 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2005-04-23 02:09
I have collected mouthpieces ever since I started playing clarinet (in 1992). My favorite one, for years, was free - a Cundy-Bettoney "CBC" oval logo. It has never required refacing.
My teacher has given me the opportunity to purchase (and indeed I most likely will purchase) a Kaspar "Cicero" 13 mouthpiece. However, it has been completely refaced, and with (I believe) a bit of adjustment within the baffle. It is, in fact, a completely "new" mouthpiece insofar as the facing and perhaps a *bit* of the internal dimensions are concerned. Purists (like myself) would say that it is no longer a "Kaspar" mouthpiece.
That said, it plays more beautifully than most of the stuff I have. It turns out my teacher is a fine refacer (and I have items from many refacing artists with whom I am able to compare his work). What a mouthpiece! A keeper. However, the most I ever paid for a mouthpiece was the $185 or so bucks I put out for my personalized Pyne Jx (I kept it for eight years, played it ten times, and sold it for $66). There's no student discount for the Kaspar, which is offered to me at $350.
That's a lot of dinero. Even for a "collector" and enthusiast like me. My question is whether it's a good idea to pay the premium Kaspar price for a fully refaced item whose only Kaspar qualites may be the signage. I have never played a Kaspar mouthpiece before, so I do *not* know what I am missing. I have an old Bay MO-M (old "Kaspar"-style, one-ring-up, three-rings-down blank) that I think plays in a "Kaspar manner." Not "dark."
This Kaspar "survivor" is a marvellous mouthpiece. Is that the ghost of Frank K. coming through?
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
Post Edited (2005-04-23 02:11)
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Author: msloss
Date: 2005-04-23 02:41
The rubber is a large part of the magic, so that in itself is worth something in terms of the mouthpiece's positive attributes. The question you need to ask yourself is not whether a Kaspar is worth $350 refaced or not, but whether this mouthpiece regardless of brand and pedigree is worth $350 to you. If it is that good, buy it and don't worry about it.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-04-23 03:21
Buying a previously owned refaced mouthpiece is akin to buying someone else's shoes.
It may fit perfectly, it may not.
If it is to your liking, it really doesn't matter how, or how much, it was refaced.
Don't forget, many of us who play on Kaspars, Chedevilles, Lelandais, etc... have had them altered to fit our playing style, embouchure, tonal conception, etc... Since we won't sell them, does it really matter?
A pristine, untouched Kaspar may work for one person, while a professionally adjusted Kaspar may work for someone else.
The original blanks were of a material which is no longer available. Does it make a difference? Many think so ...GBK
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Author: VermontJM
Date: 2005-04-23 03:25
I think you need to ask yourself if you are buying the name or the mouthpiece-
I mean, if it's just for collecting purposes, then I guess it having been worked on would make a difference - like getting an Armani suit that's been complete altered- yeah, it's still an Armani, but...
If you are going to play it and it sounds better than anything you have ever tried, be assured that you have an amazing mouthpiece that just happens to have been a Kaspar.
That's my two cents!
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Author: RodRubber
Date: 2005-04-23 03:33
I would buy the kaspar. It is a wise investment. Play on it for a while to see if it works out, and if not, you will DEFINATELY be able to sell it to somoene, most likely at a profit, as I know atleast ten people who have paid more than $350 for a kaspar.
I think the old rubber sounds better. It definately smells bad if you take a reamer to it.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-04-23 13:00
Bill, you wrote: "it plays more beautifully than most of the stuff I have".
Unless it plays better than everything you have, why buy it to play? Do you find yourself thinking: "My XXX mouthpiece plays best, but I think I'll play my YYY today?"
If you want it as a collector's item (not an interest I share) then I'd have thought you'd be better saving your money for the real thing.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: William
Date: 2005-04-23 14:48
To paraphrase Bubba Gump, "Kaspar is as Kaspar does". Or, "Kaspar is like a box of chocolates--you never know what you are going to get".
Best advice is, if it better for you than any of your other "gems", than it is worth the money--buy it and play it. If not, forget it and let it become someones elses "Holy Grail" mouthpiece find.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2005-04-23 15:20
There may be better places to park your money, if resale is your intention.
I would consider (as a collector) the value of a genuine original to be higher.
As a player, I would go to a living maker and have a "custom fitting".
As to the material being part of the magic, there were BUCKETS of the blanks used by the Kaspar family made for other buyers - many say "Steelite Ebonite" and have the same ligature ring markings.
The attention to detail in finishing a mouthpiece (inside and out) is magic.
The rest? It's still just a piece of rubber with a hole down the middle...
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2005-04-23 17:20
Keep in mind tuning is also an essential element in the choice of any mouthpiece...especially at such a cost.
I have a wonderful Hite, a wonderful Opperman and a Chedeville as well which all tune very well and play alike...my personal favorite is yet to be decided but I know I can rely on all of them. IN orchestra I tend to use the
Hite D and the Opperman. My Chedeville is so valued that I tend use mostly in Chamber music and smaller settings...however, those are simply personal fetishes.
I have a few Hites(d facing) but find one tunes and plays better overall considerable better than the others.
A refaced mouthpiece is quite different than what the original maker has intended, but a slight refacing should make a mouthpiece seem quite like is was "before."
My Opperman and Chedeville have never been refaced and play fine...so it also depends on care of the mouthpiece etc....
David Dow
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