 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MSK
Date: 2013-02-05 23:50
So I have a new mouthpiece that I absolutely love, and have been practicing with it at home for about a week. I was excited to give it a go in public at rehearsal last night. It sounded great, my solo went well etc. Then... time for a quick switch to the A. My mouthpiece was stuck, despite thorough greasing with every use. Had to remove ligature and reed to get the thing loose and missed my entrance. Same thing happened when it was time to switch back to Bb. I won't be using the new mouthpiece in that situation again until I've got the cork broken in more.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-02-06 00:54
Try greasing it well and leaving it in the barrel overnight. It might compress the cork enough to solve the problem. Otherwise, if it's an equally tight fit in both barrels, cut a strip of abrasive - 400 or, at the coarsest, 320 - and hold it around the mouthpiece tenon with your fingers and rotate the mouthpiece with the other hand so you take cork off evenly around the whole tenon. Try it fairly often in the barrels. A little removed will go a long way.
The real problem is when th mouthpiece tenon is tight in one barrel and verging on too loose in the other. when that happens you sometimes have to make adjustments to the socket of the tighter barrel.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-02-06 01:52
Usually you can determine if it's the wood of the mouthpiece tenon if it makes creaking noises as you try to get it on and off.
That said, there should NEVER be so much material (cork or otherwise) that an easy disassembly is prevented.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-02-06 02:13
Paul Aviles wrote:
> Usually you can determine if it's the wood of the mouthpiece
> tenon if it makes creaking noises as you try to get it on and
> off.
>
>
Unless it's an unusual mouthpiece made of wood, there's no wood in the mouthpiece tenon. I guess it's possible for the wood socket of the barrel to swell during use and grab the tenon. But that's a more common problem with barrels getting stuck on the tenon of the upper joint, which is wood.
Still, it's worth trying to determine if there's any possibility the wood at the bottom of the barrel socket is binding around the mouthpiece. The creaking Paul describes would be a suggestive indicator.
Karl
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2013-02-06 17:20
This could also be a reason to potentially look at getting a barrel that works on both instruments. Much easier to grasp and pull off a barrel than a mouthpiece, and you don't have to worry about dislodging the reed or ligature.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: MSK
Date: 2013-02-07 01:12
Since I never had this problem with my older mouthpieces, I think it's the new mouthpiece. I had thought that maybe the cork wasn't sufficiently saturated with grease yet, but on closer inspection the cork does seam to be thicker than on older mouthpieces. I definitely need to fix it before embarrassing myself again. Love how it plays though.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-02-07 01:41
Just keep in mind that if it's only too thick a cork and nothing more serious like a too large tenon, fixing it is an easy DIY job that you could do in a few minutes. No need to put the mouthpiece away until it gets fixed by someone else. Just make sure the abrasive contacts only the cork and not the hard rubber at the end of the tenon (which is why you cut a strip of the abrasive and don't just roll it against the whole sheet).
Karl
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