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Old vs. Older Selmer B* mouthpieces

Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2018-07-13 00:43

I have a mouthpiece qustion.

I'm new to this board, and a returning, old-fart amateur who has taken up clarinet again after 35+ yrs. away from it. I'll spare you the personal history. Thanks to that auction site, this bulletin board, some great techs, and the tolerance of a local community band (and my wife) I've been playing for two years now and catching up with a vengence on all the things clarinet that I missed as a resource- and internet-deprived youth.

Most of my experience has been in wind bands, and the equipment I currently have is serving me very satisfactorily there. But I am angling to get a seat in a local volunteer orchestra as well, and am not especially fond of the sound I get from my current mouthpieces for orchestral work. The clarinets I am likely to be using if I can nail down that spot will be a restored Leblanc Symphonie 3 in Bb, a restored Leblanc LL in A, and a somewhat beaten-up but nice-sounding vintage Buffet R13 Bb. (Most of my clarinets have been Leblancs. The Buffet is my first - it's different & finicky. Not certain I like it yet. I have others - lots of others, but we won't go there. No - I'm not buying any more. I've gone on the wagon.) The two mouthpieces I have been using (Leblanc France HR refaced by Vytas Krass to 1.11mm and 1.13mm respectively) work great for community band on all my clarinets, but are a bit bright and out there for what I think would be an appropriate orchestral sound.

I ran through a dozen or so vintage and new mouthpieces in my drawer (My name is Ken, and I'm a clariholic . . . I went on a mouthpiece binge for awhile.) and ran across the old late-1960s Selmer B* that I found so uninspiring in college. But to me it now seems to have a nice classical sound, especially on the A clarinet. I've read on this board and elsewhere that the Selmer B* is considered to be a good chamber music and soloist mpc. But mine is a bit beat up.

Here's my question: Numerous sources have spoken highly of the old Selmer Oval-on-table mounthpieces but not so well of later Selmer mouthpieces. I may have a chance to pick up a vintage Selmer B*-in-oval mpc in extremely good condition. Would it be safe to assume that it might be a good replacement for my late-1960s B*, or would I be better off having somebody reface the one I have? I am aware that the Selmer Ovals date to about the time that Selmer was making big bore clarinets, but all three of the clarinets in question are more in the medium bore range. Would a more recent B*, a 60s-era B* or the older Oval B* likely be better for my purposes?

Thanks for any information you can share.

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