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 new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: tedm 
Date:   2006-10-05 23:19

We got a new mouthpiece for an Artley 17s from a shop that specializes in horns and woodwinds, the mouthpiece is by Yamaha, and the expert at the store carefully looked at the Artley before picking it out.

Anyways, it is extremely tight. I've been able to get it on with liberal amounts of cork grease, but taking it off is extremely hard. Is this normal? At what point does it get a little simpler to take off? Thanks.

For now, my daughter is using the old one which we sterilized, but comes off and attaches relatively easy.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Terrell 
Date:   2006-10-05 23:30

Lightly sand the cork with sandpaper. But do it in small amounts and keep checking for tightness on the barrel. You don't want to oversand it, and be very very careful to use a small piece of sandpaper so you don't sand the actual mouthpiece, just the cork. Make sure you do it evenly around the cork.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Koo Young Chung 
Date:   2006-10-06 00:18

I don't recommend using sand paper.
Just leave your mp on the barrel a few days.
It will be tight in the beginning but it'll get easier and just right quickly.
If you sand now it may become too loose very soon.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: pewd 
Date:   2006-10-06 00:50

so, conflicting advice, what to do , what to do.

i agree with terrell. very carefully sand it down a tiny bit.

- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Arnoldstang 
Date:   2006-10-06 01:16

Cork may have nothing to do with tightness. It might be the solid parts having too little clearance. To check this, mark the upper and lower part of the mouthpiece that goes into the barrel with something easy to see and then assemble and take apart....if the marks is gone....it's not the cork.

Freelance woodwind performer

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Terrell 
Date:   2006-10-06 14:30

Well, when you have a new tenon cork installed at a repair shop, they use sandpaper to fit it. They don't leave the tenons attached until they fit better.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: tictactux 2017
Date:   2006-10-06 16:41

Besides, both Yamaha mouthpieces I bought had oversized corks, maybe to be on the safe side. I sanded mine down a bit, took five minutes maybe.

--
Ben

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: BobD 
Date:   2006-10-06 22:32

If you don't regularly sand tenon corks you might try using one of those finger nail sanding wands. I've had similar "misfit" situations using Yamaha components on other brand clarinets.

Bob Draznik

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Gordon (NZ) 
Date:   2006-10-07 00:36

It can be pretty difficult to sand cork when it has grease on it, and the grease can quickly clog the sandpaper. Technicians usually do the sanding BEFORE applying grease. (Experience tells them how tight the fit should be without the grease.)

You can safely remove most of the grease with the "light" fuel used for hikers cookers (different names from different suppliers in different countries, eg Fuelite, Pegasol AA, Shellite, etc), probably much the same as lighter fluid.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: David Spiegelthal 2017
Date:   2006-10-07 03:02

You can also remove embedded cork grease with acetone (nail polish remover), but don't overdo it or it could soak through and attack the adhesive which holds the cork to the tenon. And as suggested above, definitely check the mouthpiece tenon itself (the hard rubber 'rings' surrounding the cork band) for binding -- very often it is these that have insufficient clearance to the tenon socket, rather than the cork. If the problem lies there, you can use some thin jewelers files to take a bit of material off the mouthpiece tenon.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Arnoldstang 
Date:   2006-10-07 04:06

This was my point earlier.....mouthpiece tenon.

Freelance woodwind performer

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Gordon (NZ) 
Date:   2006-10-07 05:24

I find that acetone attacks ABS plastic, so be sure your mouthpiece is hard rubber before using acetone.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: tictactux 2017
Date:   2006-10-07 07:52

Those wet cleansing tissues (the hand wipes often found in finger food restaurants) remove cork grease quite nicely.

--
Ben

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: tedm 
Date:   2006-10-08 19:49

Thanks all, since I purchased the mouthpiece from an expert who sized it for the clarinet, I think it's just tight as in new.

I will first leave it in for 24 hrs. or so, and if still tight, take back to the clarinet shop and ask if they recommend sandpaper, and have them re-check the size.

Thanks.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Chris P 
Date:   2006-10-08 19:55

If they have repair facilities, have them turn down the tenon a bit if the tenon itself is too tight.

I've found that Yamaha clarinets do have large sockets in comparison to my old Selmers, so whenever I play a Yamaha I have to wrap a strip of paper around the cork on my mouthpiece so it doesn't rattle around in the socket - and the Yamaha mouthpieces won't go into my Selmer barrels at all.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010

The opinions I express are my own.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Gordon (NZ) 
Date:   2006-10-08 21:00

You wrap paper around? Your cork must have lost resilience. My Selmer mouthpiece fits all the dozen of brands I work on except Grassi.

You would have to wrap CARDBOARD around for a GRassi barrel!

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Chris P 
Date:   2006-10-08 23:08

My Leblanc (LL) barrel mouthpiece socket is also much smaller in diameter than the Yamaha.

I can use the same mouthpiece (M15) on all my Selmers and Leblanc with no problem (and on B&H and Buffet clarinets), it's just the Yamahas that are a loose fit.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010

The opinions I express are my own.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: tedm 
Date:   2006-10-10 17:39

well if it comes to going back to the shop (yes they do full repairs), I really don't want the Artley 17s modded. I take it the "tenon" is the tube thingy that goes between the mouthpiece and the upper keys thingy?

Yeah, I'd rather them not bore that out so it just fits Yamaha mouthpieces, but would ask the guy to please find an Artley, or 100% compatible Artley mouthpiece.

Thanks.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Gordon (NZ) 
Date:   2006-10-10 20:34

If the material of the mouthpiece tenon is jamming, rather than the cork, then it is little trouble to slightly decrease its diameter, rather than increasing the inside diameter of the tenon receiver.

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 Re: new mouthpiece is very tight
Author: Chris P 
Date:   2006-10-10 22:44

Ted,

The tenon is the corked part of the mouthpiece (or the corked parts of the clarinet) - the male fitting as it were, that fit into the female fitting of clarinets (called sockets).


But you should never have to have the socket (the one at the top of the barrel) opened up, as it's much easier to turn down the mouthpiece tenon - the mouthpiece is mounted on a mandrel held in a lathe chuck, and a tiny amount is taken off the plastic (not the cork) so the mouthpiece fits.

Taking too much plastic off the tenon will make the mouthpiece rock about in the socket, as will opening up the socket. Plastic mouthpieces are usually easier and cheaper to replace than barrels, so don't have the barrel altered.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010

The opinions I express are my own.

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