 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bwilber
Date: 2006-11-18 12:42
I love to buy old clarinets off of Ebay and so I have many old mouthpieces laying around collecting dust. I tend to stick to just a few that work well for me when I pick up a clarinet to play on. A few weeks ago I had a crystal mouthpiece that didn't work good and so I experimented with a large emery board and got it to working pretty decently. Since I have taken some of those old mouthpieces out just to see what I could do with them to get them to work. If the tip isn't too badly damaged, it is fun to see what can be done with them and so far I have gotten them all to play. Last night I took one that looked pretty terrible and it didn't work at all. I couldn't get a sound out of it. This is what I did. If you try this, don't do it on expensive mouthpieces. Experiment on your throwaways.
The emory boards that I use are about 6-1/2 inches long and 3/4" wide. They have a rougher side and a smoother side.
Try playing the mouthpiece with your favorite reed. How does it play? Does it sound airy? Try gently sanding the table with the smoother side of the emory board. Does it sand all the way across or does it only sand on the edges? If it only sands on the edges, that means the table isn't flat. The table does have to be flat. Sand the table flat.
Do you not get any sound out of it at all? That means that the tip doesn't have enough of a curve. Sand the tip until you get a curve. The tip can't be flat. You need to actually sand over the edge. If the tip is perfectly flat, the reed clogs. Sand a little bit, then try playing it. If you are getting improvement, keep going until you get a good response. If it seems to want to squawk, but it's getting there, just keep doing the same thing. Eventually it will open up and stop squawking.
I have seen that you need to sand your mouthpiece on a flat surface, but I have found that the best way is to hold the mouthpiece in my hands and sand. I sand across and towards the tip. As I am working on the tip, I lightly sand the entire mouthpiece so that it's flat all the way from the base to the tip. When I got the mouthpiece to playing good, I take a small flat board with very fine wet and sand paper wrapped around it and with water, lightly sand the surface until it is smooth.
Like I said before, only experiement with your throwaways!!! Any thoughts from you expert refacers
Bonnie Wilber
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-11-18 15:31
I follow your posts with interest...always,Bonnie, and appreciate your doityourself attitude. I'm not a pro but I use a similar approach. Have you ever wondered why the old adage...."Trial and Error" is not "Trial and Success"?
Bob Draznik
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-11-18 16:03
I successfully "opened" a plastic mouthpiece once. I successfully destroyed several others. As long as chirps, squeals and shrieks aren't part of the mandatory curriculum, I decided that this was beyond my current abilities and limited time and equipment and let a pro handle a promising mouthpiece. But I congratulate everyone who has more success than I do.
I share the Auction Site experience - I buy a "xyz clarinet needs luv" clunker and get two or three mouthpieces (I still wait for that Kaspar, but got pristine 2RV, 5RV Lyres etc in the past) for less than 25 bucks, including a free clarinet.
My nature forbids to throw away salvageable gear so I end up refurbishing the bycatch and sell that again. I sometimes wonder why I am doing this. Lack of respect lets me tinker around with them, an overdose of respect forbids to throw them away...
--
Ben
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Author: bwilber
Date: 2006-11-18 20:39
There is nothing like taking a worthless mouthpiece that doesn't play at all and getting it to play well and I so much encourage anyone that has a pile of old worthless mouthpieces to at least give it a try. It's a great feeling getting it to play and the worst thing that can happen is that you wrecked a mouthpiece that was worthless anyway. It makes one feel like a Frank Kasper.
Bonnie Wilber
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-11-18 22:32
How wonderful to discover this original posting.
Gosh, I've spent the last 3 weeks working on an old Selmer "table" blank I have. I use 1200 grit sandpaper and xxxx (or is it oooo?) grade steel wool. I'm still not done with it. My success stories have been a few old Penzel-Muellers, a George M. Bundy that now plays with a beautiful tone, a very old wooden Buffet, and a "Jean Barre" I just fnished. All were unplayable when received.
And, yes, the furthest extent of my ability is simply to make an old, unplayable mouthpiece work again. I call it "ghosting" the facing because what I'm doing is correcting and then polishing to restore the original curve. I cannot create or (truly) revise a curve. I tried changing a facing recently and Brad Behn can tell you that it was ... not a success.
I find highly polishing the rails and table to be a very essential step in performance.
Thanks for this interesting topic and your remarks.
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-11-18 23:32
I agree with the above, I also like to make the silk purses out of sow's ears. My latest success was an old Kell which, with a slight reface plus "polishing" on news-paper, plays better than an old WW G8. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2006-11-19 12:53
Some of my flea market clarinets came with two mouthpieces, a usable one and the lousy one it obviously replaced. I've succeeded in resisting the mouthpiece madness so far, but I do have several junkers available and you folks are bringing out the mad scientist in me.... BWAAAA-hahahaha!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-11-19 13:18
""polishing" on news-paper, "
Before they started adding plastic scrap to newsprint it was useful for a number of tasks aside from starting a fire. Old newsprint was invaluable as a substitute for a styptic pencil for razor cuts. It also had mild abrasive properties. The new stuff isn't good for anything.....wish I had saved a few pages from the 40's.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-11-19 17:13
I just realized Bonnie Wilber is who I got my Otto Link mouthpiece from. LOL! Glad you diodn't throw it away Bonnie. It is fabulous!
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: bwilber
Date: 2006-11-19 20:31
Hi Bill. I am so glad that you like it. I am no expert on mouthpieces, but it seemed like a really nice one to me. Bonnie
Bonnie Wilber
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2006-11-19 22:23
FYI
re: polishing with newspaper
Using paper as an abrasive (super-fine) is roughly (pun intended) 2000grit.
It works.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-11-19 23:55
Alseg wrote:
> Using paper as an abrasive (super-fine) is roughly (pun
> intended) 2000grit.
Ah, but I threw away my old copies of Grit ...
(you gotta be over 40 to get that one ...)
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-11-20 12:55
Mark:
Grit? Wow! Apparently we read the same comic books in our youth . . . did you sell salve too?
I have been able to do some fine polishing with the thinner brown paper used for sacks (the flat kind, not the heavier pleated-side type that most grocers use) by many variety and department stores.
Eu
Post Edited (2006-11-20 13:33)
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2006-11-21 07:26
Hi Bonnie,
Good job at making things work again. I am a tireless fan of recycling, too.
I have a few questions/words of advice.
You said- "Try gently sanding the table with the smoother side of the emory board. Does it sand all the way across or does it only sand on the edges? " When you say "across" do you mean horizontially or vertically?? In either case, if you use an emory board (which is not really very rigid) in the manner you seem to be describing then you will always get this result of "sanding of the sides"- even on a perfect mouthpiece. You should at least palce the emory (fine sandpaper is a bit more common) on something hard and flat like glass or even a hard flat tabletop is not bad. For me, I use a really big, but very fine grit bastard file- it is always flat. (I use it for reeds too.)
As you said "the table has to be flat". It behooves you to know that many fine hand crafters and nearly all mass produced pieces have a very very very slight concavity in the table.
One really great tool, as you probably know, for this work is a glass ruler. Unfortunately it is very hard to get right now. (My friend had one on back order for 2 years!!)
But another good tool that I use just as much as my glass ruler is a quality metal straight edge. Any hardware store has one. Place it against the table the short way; along the facing the long way; any which angle you can think of is good. Always do this with a light behind the piece and you will be able to see the light that comes through the spaces. You can use this as a good way to "eyeball" things. It is an essential tool for me and I think it will help you, too.
Good luck,
Sky
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