer sound I'd still be playing it as my number one mpc. I play in an orchestra instead of playing jazz so I use a darker, warmer mpc. I can't really explain why yours has an "airy" sound to it. Had it been used when You bought it and if so how much? Maybe it needs refacing too. I'm now wondering if I sent mine back to Walt if he could further reduce the brightness ( roughness) that has developed. I know I've always had to play a much harder reed on the Wells than on my other mpcs. I play at least a Vandoren V12 4 on my Wells and only use a 31/2 on my Pynes and Lomax. I recently started playing Gonzalez FOF's in a 3 1/2 and they sound really good on the Wells. Maybe a Gonzalez will work for you too.
Don't know If I shed any light on the Wells issue but I know that for a long time I had a real love for that mpc. So did many people in the KC area. When I was in school, one of our grads had gone on to the Eastman School of Music to work on her masters. She was about to play her master's recital when she shattered her Wells. She came back to KC and offered me $100 on the spot for my used Wells and I wouldn't do it. We loved the Wells at that time. I think many of us have moved on and are playing different mpcs. now but I will always have that mpc and play it from time to time. I'll never sell it.
Regards,
Rebecca
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2005-04-14 12:23
Bill,
As I looked at RC's comments, I think I needed to add that I find the SWS and Portnoy play very much alike for me. The Portnoy uses a little stiffer reed. I have also tried the SWS B1 and it was much too closed for me.
I am also a doubler.
HRL
Post Edited (2005-04-14 16:02)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-04-14 14:50
A search (check on both Clarinet and Klarinet archives) on "Stowell Wells Schneider" (without the quotes) brings up lots of information.
I played on a SWS C3 (very long and open, which Keith Stein recommended) and a B2 (medium), but eventually switched. Like Rebecca, I prefer a less bright sound, with more fundamental.
The SWS blank had a narrower throat and a different chamber from mouthpieces popular today. When I took the C3 to Everett Matson, he trued up the facing and closed the tip slightly, but he said that the rest of the design was unique, and it would be untrue to the maker (as well as a tremendous amount of work) to change it. It was so far from his style that he didn't want to do anything more.
Ken Shaw
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Author: rc_clarinetlady
Date: 2005-04-14 17:33
I really like a close mpc with a long facing and the Wells B2 has just that. Mine needs a stiffer reed to sound good though. It has a very edgy, bright sound with too soft a reed. Try a different reed on your Wells and possibly try the Gonzalez FOF's. I am enjoying those reeds just all around on all my mpcs. They have a warmer sound yet project as well as the Vandorens for me. I can also get nearly all 10 in the box to work.
Bill, can you explain what you mean by "airy"? Mine is, as I said before, bright. If your Wells is airy sounding it may need to be refaced as well. I don't know how old it is or any of it's history. Do you? Mine was marvelous for many years and then had problems in the recent years. Possibly yours has done the same. Walt Grabner is so careful to put it back to it's original specs and at the same time correct any problems he hears. Maybe it's charm has faded with the years. Just a thought.
Rebecca
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Author: Bill
Date: 2005-04-15 15:41
Thanks for your suggestions and comments about Wells mouthpieces.
I have a Wells of Chicago B2. I got it as a package deal for $250 along with a gold-plated Harrison ligature, an old-style Selmer table HS*, and two Selmer "oval" table mouthpieces. The gentleman from whom I bought the items was very interesting. He had lost a young son to, I believe, drug usage. We corresponded briefly, and I always found his messages filled with pithy observations and warmth. I have never broken up the "collection" of items I obtained from him, as each of them seems to have a subjectively "good" karma.
But good karma or not, the Wells, with its unqiue window slot, its ultra-narrow windway, and its overall shape, seems over-designed for an item that plays awfully (for me). I also use Gonzalez reeds, and my 3.75's and 4.0's choke the Wells, whereas the 3.0's are much to soft. So my first problem with it is that I can't seem to make it happy with a reed.
Certainly I think it is time for it to undergo a touch-up. But here I find a bizarre frustration. A Wells (or a Borbeck 13 or a Kaspar) back from the refacer is a different thing altogether from what its famous-name maker designed it to be. A Vandoren when it comes back is just "better."
The mouthpiece plays right now with a total fuzziness and lack of center, like fixing a reed onto a wool sock. When I seem to identify a reed of the proper strength, it's much too resistant, and softer reeds sound too shrill.
Oh well (pardon the pun), I'm not getting rid of it tomorrow. But I doubt if I'll be playing either.
Bill.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-01-21 22:44
I've worked out any problems I had with this mouthpiece. It plays like a dream (without any work or refacing). It just took some time for me to find the right kind and strength of reeds.
All of your comments and input (above) now seem pertinent and are my experiences, too.
So glad I persisted with this piece of equipment; it is a joy.
Bill.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2006-01-22 02:45
Hi Bill,
That's great that the Wells worked out to be a joy. I still use my SWS B2 as my primary and the other MPs and backups.
I've asked RC a couple of times if she wanted to sell hers but... Maybe when you tire of yours, I can give it a new home.
HRL
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Author: lrlvideo
Date: 2006-02-21 16:39
Hi,
I not sure if this is a dead topic or at the end of the line topic, but I thought I'd give it a try.
I knew Frank Wells for over 25 yrs. I would see him at least once a year. the trip was always worth it! ( I always told my wife it was to see her parents!) In the late 70's, when I first met him, Frank was making his MP's in a small shop in the city(Chicago). When I went in the first time he had about 15 clar. MP's on pegs. He asked what kind of sound I was after and what opening I used. At that time I think he was only shipping out MP's with either B2 or C I think it was. I own about 8 of them and they all play great but they do all play differently! He had the models that were sold at Sam Ash etc. and he had the ones that were custom done while you wait at his shop. The process went like this...
He first had me try a few "stock" MP's that were goig out to stores. I made a few comments and he'd hand me another one...after 3 or 4 different MP's he'd ask me to play one of the past 4 again....and then after a few seconds he'd say gimme it! and he would start to work on that one piece. After a 1/2 hour of working the MP inside & outside, he would ask me to try it, sometimes asking you how it felt, other times it was just a gimmie it! Once we both felt we were in the right ballpark he made finer and finer adjustments. One that blew my mind was when he was working on the tip and used the BACK of a piece of sandpaper...And all of a sudden the MP played great! Wild! This is why I always tell my students to use only Kleenex type tissue to clean out a MP....or you'll change it!
My point to all of this is if you find any Wells MP that is stamped with letter# (B2)most likely it's a classical MP. It will play unless it's damaged or refaced buy a hacker....if it has nothing on it, it 's prob. a custom MP & could be either classical or jazz. It was made for the player, horn & the reed he used (both brand, type and #...so if you buy one from someone always ask what reed they used on it and what horn and type of music they played..as it makes a HUGE diff.!!!
The only guy that I would trust to touch up a Wells MP is Mike Blanchard at the Sax shop in Ill. He worked with Frank for years after I begged Frank (many years) to teach someone his art before it was lost. He would show me many tricks about MP's and offered to keep teaching me but I at the time just couldn't move to Ill...So I'm glad Mike has all the knowlege & skills to make them and work on them.
I could go on for days...He was a great guy and I miss him!
Mike Graz in CT.
LRL Video
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-02-21 18:47
Hi Dan, Glad to see you still read the BBoard. The B2 I referred to above was a gift from your dad and mother, t'was great for my Bb years, now its on to the "largers", bass and alto. Regards, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-02-21 22:57
Fascinating history Mike - thank you! My B2 gets buried wih me. It plays perfectly.
Bill.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2006-02-22 02:34
Hi,
Thanks LRL Video for the lead.
I took a chance and called the Sax Shop and in a matter of minutes was talking to Mike Blanchard. Man, did he have stories about Wells.
The next time I am in Chicago, he has agreed to take a look at the 3 SWS MPs I have that are not up to my #1. Maybe "a little something here and a little something there," he said.
HRL
PS I told Mike Blanchard that "I had never spoken to a legend before!" He chuckled.
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