 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Stephanie Hirst
Date: 2001-10-25 01:16
HI. It's me again. I need your help once again. I went to the music store here to see if they let people try out mouthpieces b4 buying, and the guy said that it is like, against the law in AL or something to do that because it is unsanitary. I was so mad! But anywayz, what do I do now? I was flipping through the Woodwind catalog, and I saw a Jewel 45 mp. Does anyone know anything about this certain mp? How does it play? How does it play with Vandoren V12 3.5s? And finally, how do you know what facings and tip openings to get if you order from a catalog? I want medium I think, but what is considered medium? Please help!
Thanx
Stephanie
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-10-25 01:44
Mr.Smith, next time you come to Japan, why not try these?
At Yamaha Ginza: 'Bull's Eye' ligature.
This is a ligature made by a Jzz trumpeter.
At Yamano Ginza (Yamaha Ginza too?):
'Ligature House' copy of Harrison Ligature.
(Japanese meticulous artisanship made it a new thing.)
At Ishimori Shin-Ohkubo(your friends will know its location):
Woodstone original cupper ligature.
(Wood=mori, stone=ishi)
Especially the last one would be a kind of revelation. This shop is famous worldwide for its saxophone repair quality.
I think there are some hand-made ligatures to choose than mass produced ones.
FYI
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-25 02:09
They make disinfectants that all knowledgeable instrument and accessory stores and sales people keep for such purposes. If the store you went to doesn't know that, then perhaps you should try a more professional place.
There is a store here in Miami that once told me that too, but every other store I go to down here (and I do business with quite a few of them,) let's me try out mouthpieces and even provide the reeds for me to do so.
Of course, they give me the reeds afterward, as they can't put those back in stock, but the rejected mouthpieces are promptly disinfected and put back in their boxes for resale.
It makes you wonder how many people may have played a particular mouthpiece before you tried and/or bought it. But that's the way it's done.
Some stores even put a double piece of scotch tape across the top so you don't leave bite-marks on the mouthpiece. It is a good practice to do so, if and when you find a place that lets you try them. In fact, offer to do so, you'll make friends there by looking out for the store.
If it is too difficult to go some place else, I would go back to that store that didn't let you try out the mouthpieces and try one more time. Talk with the owner if you have to. Tell him it's unprofessional not to alloow a client to try out mouthpieces and ask him if they don't keep disinfectants for such practices.
If that does not work, then, like I said, go to a more professional place to buy your mouthpiece.
I usually carry in my bag a small bottle of something called Sterisol Germicide, which is what most of the stores use. It is made by Grover Musical Products in Cleveland, OH.
Perhaps the Doctor has a similar product?
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-25 02:17
Hey Hiroshi,
I think you got the wrong thread. The one yopu want is titled "Vandoren Optimum vs Bonade."
Shigata ganai. Shim pai nai!
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-10-25 11:11
Outfits like the Woodwind and Brasswind will let you order several to try and then you just return the ones you don't want/
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-10-25 13:42
International Musical Suppliers will also let you have mouthpieces for a 2 week trial. You can call them and ask what kind would suit you best. Their sales people are pretty knowledgeable. You might ask for one who knows about clarinets. 800-762-1116.
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Author: sarah
Date: 2001-10-25 14:30
I ordered 3 mouthpieces from ww and bw. I liked it because I could try them out for several days, and in different groups. I think if you buy one that you try, and return the others, you don't have to pay a restocking fee. I'm not sure about that though.
sarah
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-25 17:11
IMHO: Mail-order is good, if you have no other choice, and I order from the BW&WW regularly, if not often. But not items subject to such varied choices as mouthpieces and instruments.
In those cases, nothing beats a well-stocked store where you can, not only try several different ones, but when you decide which make and model suits you, you can try several of them as well, to further fine-tune your choice. All right there, all right in front of you, all at the same time.
Under those circumstances, mail-order's three-at-a-time is a poor second best, if at all a consideration.
What if you don't like any of the ones sent?
Are you going to continue paying shipping charges until you do find one, three by three, weeks apart?
Are you going to settle for one of the ones they first sent just because it's there and you feel pressured by shipping charges and the trouble of returning them to get three more?
This without really knowing if in the next shipment would be the right one for you?
What if you were unsure and it turns out one of the ones you sent back may have been the one? Will you remember them individually a month later?
Too many times I've thought one was it, just because it was considerably better than what I had, just to try a few more and find another, incredibly better than the last I thought was it.
And yes, you can go on like this forever (and all woodwinds players actually do!) but there is a difference between a choice of three and the trouble it takes to get three more, and a dozen, or so, different makes and models sitting right in front of you.
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Author: sarah
Date: 2001-10-25 17:32
Before I ordered from ww and bw I had tried out other mouthpieces. I found one that I liked, but through ww and bw it was cheaper. So instead of just ordering that one, I chose that one and two others. I ended up buying one of the others.
Sarah
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-25 18:11
Much better done, Sarah.
That's where you should have started to tell Stephanie how you did it. It originally sounded as if you just chose between three and that was all. Under that first advise, she might have only ordered three and limited herself to the point of throwing away her money.
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Author: Stephanie
Date: 2001-10-26 03:35
Thanks for the replies, but my question about the Jewel wasn't answered. I know I should go tell the store what I think, but I'm not one to do that. I just don't want to start any "trouble" or whatever, and besides, I don't think there is a better music store around little old Florence, AL. Alabama Music is the store that all the band students buy from if not from WW and BW, and I don't the staff there to be mad at me for the rest of my playing days. Thanks anywayz!
Stephanie
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-10-26 03:56
Stephanie,
The answer to your question about the Jewel is that you have to try it out for yourself and see if you like it! As with any other mouthpiece you may be interested in.
That it may work for someone else doesn't mean it will work for you.
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-10-27 04:04
The owner of Internation Music Suppliers is an excellent professional clarinet player.
The clarinet techncian is Tom Fritz. He used to be the righth hand man for Francios Kloc before Boosey and Hawks moved Francios and the whole Illinois operation to California.
Her shop knows clarinets.
C@p
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