 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Drew
Date: 1999-06-08 15:43
I've been following this board for several months, and I have to say I've learned so much about clarinets and playing! This is a wonderful resource; thank you Mark!
Within the past several months my interest in the clarinet has been rekindled after a 25 years layoff. I recently joined a community band and a clarinet choir, and it has been a tremendous experience for me.
With the assitance of this board I now understand 1000% more about the equipment side of playing with alot left to learn. However, I've got a question about mouthpieces and barrels; more specifically about the fit between them.
Right now I play two clarinets; a Selmer Signet Soloist and a Leblanc L70. I have four mouthpieces, Selmer HS* (came with the Selmer), Leblanc (came with the L70), Vandoren B45d (brand new), and a Mitchell Lurie (for sale in the classifieds). I've noticed that all of the mouthpieces except the Leblanc fit very tightly into the L70 barrel, while the Leblanc mouthpice fits very loosely (but still playable) into the Selmer.
I thought that mouthpieces are all alike dimensionally so that any Bb mp will work with any Bb barrel. Is this correct? Without some standardization it would be equipment chaos!
I'm guessing that the L70 barrel at the mp socket has swelled a small amount and needs to be machined back to a standard dimension. Can most repair shops to this with the necessary precision? What type of equipment should they have to do this satisfactorily? Will recorking the Leblanc mp tenon be enough to restore a tight fit with the Selmer barrel? The mp isn't chipped or worn, so I suspect the tight L70 barrel compressed the tenon cork over time to cause a loose fit with other barrels.
As long as we're on the subject, what about barrels, top and bottom joints, and bells? Are they interchangeable? I'm guessing that mp's and barrels are, but minor differences bwtween manufacturers, model and bore dimensions may prevent other parts compatability. Any comments?
best regards,
drew
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-06-09 00:33
Drew wrote:
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with other barrels.
As long as we're on the subject, what about barrels, top and bottom joints, and bells? Are they interchangeable? I'm guessing that mp's and barrels are, but minor differences bwtween manufacturers, model and bore dimensions may prevent other parts compatability. Any comments?
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Thanks for the kind words, Drew.
Mouthpieces and barrels are of course interchangeable - that's why there's so many to choose from. Upper and lower joints are not - even among the same brand and model! There's enough of a variation that they need to be fitted together and played as a unit.
Bells - well, I've seen people interchange them, and there are replacement bells available.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-06-09 00:38
Drew wrote:
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with other barrels.
As long as we're on the subject, what about barrels, top and bottom joints, and bells? Are they interchangeable? I'm guessing that mp's and barrels are, but minor differences bwtween manufacturers, model and bore dimensions may prevent other parts compatability. Any comments?
---
Thanks for the kind words, Drew.
Mouthpieces and barrels are of course interchangeable - that's why there's so many to choose from. Upper and lower joints are not - even among the same brand and model! There's enough of a variation that they need to be fitted together and played as a unit.
Bells - well, I've seen people interchange them, and there are replacement bells available.
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Author: William Fuller
Date: 1999-06-09 03:45
Barrels and mps are NOT always totally interchangable because of thickness differences in the cork tendons. Usually, a little cork grease will do the trick over time but if the problems doesn't seem to want to go away, any competent repairperson can make the necessary (usually inexpensive) adjustments.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-06-09 21:46
Mouthpieces _should_ be interchangeable as far as fit into the barrel goes. So I suspect that your guess on a bit of swelling could be correct. My suggestion would be to find which mouthpiece works best on which horn and then have the cork sanded to fit if too tight or a new cork (thicker) cork put on if too loose.
Any decent technician should be able to sand your barrel though if you really want to interchange your mouthpieces.
Barrels are NOT always interchangeable. There seems to have been two basic sizes of joints for the barrel to body. I had an old Pan American clarinet with its original barrel. All my various old and new mouthpieces fit it. i.e. the mouthpiece socket was "standard." However, the end of the barrel that went on the clarinet was very large and that barrel did not fit my other instruments. All my other barrels were far too small in diameter to fit on the upper joint of the horn. When the Pan American barrel cracked, I had no problem getting another at a local music store. It was some no name barrel but it worked just fine.
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Author: Melanie
Date: 1999-06-12 03:23
Sometimes mouthpieces just don't fit in right. I was in the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony this year and played on two different alto clarinets. My mouthpiece fit snugly in the Bundy nect, but was loose in the LeBlanc neck. I had to put a piece of paper around the cork.
A girl I sat next to this year in band had trouble with her mouthpiece, too. It was too small for the Yamaha and just right on her Buffet, or something like that. (Her Yamaha got a big old crack up under the register key, so she got an R-13 instead).
The moral of this story is: Not all mouthpiece tenons are created equal. In a perfect world, sure, but not here...
Good luck!
Melanie
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