Author: William
Date: 2007-02-25 14:43
From a Larry Combs master class at the old IMS--when I asked, "what kind of mouthpiece are you using?", his reply, "I am using a mouthpiece that Richard Hawkins made for me." When asked about the Larry Combs model mouthpiece, he replied that he "had ended his endorsement because of production inconsistancies." (FYI--for his class demos, he was playing a Legere reed with a Vandy Optimum lig and an Opus clarinet)
My own experiance was when I purchased fourteen LC #3's for my middle school band back in the late 80's. Although they all played "OK", none were exceptional. In fact, they were very inconsistant and not at all reed friendly. Only two came close to my own Kaspar faced Bay "Ithica" custom mouthpiece--and they were clearly made from different blanks. Also, FYI, the best LC #3 that I ever played was one that had been customized by my old clarinet professor, Dr. Glenn Bowen, for John Winslow--but (grrrr) it was not for sale.
The current UW-Madison saxophone, jazz and composition professor (who went to school with Larry Combs) plays on a stock LC #3 and recently used it when doing a long term second clarinet sub gig with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra with (then) Principal clarinetist, Russel Dagon. He likes his mouthpiece, but I suspect that Glenn Bowen may have also done some work on it.
Bottom line, like all other mpcs, the Larry Combs models are good but qutie inconsistant and you have find the right one for you. If worked on, they can be excellant--but "off the shelf", you are taking your chances.
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