 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: CharlesY
Date: 2006-08-05 04:43
Hi folks,
I did "search" on this board already and it looks like this must be a good one.
It plays very very well.
Anyway, this mpc has "QUALITE SUPERIEURE" imprinted running up body to the right of the table and number "8" right below the first letter "Q".
Facing looks original.
I don't remember how I get this mpc.
It's been in my mpc case for 2 or 3 years.
I thought it's scratch and didn't pay attention on this piece.
When I looked at it very carefully, I saw letters.
What is this?
Thanks in advance.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-08-05 13:08
Descriptions of that character were applied to some of the older cls , generally by small French makers, for ?sales/pricing? reasons, suggesting that greater care/skill was used in their mfgr'g. Often quite true, IMHO. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2006-08-05 14:47
Chedeville or Lelandais made the material. The interior work and facing are by whoever got the blank from them.
an 8 was usually medium tip or med-close, but not always
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2006-08-06 23:42
> *** An 8 was usually medium tip or med-close, but not always *** <
I've worked on many QS Chedeville/Lelandais mouthpieces. Also I had some unfinished "QUALITE SUPERIEURE" blanks I used for my own mouthpiece line in the past. The facing you find on these FINISHED mouthpieces is irrelevant. Just like Allan indicated: "The interior work and facing are by whoever got the blank from them". One thing that counts is the original baffle. All UNFINISHED blanks (below the number 7 ½) I worked on had deep concaved baffles. Lower numbers had deeper baffles. Starting with the number 8 the baffle was straight and relatively high.
A mouthpiece maker/manufacturer usually used blanks with the deeper baffle for close tip mouthpieces and the ones with the higher baffle for more open tip mouthpieces. Of course, this rule doesn't apply for everybody. B. Portnoy successfully combined deep baffle with the open tip mouthpieces (around 1.20mm) and there plenty of makers who make close mouthpieces using relatively high and straight baffle.
In any case these "QUALITE SUPERIEURE" blanks are probably one of the best blanks ever made by Chedeville/Lelandais Company.
Vytas Krass
Professional clarinet technician
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Former professional clarinet player
Post Edited (2006-08-10 02:14)
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-08-08 03:18
I don't know which is more fascinating: the breadth of Vytas' knowledge on this subject or the pieces themselves. I've played on so many different mouthpieces, and these are the finest I've experienced (with some exceptions, mainly due to poor handling or refacing). But I'm lucky because I play old, wide-bore clarinets that respond well to these pieces.
My first experience with them was entirely blind ... without benefit of prior knowledge. I found a Bettony CBC mouthpiece with the QS engraving and also the interlocking C's. I brought it home disappointed that it was not a Kapsar. I can still recall my complex responses at first playing it. It was like discovering an new room within an old house. Of course, I still have that mouthpiece with the original facing, which plays perfectly.
I also have a Linton QS, two Chedeville and one Lelandais QS (not in the same category at all), and an unmarked QS #5 (one of my favorites, which I obtained from Chester Rowell). Sadly, a QS marked "Martin Freres" arrived to me worthless. The throat did not meet the interior chamber on the level, and there was a marked "step" between them which I always assumed was a manufacturing defect, as if the mouthpiece were a "second" or from an inferior batch. One can collect Lintons or Bettoney's or such like and not obtain a QS engraved mouthpiece. It's a matter of age, I suppose.
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
Post Edited (2006-08-09 21:44)
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Author: chris king
Date: 2006-08-09 10:24
I have A QS 8 with deep baffle with smallish window and narrow parallel sidewalls. It has one line up and two down with an exit bore of circa .595 and an extremely steep taper. I was told it was most likely a Lelandais.
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Author: clarinet60
Date: 2006-08-09 15:28
Bill,
I have several QS mouthpieces too and most of them are excellent! However, the best one of them all sounds like the one you don't like. It has the "step" inside of the chamber. Mine is also a Martin Freres that has been refaced by Richard Hawkins. For me, it plays incredibly well.
[snipped - GBK ]
I have found these QS mouthpieces to be even more responsive than the chedeville's with three lines down and one line up.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-08-09 15:51
Hi clarinet60,
Well ... during my (self-instructed) refacing training I chose to tackle the M.F. QS. You guessed it ... I hacked away at that "step" and put on an entirely different facing that plays without color or depth (but it plays!). The mouthpiece was unplayable before I started in on it.
I've had three technicians reject work on it (before I tackled it). One an apparently famous guy in California (I Googled him ... he does work for the stars), and two who are instantly recognizable names here on the BB. They pronounced it not worthy of effort. So, I'm surprised and glad yours is working out for you!
Turns out (after a little research into my mouthpiece drawer) that I have a little army of Cheds. I have two 7's, three 6's, and (my favorite) a 5. Plus three Bonade "7 1/2"s. No flames please! I am a collector more than an artist - I've never denied it. And (IMO) the real joy of collecting is not in comparing *different* things but things that are (supposed to be) the same. I know someone who likes to compare 1960s Buffet clarinets
So, enjoy your M.F. mouthpiece. I have a second M.F. that is not a QS. Some G. Leblanc mouthpieces were also QS (but none that I have). It seems to me that at some point use of these blanks abruptly stopped - the factory closed, I guess.
Best,
Bill.
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2006-08-09 18:12
I had a chance to look at the Martin Freres QS mouthpiece Bill is talking about.
1. The bore was enlarged using unsuitable reamer.
2. Mouthpiece had an alto sax facing (with about 1.50 mm tip) applied to it.
3. Facing was a mess. It looked like amateur's first job.
If it was just unfinished blank from Chedeville/Lelandais then any mouthpiece maker could easily turn it into a great mouthpiece. But in this case the mouthpiece (especially bore) was altered so much that it was not worthy of effort.
Vytas Krass
Professional clarinet technician
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Former professional clarinet player
Post Edited (2006-08-10 01:13)
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-08-09 21:41
And Vytas was gracious enough not to mention how (and from whom) I obtained the mouthpiece (the facing he describes was *before* my efforts!).
Think before you bid, kids! Think twice.
Bill.
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2006-08-09 22:57
Bill,
The same person sold a Buffet clarinet to me that was described as crack free.
[ ... post edited to conform with the next phrase - the problem with this person has already been discussed ... Mark C. ]
but it's not my business to talk about it.
Congratulations! I hope that your efforts as the clarinet mouthpiece re-facer will payoff one day in the future.
Vytas Krass
Professional clarinet technician
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Former professional clarinet player
Post Edited (2006-08-09 22:59)
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-08-09 23:32
Funny, Vytas! But thanks. LOL! My approach to mouthpiece refacing, which naturally I hesitate to reveal, is to flatten the table on #600 wet/dry sandpaper, and then sort of gently "swipe" the facing, working on the tip as needed with an ultra-fine file. This scientific approach brings the tip opening to within a fraction of a millimeter of either .98 or 2.50. In a word, I can make a real dog "play" notes, but it only makes me appreciate how someone like you, and others in your league, can make a mouthpiece resonate, and with tonal color.
Of course, Vytas, if you'd like to try a Bill Fogle prototype mouthpiece, it's $1.25 (plus shipping). I have one model, which I call the "Mashpar." It's a cross between Frank(s) Kaspar, Henri and Charles Chedeville (and their lost cousin, the early female pioneer Charlotte Chedeville), Stowell-Wells-Schneider (especially the art of Schneider), and certain elements of the early Goldbeck designs (I sodder down one of my dental fillings and plate the lay in gold). Plays freely (very freely) with a #1 reed.
LOL!!!
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
Post Edited (2006-08-10 00:29)
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Author: clarinet60
Date: 2006-08-10 12:57
Anyone else had any experience with the QS mouthpieces with the "step" in it? I had send mine to Greg Smith and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Thoughts?
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2006-08-10 17:46
> *** "Anyone else had any experience with the QS mouthpieces with the "step" in it? I had send mine to Greg Smith and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Thoughts?" *** <
The "Step" is not a problem at all. That's an indication of the unfinished baffle.
The problem with Bill's mouthpiece was badly altered bore and the facing with a 1.50mm tip opening. You're not a mouthpiece maker and do not know what is involved when someone wants to close a mouthpiece back to the tip opening of 1.02 mm from 1.50mm. Enormous amount of material must be removed from the lay and rails. The lay becomes a LOT wider than the reed. Actually it becomes so wide, that the mouthpiece body goes out of round after the sides of the lay are narrowed. Removing this much of the material brings the baffle up and changes the total volume of the chamber. It will require reshaping the baffle and restoring the total volume of the chamber. Under these circumstances the baffle will end up BELOW the bore entrance line if you do so, etc....
No mouthpiece maker wants to make a mediocre mouthpiece. In this case there was no other alternative but end-up with the mediocre product. So, it was not worthy of effort.
Vytas Krass
Professional clarinet technician
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Former professional clarinet player
Post Edited (2006-08-10 17:50)
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