 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: skennedy
Date: 2010-12-26 04:24
Recently I bought a "vintage Buffet mouthpiece." It has three lines down and one line up with a C stamp on the right side of the table. It also has France stamped on the left side of the table.
It bothers me that the stamp marks are deep as if the material was not completely solid when the stamps were applied. Also the table is not smooth and mirror like, but it has tiny parallel lines running fore and aft that completely cover the table. The outside of the mouthpiece appears to be new with a shiny plastic look. The interior looks dull as one would expect of a hard rubber mouthpiece. I have seven or eight old Buffet mouthpieces, and none of them look like this one.
Can anyone enlighten me? Is it possibly a forgery?
Thanks,
Steve Kennedy
Post Edited (2010-12-26 04:32)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-12-26 09:19
I gather that Buffet doesn't or didn't do their mouthpieces themselves but had them made by other manufacturers. Maybe those you've seen before were made by Chevrolet and that one's a Casper (just to use some fantasy names).
I have some (non-Buffet) HR mouthpieces with deep stamp marks, dull inside and a "filed" feel to the rails. They play just fine. I think it's more of a manufacturing method and finish style than anything else. But of course, I may be wrong.
BTW I don't think a mirror-finish on the reed side is the key to a good (acoustical) performance. I think that an ever so slightly rough surface lets the reed stick less, and the condensation water (or saliva, whatever) will make it seal good enough.
--
Ben
Post Edited (2010-12-26 10:10)
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2010-12-26 13:11
"It has three lines down and one line up with a C stamp on the right side of the table. It also has France stamped on the left side of the table."
This is the Chedeville design, right???
The outside being very shiny? Maybe someone polished it.
Do you have pictures?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-12-26 14:23
Kal Opperman often began with a 1-up/3-down/"C" Buffet mouthpiece. He said they came from Chedeville and were made of good material. I have one of these, and when I look closely I can see where he polished off the Buffet logo. It's a great mouthpiece.
Ralph Morgan told me that Selmer mouthpiece facings used to be applied by a machine with a diamond-tipped stylus that moved gradually across the table and rails, making thousands of minute scratches. He said that this was a very accurate process, but left the table and rails looking dull. It made no difference in the playing qualities, but buyers didn't like it so it was discontinued.
New Selmer clarinets came with these mouthpieces (usually with the HS* facing), which played very well. He started getting complaints about the mouthpieces, looked at one, found that the table and lay were shiny and that it played very poorly. When he measured the lay, he found that it was irregular and very far from the original design.
He went into the U.S. finishing room and found an unskilled guy polishing the lay on crocus cloth. When he asked what was happening, the guy said that management had gotten complaints about "unfinished" scratched mouthpieces, and he had been assigned to polish the scratches out.
Ralph went to management and explained the facing process and that the dull surface was a result of accurate machining and not a defect. Management started putting unaltered mouthpieces with clarinets, but after a few months they went back to polishing them, so he gave up.
If your mouthpiece came from Selmer or another supplier who used the diamond-tip process, then the scratches are a sign of good quality and that the mouthpiece is in its original condition.
How does it play?
Ken Shaw
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Author: skennedy
Date: 2010-12-26 18:28
I bought the mouthpiece to be refaced, because I've never had any luck with stock Buffet mouthpieces. The lines on the facing look like those lines that are found on cheap student mouthpieces. I took some pics that may explain why I am suspicious. I used a 200 lumen LED SureFire flashlight to help bring out the lines, but it also made the mouthpiece look dusty.
Thanks,
Steve Kennedy
Unfortunately the program would not let me add an attachment, but here is what I have learned so far (please correct me if I'm wrong).
1. no one has heard of phony Buffet mouthpieces
2. Buffet had many makers do their mouthpieces
3. one line up and three lines down may not be proof that the maker was Chedeville
Post Edited (2010-12-26 19:00)
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