 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: salzo
Date: 2010-06-03 03:56
I recently sent two selmer mouthpieces to Brad Behn to be refaced. One was an HS*, the other an "S"=both mouthpieces had facings on the table in an oval.
Both sound very good, but I prefer the "S" mouthpiece to the HS*. I have heard and read that the HS* is a fine mouthpiece, and a mouthpiece that many who do custom mouthpiece work like to work with.
I have not been able to find ANY info about the Selmer S facing. I am very curious about what kind of mouthpiece this was in its original state. Was the S a close mouthpiece? Long facing? How did it compare to the Selmer HS*-thanks for any help.
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Author: RoBass
Date: 2010-06-03 06:36
The "facing like" alone is not the trick. The relation between facing curve, chamber and bore makes the effect. Therefore is not useful only to order a known facing on an arbitrary blank.
The MPC-maker should get better an information, which idol you would prefer, and therefore he will grind an adapted facing curve "sounding like" but not "scraped like".
I got some handmade MPCs with same curves "like XY", but all of them had different chamber volume and contour - and all of them sounded different and with variying resistance.
kindly
Roman
PS: Damaged rails will be a problem too. Some MPCs stay not the same, if the curve was repaired. It's a new curve on - and so a new MPC.-(
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Author: salzo
Date: 2010-06-03 15:17
Ken-
Thank You very much for directing me to that link. Very helpful.
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2010-06-04 14:57
The "Oval" and some "Table" Selmers are wonderful. The material helps produce amazing sound that is much more focused and much more complete with overtones. But these blanks need some work to make the bore, chamber and facing work in harmony with one another.
Vytas Krass
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Professional clarinet technician
Former professional clarinet player
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Author: wswann
Date: 2012-06-08 19:15
Attachment: 140.jpg (5k)
I just bought a Selmer HS* in the oval at that auction site. It was sort of a roll of the dice that I *think* worked out well ... but I can't really say due to my limited experience -- I'm just getting back to playing after 30 years away.
What I saw was something from a new seller -- zero feedback. They were selling two things: an old Nikkan clarinet (which I take it is the precursor to Yamaha) with no mouthpiece, and a Selmer mouthpiece as a separate auction.
Both items had just a single picture. The mouthpiece picture was really small, with the ligature still on it, from the front point of view, so you couldn't even see the table. You couldn't see the HS* designation on the front, because the picture was dark in the area where it would go ... if it were there.
So ... I was guessing. My guess was that this person was genuine (would a scammer feature a Nikkan?), that they found the old clarinet in the basement, and separated the mouthpiece from horn. If this was indeed the mouthpiece used with that horn, then it was likely to be pre-1970, when Yamaha took over Nikkan.
So, I rolled the dice. No other bidders on the item (for many of the above reasons, no doubt) ... I get it for the minimum, $25.
I wasn't quite *sure* that a package would arrive ... but yesterday, it did.
What I got was an HS* in the oval in pretty decent condition. There are teeth marks on the beak -- pretty significant ones -- but it is otherwise in very good shape.
I cleaned it ... a couple times ... then gave it a try. Wow! Projection, resonance, ease of play ... the volume and timber were unlike anything I've heard (from myself, or that I can remember hearing back in high school).
It may very well be that the "wow" factor comes from having never used a rubber mouthpiece before. I had a decent horn, back in the day, but I never upgraded the mouthpiece. But it is fun to hear and play. The mouthpiece really does make more of a difference than the horn (I'm using an old plastic Yamaha 24).
In any event, thanks to you guys for posting a lot of info here that I used to make my "guess" on this piece.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-06-08 19:54
The HS* has a medium length, close facing. It was the mouthpiece shipped with new Selmer Clarinets in the 1950s and 60s. I've found them to be stuffy, but then I prefer a more open facing such as the HS**.
Ralph Morgan said that when you hold the mouthpiece so that light reflects off the rails, you should see a slight dullness. The facing was produced with a diamond tip that moved back and forth across the rails, creating thousands of tiny scratches that blended together but created a non-shiny surface.
Everett Matson said that older Selmer mouthpieces were made of excellent hard rubber that takes well to refacing.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2012-06-08 19:54)
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2012-06-08 20:06
The "S" facing is generally an open tip and medium long to long facing. It has been a popular facing by some professional players.
The Oval stamp Selmers are great mouthpieces. They usually need a new facing to be playable though. The Oval selmers also tend to play on the sharp side and usually are played with a barrel 1mm longer than normal. (for me, 67mm).
I feel that the table selmers (Table HS* written on the table) are fantastic mouthpieces with a very unique quality. While the oval stamps have a very ringing sound with great focus and clarity, the table selmers have a depth and warmth to the sound are really beautiful.
All of these selmers, with a good facing, can play very well and with a very unique quality to the sound.
The facings in original form are usually too short or too asymmetric to work well. The tip openings can be highly variable, for example a model HS (I have one on the table right now) measures at 0.85mm while the HS* is around 1.00mm,
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2012-06-08 20:07
0.98-1.00mm tip and 35-37 length is what I prefer on these mouthpieces. (for anyone who is curious).
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Author: wswann
Date: 2012-06-08 20:42
Yeah, I was thinking of buying a vintage mouthpiece now, and then having it refaced as a birthday present or something. I'm trying to keep the $$ down on what I'm spending on this, so I'll just ask for the occasional thing as presents.
I've seen a lot of posts here from the professionals, so I know who to go to when the time comes.
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Author: Buster
Date: 2012-06-08 20:59
I have 2 original Selmer S facings sitting right here:
A post "oval" period
1.12 31,19,10,5 though a bit asymmetrical
And a "table s"
1.17 32,22,12,6 about as perfectly symmetrical as it can get
This is a strange mouthpiece though;
"table s" is stamped on the table, yet the Selmer "escutcheon" is located between the ligature lines as with the "oval" and later blanks.
The baffle is deeper, as are most of the "table stamps" I've had, yet the throat is quite narrow- more so than any other Selmer I've seen.
Maybe this was some sort of transitional mouthpiece between the "table stamp" and "oval" period. That knowledge is foreign to me.
-Jason
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