 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Hans
Date: 2001-07-27 15:11
Since a few months I have my own instrument (I bought it new), a Leblanc Spirit but some kind of special edition with adjustable thumbrest and silver-plated key finish. The normal model should have a 2550K-10M mouthpiece but looking at mine I cannot tell if it is indeed this type of mouthpiece. The only indications on the mouthpiece are: "Leblanc France", "made in usa" and "4L". I would appreciate very much if someone could explain to me if it indeed is the 2550K-10M mouthpiece by Leblanc or another model (this last option is posible as my Spirit is some kind of special edition). I am just curious, it plays well (at least for me, a beginner). In advance many thanks for your help!
Hans
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-27 15:51
No, you do not have a K10M. The K10Ms are very clearly marked on the label of the mouthpiece. If you want to see what a K10M looks like, look at my eBay page. I have a bunch of these. Go to www.ebay.com and search for a seller named "clarinetgrammy."
Hope this helps.
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Author: Hans
Date: 2001-07-27 16:34
Thanks Brenda, that is what I already suspected as my mouthpiece does not look like the K-10M's on the Leblanc site. Does anybody know what type of mouthpiece I have? What does 4L mean? I see a lot of Leblancs are equiped with mouthpieces which say 2L. I am just curious why my "special edition" Spirit is equiped with another type of Leblanc mouthpiece (the standard Spirit does have a K-10M mouthpiece). Thanks again!
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-27 19:09
.... I have an old Leblanc (Crystal) Mouthpiece which is engraved/marked "2L" or something akin to that. "2L" was probably Leblanc's name for a particular facing. best, mw
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-28 13:53
I have a complete Leblanc catalog for accessories on hand (I requested it from the website and they actually sent it). According to them the 4L has a tip opening of 1.10 with a Medium facing length. The description says this:
"These fine hard-rubber Leblanc France mouthpieces are precisely chambered and faced to extremely close tolerances to produce a full, beautiful tone with instantaneous response."
And, you're right, they are not normally shipped with the Spirit--the K10M should have been in your case. It must have been swapped somewhere along the line--possibly at the factory. I bought a new Symphonie VII that was supposed to have a Larry Combs and it had a K10M. And, I bought a bunch of K10Ms that were supposed to be new and they were not. So, there it is. Just because it's advertised to be a certain way doesn't mean it will get to you a certain way. If you're happy with the 4L, don't worry about it.
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Author: Hans
Date: 2001-07-30 14:36
Thanks Brenda,
I really appreciate your help. I am only a beginner so I really cannot tell if I would be happier with a 2550K-10M although it might have a psychological effect, that is one might start to blame the 4l mouthpiece when things go wrong, saying that it should have had a K-10M. Anyway, I hope the 4L mouthpiece does not have strange effects on my beginners' play. The instrument was picked out by a friend of a friend, a professional clarinet player, who described it as pretty good and certainly not a total beginners' instrument but better. So I guess, if he did not have a problem with the mouthpiece, neither should I. Well, I appreciate any further comment on these observations. Once again, thanks for your help. Here in a small town in the Mexican countryside the board is my only contact with clarinet musicians, I do not have a teacher. Thanks again!
Hans
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-30 17:02
Hans,
Yes, you got better than a beginner instrument. You should be able to excell with it. You can even pick up some teaching on Sneezy by going through the website and getting some pointers. There are some excellent exercises and other things that are available to you for free if you check into them. Also, the tips you will get from some of the people here are very valuable. Especially since you don't have a teacher. Clarinet is very difficult to learn without a teacher, but you should be encouraged to know you do have a nice instrument. Don't worry about your instrument.
By the way, send me your address (click onto my name and it'll go to my email address) and I'll send you a K10M for free. I occasionally do "scholarships" with mouthpieces (when I have some available) and I think you deserve one.
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Author: Hans
Date: 2001-07-30 18:14
Dear Brenda,
Many thanks for your great help. I'll send you a message my normal e-mail!
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