 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2011-02-15 13:39
I have two Morgan mouthpieces bought in 2005.
Both are the classic model one is RM15 facing and the other one is RM10.
Would this be made by Ralph himself or by one of his assistance at Junk Dude ?
I don't know when Ralph stopped making mouthpieces himself.
The RM10 was used for over a year but the RM15 is very little used but has few little scratches on the body and at the end of the table where the tenon begins.
Could anybody tell me how much they could be worth ?
Post Edited (2011-02-15 17:15)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-02-15 16:35
Ralph Morgan died in 2007 at age 83 http://www.springfieldohio.net/obits/ralph-morgan.php. I'm sure he had stopped making mouthpieces himself several years earlier, so it's unlikely that he himself made the ones you got in 2005.
His standard facing was RM 14. I played a Morgan RM15 (slightly more open) for several years, which he made for me at the Clarinet Congress in Oberlin in 1985.
His own work was unmistakable. He engraved his logo by hand, and no two are the same. He used a file to round the original straight vertical walls where the chamber made its transition to the bore. On the ones he made himself, the hand work was obvious. He worked until the mouthpiece played right and then stopped, even if the filing was uneven (which it is on mine).
At the Clarinet Congress, I tried several of his mouthpieces, all of which had a very warm and smooth tone, with no ringing quality. I switched to something else when I heard a recording of myself playing in a quintet and was unhappy with the lack of tone color. Part of my problem, I think, was the duckbill shape, which moved my lower jaw up and diminished the space in my mouth.
Morgan mouthpieces are still made, of course. I frankly don't know whether those personally made by him have any special value, but certainly they're not like Chedevilles or Kanters.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2011-02-15 17:10
They might have been made in 2004 or earlier don't know because I bought them around Easter time in Myatt in Hitchin 2005.
By looking at them you can clearly see some handwork at angle around each side of the rails on top and little bit over to the beak.
I tried to look for these on that auction site not to be named and found only one old just like mine but with the J5 facing(jazz) in UK told to be at least 20 years old or older in good condition with buy now price of ₤155
What I would like to know is because I saw that the price for them doubled at junkdude.com after Ralph Morgan passed away so would it be unrealistic to expect to get at least the same for them as I paid ?
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