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Re: Mouthpieces and reeds by the numbers

Author: NBeaty
Date: 2017-08-11 23:16

While there is no doubt a difference between where the smallest feeler gauge will land and the "true" start to a curve, there's no way it would be 2mm on a professionally finished mouthpiece. The odds are that a few things are factoring in here:

1) variations in the glass/plaque
2) variations in the true thickness of the gauge
3) user error in measuring
and most commonly
4) variation between what the proposed measurements of the model are and what that particular mouthpiece actually came out as.
5) the table is not flat (or flat with concavity in the middle)

I've been refacing mouthpieces for the last 7 years and can attest to the value of experience in accurate measuring. It sounds simple to just put the gauges in between the glass and mouthpiece and look at the number, and on one level it is that simple. However, knowing how it "feels" when the thinnest gauge stops and what that means as far as the "trueness" of the curve is something learned over time.

If you have a set of tools and want to make sure they are indeed accurate, bring them to ICA or TMEA, or any other place where you can find some of the professionals in person and have them check them for you.

I have at least 7 tip wands and 5 or 6 glass gauges and they all measure differently. I've compared them with the tools of someone who's been in the business professionally for over two decades and is well known for precision so I have a point of reference.

One set of tools could measure a 1.10mm tip where as another could measure the same tip at under 1.00mm. Similarly, some feeler gauge/glass combinations can measure differently from side to side (reading asymmetry where there is none or vice versa).

I would tend to trust Mr. Fobes' measurements as being accurate, as his work is both refined and consistent from what I've seen.

The difference between where the smallest gauge lands and where the curve actually starts should be in the small fractions of a millimeter and I would tend to argue that it's not a measurement that should be of concern to players when comparing facings.

It is of concern to the extent that a mouthpiece with a curve that has a larger distance between the true start to the curve and where that smallest feeler gauge stops will likely have problems with reeds sealing compared to one which has a well defined starting point.

Whether or not a 36 in the Brand measurement system is really 18mm or is 18.2mm is less of a concern than whether or not the curve has a definitive starting point.

Clear as mud?

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