 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ruth S
Date: 2017-06-26 10:28
Hi.
I've been advised that a new mouthpiece may help me to produce a better sound, but on making enquiries have found this may be challenging. I play an old Boosey & Hawkes Emperor clarinet with the original plastic mouthpiece, and I understand that the bore sizes of modern clarinets are different to those used by B&H years ago. I was advised to contact Peter Eaton, but that looks really expensive. I have found second hand Peter Eaton (and other) mouthpieces available online, but the sizing is very personal so it is hard to know what would be suitable. I understand most people need a mouthpiece of a similar size and shape to the one they are used to. My existing mouthpiece has '926' stamped on it. It also has '2' stamped on it higher up.
Can any help me with what this means in terms of bore size and lay etc? I was told I would need a 1010 bore mouthpiece, but does the '926' actually mean it is not 1010?
Thanks
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2017-06-26 12:28
You definitely don't need a 1010 mouthpiece. The 1010 clarinets were of a larger bore than anything else (over 15.3 mm). I believe all other B+H instruments used a smaller bore of 0.593 inches (15.06 mm). Certainly, their cheaper mouthpieces all used to bear the stamp "593". The "926" on your mouthpiece indicates that it was made for an Imperial clarinet. This was the top of the range model next to the 1010, but used the same 593 bore as everything else. So this should be a quality ebonite mouthpiece and not a cheap plastic student job - it may be worth having it re-layed if you're not happy with the sound.
Having said all this, the B+H 593 bore is a little larger than typical modern French dimensions, but not by all that much. Mouthpieces from e.g. Vandoren should work reasonably well, especially if you pull out the tuning barrel a little. The Vandoren 13 series have a larger chamber volume, and this could give a better match. Tuning and response depend so much on the player, so all you can do is try things out. The "2" lay was the middle one of 3 B+H lay options, but the control of production was so wayward that it's almost impossible to predict what this corresponds to today.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2017-06-26 17:18
I mostly play B & H instruments, usually an Imperial but sometimes an Emperor. Pretty well any of the commercially available French-style mouthpieces will work well for you. The 926 was the mouthpiece supplied by B & H for the 926 Imperial, and since the bore dimensions of the Emperor is exactly the same it will work well on that instrument. You certainly don't need a 1010 mouthpiece, they are for use on the B & H 1010 and Symphony, which have a larger bore than the 926 and Emperor.
I normally play on a Clark Fobes San Fransisco mouthpiece on my B &H instruments, but previously I have used mouthpieces from Hite, Van Doren (M30, M15 and B45) and others. The cost of mouthpieces can be as high as you want to go, but if you don't want to spend more than you have to I'd suggest you might try the Fobes Debut or the Hite Premier. Neither will cost you a lot, will work well on your instrument and they both play far better than the price would suggest.
Tony F.
Post Edited (2017-06-26 21:18)
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Author: Ruth S
Date: 2017-06-28 22:01
Thank you Tony and John. Very helpful and I've done a lot of reading on Boosey & Hawkes clarinets since and feel a lot better about my Emperor and 926 mouthpiece combination.
i am now wondering whether the problems I have been having are down to the reed rather than the mouthpiece. Essentially I played the clarinet a lot until 1983 and then picked it up again 18 months ago and have been playing ever since. I have a stock of old Vandoren reeds which I used back in the 70s and 80s, some of which still work well. I bought some new Vandoren reeds, and have been having trouble ever since. Could any of you advise what is a good reed for the 926 mouthpiece? The old Vandoren ones I still have came in a purple and yellow cardboard holder. The ones I bought recently were in a dark blue box. Can anyone advise what I should try out? I've just put one of the old 1980s reeds on again today and the sound is vastly superior: louder, much more tone and depth, a really strong sound.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2017-06-29 13:16
Reed choice is a very individual thing, and what works for me may not work for you. Personally, I prefer Vandoren reeds to Rico, and that of the various Vandoren products I get the best results from their 56 Rue Lepic range. I play a #3 reed, but you should make your own choice as to strength. Gonsalez reeds are also good. Not knowing where in the world you are, I don't know what reeds are available to you. If you look through this site using the search tool you can find a huge amount about reeds.
Tony F.
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