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EEb contra altos and Fobes mouthpieces

Author: Low_Reed
Date: 2005-06-26 21:45

Hi, folks,

Well, here it is summertime, and a middle-aged man's thoughts turn to (return to) (continue to obsess upon) EEb contra alto clarinets. I'll be looking hard for a good used Leblanc 350 paperclip in the fall. Prudence suggests that I play before I pay, so I plan to interview the candidates in person. Trouble is, I have never played any clarinet lower that bass down to Eb. A Yamaha YCL221 BC, with Grabner CXBB mouthpiece, has been my constant companion for the last two years - so I'm very comfortable with that setup.

But I want to have some additional context in which to place the 350 paperclips that I audition. So my plan is to borrow a local school contra alto for the summer, and buy a top-of-the-line mouthpiece for it. Then, I'll be able to take a familiar mouthpiece on my search.

I've settled on the Fobes San Francisco as the piece I want for the 350 paperclip. First, I want to make sure *which model* of Fobes SF to buy. My reading of Web archives suggests, I think, that the San Francisco BBb contra bass mouthpiece works well on the both the Leblanc BBb and EEb paperclips, because they have the same bore.

Can some of you let me know if I'm headed in the right direction here?

Unfortunately, the school horns that (may be) available to me do not include a paperclip. There's a Selmer-Bundy 1440 contra alto, and a straight Leblanc 352 contra alto. Do you think the metal 352 might play the closest to the 350 paperclip? Is it reasonable to use a Fobes San Francisco BBb mouthpiece on the 352? (How about on the Selmer 1440, if it comes to that?)

I really want to own and be already comfortable with the best possible (I know, your results may vary...) mouthpiece before I test drive used 350 paperclips. Am I putting together a pipe dream here?

Thanks,
Bruce

**Music is the river of the world!**
-- inspired by Tom Waits and a world full of music makers

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