Author: job_man
Date: 2008-12-16 15:32
Interesting, graham, what you say about a B & H pamphlet regarding mouthpiece facings. From my experience of visiting Boosey's Edgware factory in the '60s, meeting Dave James and Geoffrey Acton, I would not say that the definitions 1, 2 & 3 mean anything more than small, medium and large! On one visit I was handed a large tray of mouthpieces to test, and, apart from failing to find one I liked, I noted that they were all different from one another, without much rhyme or reason. When I asked if a mouthpiece could be changed in its characteristics, the lay was dragged across a sheet of fine wet and dry, and handed back to me; I rather suspected that this was how all the lays were arrived at. 'Rule of thumb' taken quite literally! In those days the possession of a favourable mouthpiece seemed to be entirely a matter of luck and was, I believe, the reason for Peter Eaton and others to take up the production of mouthpieces in a professional and serious way.
Unfortunately, the result is that there are now so many choices out there that it takes a brave person to even begin to think of exploring a change of mouthpiece. The only possible plan seems to be to put oneself in the hands of one of the experts, tell them what one wants out of a mouthpiece, and let them make the suggestions. I'm quite glad that I shall be retired before my current mouthpiece dies.....
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