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Mouthpiece specs

Author: 4accord
Date: 2015-06-17 18:45

Am spending a lot of time studying the differences between my several mouthpieces. I know this is a topic that has been talked half to death, but there are a couple of new twists and a specific question.

I have been able to find details on Portnoy tip openings but not facing lengths. Anyone have that info? A few years ago, Steve B. posted this for openings:

BP1 - 1.09
BP02 - 1.14 (B. Portnoy's personal facing)
BP3 - 1.22

I find that my mpcs are all pretty good: Leblanc 4L, Selmer HS*, Vandoren B45, Portnoy 02, and Boosey generic. They play roughly the same, though they differ in best reed strength. BUT here's a test that begins to set them apart for me: I play high and lowest notes in quick succession. Some squawk often and badly and some very little, and it seems that this could be an "acid test" - assuming you have the embouchure to not be the biggest variable. I suspect a person can learn to adjust and play any of these mouthpieces well, but so far, I find my Portnoy 2 to be the best of the bunch. I also find I can use soft reeds without any loss of control, which gives me a more open tone, great bend-ability, and far less fatigue. I wish I had more specs on the Portnoy mpcs so as to see what the real differences are from one to another (and I have no specs at all for my Boosey or Leblanc). Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

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Re: Mouthpiece specs

Author: Michael E. Shultz
Date: 2015-06-19 19:28

Facing lengths is a tough question. One chart showed Portnoy mouthpieces having a facing length of 36-37 half mm, the same range as Bay medium facing mouthpieces. However, an old Bay-Gale brochure lists medium facings of 32-34 half mm. I am not sure the information is available to compare facing lengths. Vandoren describes facing lengths as Short, Medium, Long, etc., without providing a measurement.

I know the facing length measurement varies according to where you start the measurement, which may be determined by the thickness of your gauge.

Tip opening measurements are not uniform either. Berg Larsen mouthpieces are numbered by tip opening in thousands of an inch, but some say they are actually 0.005" smaller than the designation. So, does a Berg Larsen mouthpiece marked 70 have a tip opening of 0.070", or 0.065"?

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx

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