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Re: Anyone compare the B40 Lyre to the B40 yet?

Author: sinkdraiN
Date: 2006-02-25 19:26

Ok, my B40 Lyre came in today so I was able to compare to my trusty B40 (regular). I used V12 3.5 reeds. Visually, both mouthpieces look very similar. One small difference seemed to be on the baffle. To my eye, my B40 had a slightly higher baffle just at the tip than the B40 lyre which slopes downward faster.

Both mouthpieces have the same resistance and both mouthpieces responded similarly to reeds (meaning the reeds that didn't work well on my B40 also didn't work on the Lyre...and vise vera). Pitch and response...exactly the same.

The tone is where things difffer. The B40 has that nice round covered sound with a distinctive "ping" just above it. The B40 has this subtle higher overtone above everything. The Lyre removes this higher overtone. So both mouthpieces have that velvety bottom (slightly covered). The B40 adds a slight brilliance above it.

I prefer my regular B40 only because I like the addition of the higher overtone. It seems more complex to my ears. I don't think a B40 Lyre would make a "B40 hater" happy because it still has that B40 core...in fact it is a B40 core <period>. I think the B40 lyre is suited best for someone who likes the B40 but is always trying to play to it's dark/covered side.

I think it's real nice to have a company like Vandoren making mouthpieces. It's nice to be able to buy a mouthpiece like a B40 that has a variation of the theme all for $60

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