Author: Brad Behn
Date: 2006-01-24 20:24
Attachment: Beak replacement.jpg (21k)
Brenda, your mouthpiece can be repaired! Please do not be discouraged. I would not recommend making an entire tip out of epoxy. Although it could be done, that is a lot of material to replace and I feel you would benefit from having as much good rubber working for you as is possible. As you know, the rubber is what makes direct contact with your reed and the reed-rubber relationship is crucial in creating an excellent sound, response, and feel. I would recommend either of two options.
Collect the broken beak pieces and glue them together with epoxy, then attach the fixed beak portion to the broken mouthpiece, and finish to the ideal surface texture.
Replace your broken beak with a new hard rubber piece, and finish to the ideal surface texture.
Either of these two options will require a refacing, and yes your new mouthpiece will play differently….hopefully much better!
Please note that your replaced beak will probably not be a “smiley face.” It will probably run across the mouthpiece’s tip in a straight line.
If the new beak is made of good rubber, and if your Kaspar mouthpiece was not compromised by too many refacings or poor quality work, it should sound terrific.
The resulting beak replacement can easily be smooth and free of bumps or voids. All that you would see is a very slight hairline seem that is perfectly smooth to the touch. A mouthpiece’s beak is actually thick enough at the point of your proposed repair that the new piece should bond to your mouthpiece for a lifetime without concern. Careful selection of epoxy is crucial because it should be waterproof and it should set to a consistency similar to hard rubber (not to hard, not too soft).
By the way, Steel Ebonite is just another name for Hard Rubber. Other names used in the past have been: Steelite Ebonite, Ebonite, Vulcanite, India Rubber, and Caoutchouc. Please note that Bakelite is different.
Good luck. I have included a picture of a mid-stage beak repair job. It is being repaired with a hard rubber piece at about the same place on the mouthpiece that your’s would most likely be fixed.
Brad Behn
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