 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Bill
Date: 2000-11-14 19:15
For several years, I've been asking the people on "Klarinet" what Kaspars are supposed to do to your playing/sound (I'm usually ignored). I just got off eBay and saw the phrase, "that classic Kaspar sound." I'm still curious---I'll never know first-hand because I don't have the kind of money I need for these pieces. What's it like, folks? What's it all about with the Kaspars? I realize it's nonsense to assume a mouthpiece has its own sound. However, at the prices being fetched for these items, someone must have a few generalities.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2000-11-14 21:14
Bill,
I play on a twenty year old Cicero Kaspar mouthpiece. It's the only one I've ever played on save for the 5RV that I used for a couple of years prior to that. Since there are probably other issues that factor in, like the quality of horn, reeds, etc. and since I really don't have much else to compare it with, my opinion is probably an unabashedly subjective venture.
Never the less (a great BB word) I feel that the Kaspar gives me a good quality, well focused sound. I prefer a darker tone and the mouthpiece seems to accomodate most of the time so long as the other factors remain constant. I'm sorry to say that my Kaspar sat for about seven years in the closet with my clarinet, which left the facing a bit warped. A little refacing took care of the problem and it plays great again.
It would be interesting to know just how many Cicero Kaspars there are floating around out there. I know of three or four that belong to friends of mine from high school who have long since quit playing. We all got lucky that fall and got one. Either that or the old man just felt sorry for us, I guess. One of these days I'm going look those guys up again and see if they wouldn't be willing to part company with their Kaspar. My guess is there are probably a lot more of them just sitting around gathering dust. BTW I think we all paid about $50-75 for one way back then! Hard to believe.
I'm sure there are others far more eminently qualified to comment on the exact nature of "that classic Kaspar sound". I hope you can track one down at a reasonable price some day. Good luck.
brianp
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2000-11-15 03:09
I had the opportunity to test six Kaspar Cicero mouthpieces one after another quite a few years ago. I bought the one I liked best for $75. It had a Matson facing. I played it, and liked it. One day I had a wild hair to try a Gennusa mouthpiece. I liked it better! I sold my Kaspar to Ronald Phillips? I think it was, for $250, which paid for my Gennusa, a ligature, a barrel, a bunch of reeds, and left me with change to jingle in my pocket. So yeah. My Kaspar was a really great, medium--not extreme in any sense, mouthpiece, that could be happily replaced by an easily available, easily affordable, production mouthpiece, that plays even better! So don't even worry about Kaspar. Get yourself a Gennusa!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-11-15 04:07
I purchased a G. Smith kasper and i really like it. I have no idea why one mp varies from another but they do. so try what you can and buy what you can afford.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Pat
Date: 2000-11-15 04:10
I just acquired a Kaspar at the begining of this school year. I was very skeptical that these mouthpieces were all that. After having mono in the spring, I was unable to play the clarinet for two weeks. I tried out a kaspar then and wasn't sure it was worth it. My mouthpiece at the time was a pre-world war two mouthpiece refaced by someone who's name is escaping me right now. I bought that one from my old teacher. I wasn't quite convinced at the time that a kaspar had the quote "classic sound". This one was refaced by John Wiegand at WVU. I was in the market for a new mouthpiece but hesitated. I went to the clarinet fest this summer at OK. I tried out so many different mouthpieces from different people. I had trouble finding a mouthpiece that could play better than the one I had at the time. At the begining of this school year my teacher had the opportunity to accquire four Kaspar mouthpieces for his students to try. Four of us tried them out and each of us ended up liking one of them. I love the one I am playing on right now. It gives a good dark sound, without the tone spreading. The sound is incredibly large for even a dark and rich sound. The intonation is right on pitch and it is the easiest mouthpiece to articulate on. In my opinion they are worth it if you find one, but I am feeling the money pinch on that purchase. My girlfriend always asks me if it was worth it to spend that much money on a mouthpiece.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Francis Rizner
Date: 2000-11-15 12:42
I bought my Kaspar in 1967 while stationed in Chicago. Have tried other mp in the meantime, but always go back to the Kaspar. There is just something about the quality of the sound that I'm not able to garner from others. It's just a pleasure to play.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Francis Rizner
Date: 2000-11-15 12:43
I bought my Kaspar in 1967 while stationed in Chicago. Have tried other mp in the meantime, but always go back to the Kaspar. There is just something about the quality of the sound that I'm not able to garner from others.It's consistent and it's just a pleasure to play.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dave Spiegelthal
Date: 2000-11-15 14:19
For all you self-delusional musicians who believe that the more you pay for an item, the better it is: Enjoy your $250 Kaspar clarinet mouthpieces! And perhaps you could feel reasonably good about yourself if you spent $200 on a Charles Bay? And if you play sax, perhaps you should spend $500 on a Dave Guardala or Phil Barone mouthpiece --- then imagine how awesome you'll feel!
I'll make a strong statement here: There are good, bad, and indifferent mouthpieces in EVERY price range. And if you take two or more mouthpieces of the supposedly same facing and interior design from ANY maker, each one will play somewhat differently from the other (supposedly identical) mouthpieces. The bottom line? Try EVERYTHING you can find, then pay only as much as you have to to get the mouthpiece that PLAYS great for you. Forget the name, the prestige, the hype, the word-of-mouth. Trust your senses (or, if you're a student, trust the teachers and professional clarinetists you know). But if you still think a Rolex watch keeps better time than a Timex, then by all means, get the Kaspar!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2000-11-15 15:22
I bought my "Cicero" Kaspars (#14s) while I was a college music major ($12.50 each!!) and played the best one until I got my Bay (Ithica) custom (which was made with the K-#14 facing which I considered to be better. Played that one ofr about twenty years. The real reason why I picked the Kaspar as a student is because it seemed to help bring the high register of my R-13 "down" and made tuning easier--it wasn't the "sound." Later on, I switched to a custom mp made by Charles Bay who copied my Kaspar's #14 facing. Bay's mp had a bigger sound and was more reponsive than either of my Kaspars. Recently, I have been playing on a mp customized by my former college clarinet teacher. I recently had the opportunity to play next to two very fine clarinetists, one played a vintage Kaspar (the principal), the other principal second) a new Hawkins. In comparison, the Kaspar sounded with clear but "thin" sound and was the weaker of the two. The Hawkins, by contrast, projected a much more resonant and interesting sound (to my ears). Every once in a while, I go back to my vintage Kaspar to "give it one more try" and my reaction is always, "I can't believe I played that thing." Modern mps that I haved tried (Smith and Hawkins) seem so much more reponsive and resonant. My current mp is one that was customized by my former college clarinet instructor but I am considering trying a new model made from Zinner stock as soon as I can make arrangements, either with Greg Smith or my former teacher. IMHO--Bottom line, I think that the legendary vintage Kaspar mp is highly over-rated and more credit should be given the skill of the great clarinetists who used them. They probably would have sounded almost as good playing on Selmer GoldenTones with vintage Rico reeds. My apologies to the gentleman who purchased my "second" unused Kaspar for $600.00. Good clarineting.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2000-11-15 16:24
If you like the Kapar sound you should try some of the modern mouthpiece makers that make mouthpieces that emulate Kaspar. Greg Smith has one, and others like Richard Hawkins, Clark Fobes (and others -) have mouthpiece designs that sound every bit as good IMHO as some of the original Kaspars (I've heard about 5).
The advantage with the aforementioned makers is that you can try them, get them customized to your liking and not end up with an expensive small bookend that you never use. The Kaspars must have some desirable properties to stay around and be sought after with such furvor but not any better than the science and experience evidenced by the living mouthpiece makers of today. This seems to be another of those "grails" that we all seek but never seem to find.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
