Author: Bill
Date: 2006-12-22 01:03
Aside from 50s-60s-era Buffet stock mouthpieces, Chedeville made a tremendous number of differently-styled blanks. Some with a narrow, completely parallel windway, some with a slight "A" frame windway, some wth a pronounced "A" frame windway, and I have seen some with wider, almost "oval" windways (these tend to be quite old). For a long time, Ched blanks had a numbering system that ran (from those that I have seen) from 5 to 8. Often they had "FRANCE" on the left shoulder, but just as often not. Sometimes they had 1 line up 1 down, some had 1 line up 2 down (Charles Chedeville, "Bonade," etc.), and of course the most easily recognized (it seems!) were the 1 line up 3 down.
I have sought these mouthpieces out almost exclusively. But, lately I have been rather disappointed with quite a number of "Qual Sup" #5-8 blanks, which can be shrill and harshly focused. Recently, I have been getting interested in substantially older blanks, of which I know little and am still learning. I have some clues to the markings on these, but I don't want to sound geekier than I already do.
A great mouthpiece needs something more than just being a Chedeville blank. And, my experience seems to be that after WWII the Ched blanks weren't as mind-blowing as thought.
Bill.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
|
|
Keepers
