 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Amber1993
Date: 2011-10-17 03:40
Ive heard that buffet crampon mouthpieces arent good to play on. Do you agree? And what are some good mouthpieces and ligatures to use that arent to expensive and for an intermediate player.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-10-17 04:04
You are correct that most modern Buffet mouthpieces don't have a particularly good reputation. They're usually OK from what I've seen but nothing to write home about.
As for mouthpiece recommendations, that depends on a number of factors. First, what is your price range? Next, what kind of music are you playing? Also, do you prefer a softer or harder reed?
Usually you can find a mass-produced mouthpiece (Vandoren, etc.) that will suit your needs for $75-$100. The next step up from there would be custom mouthpieces and those can get pricy in a hurry but will typically play a lot better than anything you can buy off the shelf.
One thing I would suggest is to check out what Vytas Krass currently has for sale. http://www1.webng.com/myclarinet/store.htm He frequently has refaced mouthpieces for <$100 (usually from Riffault blanks) and they can be a very good value if he has one in a facing that would work for you. I have a couple of them and they play very well.
It might be worth sending him an e-mail and asking what he has in stock or coming soon if you don't see exactly what you want. He seems to cycle through the Ideal/Riffault mouthpieces pretty rapidly.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-10-17 15:02
Another option, for about the same price as the Vandorens, is Clark Fobes' Nova.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-10-17 15:22
Jack has a pretty good recommendation. It looks like Clark must have recently lowered the price on his Nova mouthpieces as they are now selling for $100 at Woodwind Brasswind. They used to more like $130. I can't speak about Clark's soprano mouthpieces but I did use one of his Nova mouthpieces on bass clarinet for a few years and liked it very much.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2011-10-17 18:06
Or doorstops.
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: aaron michael
Date: 2015-03-13 20:29
I find it curious that Buffet clarinets are considered by many to be the finest clarinets and yet many think their mouthpieces are only poor to OK. One might be tempted to think that a company that seems to know a lot about making excellent instruments might be good at making the mouthpieces as well.
I've asked many players their opinion of these mouthpieces and all have the same opinion. And yet when I asked how many Buffet mouthpieces they've tried, all said they never tried one!
Cheers, Aaron
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-03-13 20:35
I've tried quite a few and none of them were worth keeping. I'm not sure that I would agree that buffet make the finest clarinets, but I would agree that they have the best marketing organization in the industry.
Tony F.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-03-13 22:18
I also feel the same way about Yamaha. For a company that engineers a really good clarinet, you'd think they'd at least put out a copy of someone elses mouthpiece until they figure it out on their own (kinda like the Selmer clarinet copies of the 70s).
The tried and true mouthpieces are the Vandoren 5RV Lyre, M13 and the Masters CL4. They won't cost "an arm and a leg," and if you break it, you can easily replace it with another that will play almost identically to the one you just broke.
....................Paul Aviles
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2015-03-14 08:40
The older Buffet mouthpieces with one line up and three down were Chedeville blanks with a Buffet logo. These can be refaced and play very well. The Evette-Schaeffer mouthpieces were the same blank I believe. They can also be made to play well.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-03-14 15:00
I agree with GLHopkins about the good quality of old Buffet mouthpieces made on Chedville blanks. I've lucked into those with vintage clarinets (1920s, 1930s). Mine didn't seem to have been used much and didn't need refacing to play well with those old clarinets -- and that's fortunate, because my old clarinets don't play in tune with my modern mouthpieces. The ratio of mouthpiece length to clarinet (especially barrel) length has changed.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: JHowell
Date: 2015-03-15 07:08
I agree with the recommendation of the Reserve mouthpiece. I play an X5 that Lee Livengood closed down a little, but have played stock X0s as well. For me, the first cut for mouthpieces is intonation, and the Reserves are the first modern mouthpieces that don't have a bore/chamber that makes the throat register sag. And I love the articulation. This from someone who has spent far more than he would care to admit on vintage mouthpieces over the years.
Thinking about the original post, there was a time when clarinet makers furnished really fine mouthpieces with their instruments. Bettoney comes immediately to mind, but there are others. But, other than the Buffet bass mouthpieces which are Schreiber SEMs, I can't think of another modern stock mouthpiece that does anything other than fill the spot in the case. Every manufacturer seems to assume that those who can't tell the difference won't mind a cheap mouthpiece, while those who can tell the difference won't take it out of the plastic.
Post Edited (2015-03-15 07:15)
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2015-03-15 21:34
I've had the opportunity to play on quite a few of Rico/D'Addario mouthpieces in the last year or so. For the price you won't find a better mouthpiece, but they all don't play alike. I'd play several of them and choose which best fits you.
I'm not a ligature snob. So, I'd just suggest something simple like a Rovner or reversed Bonade.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-03-15 21:59
There's no point in supplying an expensive mouthpiece with a brand new clarinet if the player isn't likely to use it as they'd most likely use their own instead which is the same mouthpiece they used when trying out the clarinet they then went and bought. So putting an inexpensive plastic mouthpiece in with any clarinet is done just to complete the outfit, but doesn't necessarily mean that mouthpiece has to be used. It's only there for them to use it if they really need to.
So it's really a waste of money all round if an expensive mouthpiece is supplied with a clarinet only for it to end up in a drawer somewhere collecting dust. You may supply the most expensive mouthpiece ever made with any instrument if you want, but if it's not to the player's liking, then they simply won't have any use for it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-03-16 02:16
I agree that there's no point in selling an expensive instrument with an expensive mouthpiece because, as Chris says, it probably won't be used by the player. Even so, why would a company with the ability to produce what is pretty well the industry standard professional clarinet sell it with a mouthpiece that appears to be so universally disliked. Cheap mouthpieces don't have to be bad, so it should not be beyond their capabilities to come up with something a bit more user-friendly. I have yet to see a student who didn't smile when they first tried a decent mouthpiece, and the inclusion of a mouthpiece as good as, say, a Fobes Debut or a Hite Premier should not be beyond them. Spread over the number of instruments that Buffet sell the cost would be relatively small.
Tony F.
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Author: saxlite
Date: 2015-03-16 16:29
Tom Ridenour offers various grades of mouthpieces when you ordedr his clarinets. So, you needn't consider the "as supplied" mouthpiece a waste of your money.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-03-16 16:47
There are some companies that are few and far between that offer mouthpiece options (within reason) on new clarinets which is better as a similar facing mouthpiece can be chosen as a back-up mouthpiece.
With beginner clarinets it's convenient to have a mouthpiece supplied with the clarinet to get things started and a basic plastic one will be fine provided it is up to scratch in the table is flat and the rails aren't wonky. But when players make progress and upgrade their mouthpieces, they tend to stick to their chosen one and don't often look for the next best thing if they get what they want from theirs.
Buffet used to supply ebonite mouthpieces with their clarinets, but since the '70s or '80s they put in a basic plastic mouthpiece made in Germany. At a push it can get someone out of trouble - I had this several years back when I chipped the tip of my crystal bass mouthpiece and the only other bass mouthpiece I had at home was the stock plastic one that comes with Buffet Prestige basses. It got me through Mahler 1, but I wasn't overly happy with it. I only used that mouthpiece as I happened to lend out my Vandoren B46 to a player and forgot all about it until he called me one day asking when it's a good time to pop round and return it to me. As for the plastic Buffet bass mouthpiece, that's in a box of odds and ends somewhere.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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