The Clarinet BBoard

Mouthpiece tryouts at Sam Ash

Author: fskelley  Date:   2014-06-14 21:56 I've been playing a Vandoren 2RV mouthpiece for almost my whole 4 yr on clarinet, tried a few others but never any of the other widely used ones. (Ridenour Arioso ASB101 clarinet, currently Gonzalez GD 2.5 reeds adjusted ATG, Rovner light ligature.) So this morning I paid a visit to Sam Ash Music across town to try out some alternatives. I could have kept better notes (just a little on my phone), but I thought I'd report what I can remember. Certainly the story will continue. I've already verified the 5RV is- as officially stated- identical to my 2RV. So I had no reason to test their new 5RV. But I did try everything else Vandoren they had... 2 varieties of M13, 3 varieties of B45, and 5RV Lyre. Plus a Hite Premier and a Rico Reserve model. After an hour I had to leave for schedule reasons, but I could have legitimately spent a 2nd hour at it. I ended up purchasing the 5RV Lyre (maybe could have gotten it cheaper used on eBay, but that wouldn't be nice to the Sam Ash folks, even if I was willing to wait, and SA's price was lower than MF- I checked because SA would have price matched if it was the other way around). Everything I tried I kept going back and forth with my own 2RV to confirm best as I could that the differences were real. Mostly (other than noodling around) I worked with phrases and passages from my own polished arrangements that have continued to cause me difficulty in stability. And mostly that would be in the range from G5 to G6 . And I did conclude that the 5RV Lyre was better- stay tuned to this station for updates. The M13 13 88 was interesting, and maybe better than my 2RV. It played differently, that's for sure. Maybe if I can pick up a cheap one it would be nice to work with as an alternate on occasion. I could imagine it winning out at some point and the others becoming expendable. The other M13 (I think Lyre- this is where my note taking is amiss) was completely unstable for me. The B45's (I think regular, Lyre, and profile 88) were all playable but I didn't like the tone or the feel of any of them... easy to set aside. Too bad they didn't have B40 or M30. The Hite Premier was nice! If I hadn't spent my budget already I would have added it to the tab- less than 1/4 the price of the 5RV Lyre. Maybe I'll pick up one or another Hite some time. The Rico Reserve was also nice, but by that point I was running short of time and concentration. And it was the same $$ as the Vandorens, no reason to think it was actually better. I hope this proves to have been a fruitful exercise. But even if not, at least I know more than I did. Stan in Orlando EWI 4000S with modifications Post Edited (2014-06-15 05:28)

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Re: Mouthpiece tryouts at Sam Ash

Author: tylerleecutts  Date:   2014-06-14 23:50 Some of the Reserves seem to have more tonal substance than their respective Vandoren counterparts, but to others the Vandorens are much better. . All a matter of taste. In short, the Reserves were made to get a good, rich "American" clarinet sound, and most of the Vandorens are more French in style, and even some of the M series are somewhat of an inbetween. The 5RV Lyre is great! Nothing wrong with that style of facing at all. If you like using 3-3.5 reeds, the B40 Lyre may have been a good fit too, as well as the M30 Lyre.

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