 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: travelingclarinetist
Date: 2011-01-22 02:07
Thoughts on this? There are three facings, Sun, Moon, and Star. I have never played a crystal before but this looks intriguing. Thoughts appreciated.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2011-01-22 02:22
I've played a few crystals. Overall, my personal belief is that they "tend" to be stuffy. That's not to say you won't find freeblowing ones, but of the few I've tried, more were on the stuffy side.
I've found about two that were awesome (still have one and am not QUITE ready to let go yet).
Also, there seems to be a lot of variance even within the same model. For instance I could pick out 4 Pomarico Ruby's (and have) and find them all vastly different from each other.
on the plus side, once you find a good crystal, it lasts forever, or until you break it. Whichever comes first.
Overall, they're fine. I have decided to move on to hard rubber mouthpieces as a good handfaced hard rubber mouthpiece will have less variance from one to another, and it can be adjusted to suit you as crystal cannot be easily refaced to suit you.
But like I said, if you find one that works, hang on to it.
I found one that worked, and then found someone that refaces crystal to open it up a little more and make it a little less stuffy. The result is a great mouthpiece that plays very well. I only don't use it cause I don't seem to have a lot of control with very soft playing. But I like to break mine it out if I'm playing dixie. It's loud, easy to play, and looks cool!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: sonicbang
Date: 2011-01-22 09:23
I have tried 8-10 Pomarico Black Crystal mouthpieces. First I have to admit that their mouthpiece chart didn't work for me. I had some 2.5, 3 and 3.5 blue box Vandorens (new ones as well) in my case, but I felt I just can't find the good strength. If I use softer reed, it's easy to control, but the sound was thin and weak. If I put on a harder one, sound gets better, but the whole thing became stuffy. I don't remember exactly which models I tried.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-01-22 13:34
As I've written before, Pomarico crystal mouthpieces (and the old O'Briens for that matter) tend to play stuffy because of the facing curves used, not because of the material. I play refaced Pomaricos on Eb, Bb and bass clarinets which, after extensive changes to the facings, are free-blowing and play very well.
I haven't tried any of Pomarico's current products (black or clear crystals) so I don't know how they play out of the box.
By the way, Pomarico also makes a line of wood mouthpieces which can be pretty nice too, but as with the crystals one should be prepared to try many of them.
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Author: senior
Date: 2011-01-22 22:27
I play with a Pomarico Black Wizard Star, Which is a medium tip opening for the black crystal mouthpieces. It became my #1 mouthpiece the first time I played it. I have played other crystals before and found them to be less than satisfactory performers. The black crystal that I have has a dark round tone. Easy to control and free blowing with just a touch of pressure. Good match to my clarinet, which is a Lyrique Clarinet in "A". I use a Vandoren V-12, 2 1/2 Reed, Hahn 2 1/2 reed works well also, with a BG Silver Revelation Ligature. The only negative about the mouthpiece is that there are other mouthpieces that are louder but for my playing it is loud enough.
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2011-01-23 19:14
I have had very good experiences with Pomarico. Nice people to deal with.
My bass m/p is an HB (Henri Bok) version (also my spare one)....It gives a big sound yet flexible enough to play pppp beautifully.
I like the creamy sound of the black crystal on Bb/A and it's made my 1960's Noblet Artist C clarinet into a wee gem.
Excellent for small chamber groups, but I find I still like more "poke" for the orchestral dynamic range.
Correct however that the sound is not as immediate as my Eaton mouthpiece
Bob T
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