 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: csmith
Date: 2008-08-05 15:08
When I started studying clarinet in college in the late 80s, my instructor was not happy with my sound and sent my mouthpiece to a guy in New York to be refaced. Over the years I have often been asked what kind of mouthpiece I use and I just say it's an HS* with a Madsen (sp?) refacing.
I recently went online to try and find out more information about this refacing because it really is fantastic and produces a wonderfully pure tone quality. But apparently "Madsen" is not the right spelling (I've tried several other variations).
Do any of you know who this person is?
Thanks!
Chad
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2008-08-05 15:31
It was almost certainly Everett Matson, one of the great mouthpiece refacers. At least when I went to him, toward the end of his life, he worked out of his house in central New Jersey, but he may well have had a NYC workshop. He died about 7 years ago.
Ken Shaw
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Author: csmith
Date: 2008-08-05 15:38
Thank you!! I am very sad to learn of his passing but am also thankful to know who is responsible for such wonderful craftsmanship.
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Author: Tom Puwalski
Date: 2008-08-05 15:40
I have 4 Selmers that Matson did for me. Everytime we did a concert at Garden state arts center I would go over to his house and have him do some work for me. Even when we didn't get anything great it was worth the 5-10 bucks he would charge to do the work. Alas I don't play those mouthpieces anymore, I have some others that I like better. I wonder where "the Book" ended up? Later Tom Puwalski
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2008-08-05 19:03
"The book" with his info on different player's mouthpiece information is at Rider University, where they have a small museum dedicated to Mat and his work. He was a wonderful craftsman and human being!
Chris Hill
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2008-08-06 14:57
I thought it was very fitting, that as I was reading these posts about Mr. Matson, the doorbell rang and FedEx delivered my monthly Zinner delivery.
I never had the honor of meeting Mr. Matson in person, but I know and admire his work. I have had the chance to inspect mouthpieces which he worked on and always respected the choices he made. I have learned much from these mouthpieces.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: Ed
Date: 2008-08-06 15:45
Matson really was a genius of mouthpiece crafting. He truly understood the mechanics of what made the mouthpiece play. He went far beyond the facing to work in detail on the bore, chamber, baffle, etc. He knew how each of these elements worked with each other to produce the whole. Matson learned from the ground floor up, by experimenting over years to find out what worked, and spent hours with countless players. He designed his own tools to get the results he wanted, from various reamers and scrapers to his famous popsicle sticks and rulers.
As Chris mentioned, he was a wonderful person. He would spend time working with any player to get the results that person wanted. It did not matter if you were Harold Wright, Stanley Drucker, Eddie Daniels or the countless other world famous artists who passed through his doors or an amateur player who wanted a good mouthpiece, he gave everyone the same level of attention and artistry.
Matson had a great impact on mouthpieces and clarinet playing. He was very generous and willing to share his knowledge with anyone who asked. Even so, he was a humble guy, always the gentleman.
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Author: classicalguss
Date: 2008-08-07 18:08
The above is, of course, correct. The name is Everett Matson, who we all called "Matt". He never worked outside his modest home in Oceanport, NJ and he worked at the local Bendix plant after time in the service and Juilliard (studied there with Bonade).
I was lucky to call Matt my friend for years. I turned his pages on the 1st stand of the Asbury Park Concert Band for about 20 years. He was a wonderful player, musician, and the most decent human being I have ever had the pleasure to know.
He came to mouthpiece work entirely because of his lack of satisfaction with his sound. He grew up admiring the sound of Lindemann in the CSO and always had that sound in his ears. An extremely intelligent man, he came to his methods of mouthpiece work through years of trial and error. He never advertised his work and yet became one of the greats of that profession. He had a stack of mouthpieces that still needed work when he passed away after a long illness, even though he kept working until the very end.
One of the things that always stays with me about Matt is that his friends (myself included) would always try to get him to charge more for his work. He would have none of it, charging peanuts for what could become hours of work, but he would always accept a fine bottle of single-malt Scotch, something we shared many times after playing duets or trios with our friend, Leon Knize.
A Prince of a man and someone who made the world a better place because he was among us. I learned as much sitting next to him as I did the fine teachers I studied with and I still miss him terribly.
I would really appreciate any other thoughts about this great man here. I know he touched an amazing amount of people.
Best Wishes,
Roy
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2008-08-07 18:59
What impact on mouthpieces and clarinet playing did he have?
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2008-08-07 23:30
The man was a freakin' genius.
I believe the Harold Wright was a regular customer.
He was kind enough to discourage me from entering the mouthpiece racket,
"You do realize you will be working for clarinet players, don't you?"
My first telephone call came at the beginning of his last battle.
He was charming and helpful to the last.
He had a store of Selmer HS mouthpieces that were his standard mouthpiece for modifications.
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2008-08-07 23:56
"What impact on mouthpieces and clarinet playing did he have?"
--------
For one thing, the list of players that relied on him over the years reveals quite a bit about past and present influence.
He taught alot of us as we learned by observation. Much of learning to make mouthpieces is like that. Hopefully we have influenced players with the mouthpieces that we now make and adjust for clarinetists all over the world.
Specifically he taught the importance of the relationship between all of the components that go into building a mouthpiece - not just strictly the science but the art of mouthpiece making as well.
He swore by symmetrical facings but was willing to do what it took to get the piece to play for the individual. He had a set or series of Popsicle sticks (no kidding) with marks on them that he used to measure for the most advantageous swoop to any given baffle.
He excavated these baffles with precision ground but regular old hardware store-bought bolts. He had a sandpaper collection tucked into and along an old spiral LP rack (that's Long Playing records for some of you) on his large working school desk.
Each piece of sandpaper had it's own unique history that if you asked, he'd tell you about. He'd keep them because he knew from experience how each piece worked in any given situation. They were decades old and were handled with care and lovingly cleaned and maintained. That rack of sandpaper was his own special "repertoire" if you will.
He sculpted something much more specialized than many of today's simply efficient feeling and utilitarian sounding mouthpieces. They were works of art as well. As that was indeed the case, it wasn't by accident or guesswork. It wasn't in him. He wasn't capable of such a thing.
He was my friend & teacher. I am proud to have known and have been taught by such a decent and honorable man - serious, intelligent, and most of all, an old and kind soul.
Gregory Smith
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Author: Ed
Date: 2008-08-08 02:19
Thanks to Gregory and Roy for those great memories and very thoughtful warm comments.
I would like to add a few more of my thoughts to answer the question
"What impact on mouthpieces and clarinet playing did he have?"
For one, there were legions of players, both widely known and unknown and their friends and students who all went to him (and sent mouthpieces by the box) for his work. For a long time, he was simply the guy to go to. He set THE standard for mouthpiece work. There was nobody who knew, and few even today, who know what he knew about mouthpieces.
Many mouthpiece makers were directly or indirectly influenced by his work. I know of a great number who had spent some time with Matson to learn some tips, others who have studied his work. There are many mouthpieces which have designs that are copies of or bear close resemblance to his work. Many who have even a small understanding of the technical aspects will nod with understanding when someone refers to a "Matson facing."
Certain equipment such as the R13 or the Moennig barrel has had a significant impact on how we play and approach the clarinet and on future equipment designs. The qualities that Matson aimed for in his mouthpieces affected not only how many played the instrument, but indeed, the way many players thought about the mouthpiece and its relationship to the clarinet and the player. For many, Matson raised the standard as to what was possible in a mouthpiece well beyond the stock and indeed many custom mouthpieces.
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2008-08-08 02:48
My favorite Matt story is from when I worked on my first real vintage Chedeville (this one was for myself.) I couldn't get it to play quite right, so I set my guages, files, and sandpaper in front of me, and called him. It went like this: Me: "I can't get this mouthpiece to play." Matt: What do your flower beds look like? I start thinking, "it's too early to start on the Scotch." He asked me again, "What do your flowers beds look like? Do they need to be weeded?" Me: Yes. Matt: What does your lawn look like? Me: "It needs to be mowed." Matt: "Go out and weed your flower beds and mow your lawn, then come back and take another look at the mouthpiece; It will be obvious what you need to do." I worked on it after the mandated break, and that was the mouthpiece that I played full-time until I came up with my own mouthpiece.
I now sponsor a chamber music concert in honor of Everett Matson. Our symphony wind quintet and principal string quartet perform a concert for high school students in the Sioux Falls school system, and during it, I always tell the students this story. Since the vast majority of them will not become professional musicians, I tell them to use playing their instruments as their "flower beds" ie. what they do to take their minds off of things that stress them out.
BTW, Roy: Matt spoke highly and fondly of you.
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Author: J. J.
Date: 2008-08-08 03:05
There's no question he was a master refacer and it seems an even better human being. I'm aware that Wright and tons of other great players went to him, but I still find it difficult to make the leap that because his equipment was the standard, that it follows that he had a great impact on clarinet playing itself.
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Author: csmith
Date: 2008-08-08 03:06
Wow, thank you all so much for providing all this background information! How I wish I could have met Everett Matson! I've always said I wouldn't take a million dollars for my mouthpiece, and now I am absolutely convinced of it. It is priceless. I had no idea who the man was who did the refacing for me (twice actually since my college prof "didn't like" the first go-round).
What a privilege it is to know all this history and to know what a profound impact he had on so many lives. And I'm quite humbled to own a mouthpiece that he worked on. Very very cool. Now the next time someone asks me I can provide a much better answer than "some guy in New York, Madsen I think"!
Thanks - I have truly enjoyed reading this thread.
Chad
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2008-08-08 03:50
"I still find it difficult to make the leap that because his equipment was the standard, that it follows that he had a great impact on clarinet playing itself."
------------------
I suppose it's a matter of whether one believes or not that improvement of a very important part of the instrument itself frees the instrumentalist to excel to the degree that they otherwise may not have.
There seem to have been many examples over time where excellence and artistry contributing to the improvement in design has helped in some collaborative way to produce the impact that you refer to.
Some examples of those kinds of influences that immediately come to mind are:
Auguste Buffet with Klose
Moennig with Bonade, Marcellus, etc.
Frank Kaspar with (fill in the blank).
Henri or Charles Chedeville with Louis DeSantis, Ralph Maclane, etc.
Matt collaborated with everyone that was fortunate enough to come his way ranging from amatuer to yesterday's and today's top professionals.
Gregory Smith
Evanston, Il.
Post Edited (2008-08-08 04:12)
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Author: classicalguss
Date: 2008-08-08 20:51
David wrote: "I thought his nickname was Vic".
I've never heard that but one of his favorite places to go after concerts was Vics, in Bradley Beach. We had a terrific surprise birthday party for him there.
And thanks for all the responses, especially from those who knew him.
BTW, I've always referred to my 2 Kaspar mouthpieces as "Matsons". He was the one who made them sing. I also own the Selmer that he made for Billie, his beloved wife that he thought was the best one he ever did. Perhaps they should all end up at that museum at Ryder mentioned above that I didn't know existed. Thanks for the info!
Best Wishes,
Roy
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2008-08-09 01:40
Roy,
Could you please write me offline? I'm coming to NJ, and would like to get together. Don't worry, I'm not trying to get your mouthpieces from you!
Chris Hill
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2008-08-09 05:12
Let me add my 2 cents worth:
1) I never met the man but always corresponded with him using USPS. He was great. And never charged what his time was woth. How many of us got his short hand written note saying "let's call it .....$15 ( or $10) but never more than $25. And he never had any secrets. He wanted to share with all.
2) His art was simplicty. Never did more than what was necesary. Believed that what he got was good but just needed some tweaking. No ego at all.
3) Prior to all this Pyne/Johnston wide rail stuff that really screwed up the American/French school of sound, everyone ....I mean everyone....went to Mat. And that is the real sound that we have gotten off course from. Sorry to say but its true.
4) He made his living as an engineer not in the clarinet business. So he had no horses in the race, no axes to grind, no issues of ego. He was truth.
5) I still play on a Matson refaced C star bass clarinet mouthipiece and don't ever look for anything better.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-08-09 06:27
to Greg Smith-
You mentioned that he used popsicle sticks, which is exactly what Jimmy Yan uses. Do you (or anyone) know if Jimmy was a student of Matson?
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2008-08-09 14:28
I don't know whether he was or not. Perhaps someone else on the bboard will.
Gregory Smith
Post Edited (2008-08-09 17:26)
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Author: classicalguss
Date: 2008-08-09 16:46
Yes, Jimmy learned everything about mouthpiece making from Matt. He did a remarkable speech about it at the birthday party I mentioned above. Another one of the greats of the clarinet industry. I miss him, too and hope he's alright. The reports that I have heard aren't encouraging.
Roy
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Author: Conn Alto
Date: 2017-01-16 08:49
I have a Selmer C* for bass also refaced by Mr Matson. It is a superb mouthpiece and i feel very fortunate to have it.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-01-16 09:16
Here is a wealth of information. Matson's facing using the Eric Brand glass gauge.
6 - 12 - 22 - 34
A wonderful man to say the least. I met him through Iggie Gennusa.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2017-01-16 09:22)
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2017-01-16 19:30
What tip opening goes with that Matson curve?
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-01-16 19:47
I think it was about 1.02 - 1.04, but keeping in mind that he would change any of those measurements to satisfy the needs (wants?) of his clients. The players I studied with in Philadelphia, when they recommended bringing mouthpieces to him, would tell me to ask for *their* facing, not *his.* He also told me once that he didn't think a tip difference of less that .04 mm made a significant difference, so 1.00 or 1.03 were, at least at the time he said that to me, more or less the same in practical terms.
I think the curve that Bob listed was pretty much what the Curtis clarinet school used and maybe also the New York players at the time. AFAIK, it came here before Matson started his mouthpiece work, maybe with the Chedevilles, and he more or less inherited it from players who came to him with oddball mouthpieces that they wanted to make into duplicates of their favorites.
Matson's genius was in finding ways to make mouthpieces play the way the player wanted more than it was being able to duplicate a particular facing consistently.
Karl
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Author: ClarinetRobt
Date: 2017-01-16 19:55
Was there a facing(s) Matson seemed to employ more frequently? As anyone found a current brand (and facing/type) to reflect the sound he was always seeking? I realize this is never a one size fits all situation when it comes to mouthpieces. But perhaps folks noticed a trend he found to consistently work for players and that was his 'go to' fix when refacing.
~Robt L Schwebel
Mthpc: Behn Vintage
Lig: Ishimori, Behn Delrin
Reed: Legere French Cut 3.75/4, Behn Brio 4
Horns: Uebel Superior (Bb,A), Ridenour Lyrique, Buffet R13 (Eb)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-01-16 20:04
102 to 105 were the tip openings in general. The Ched he did got me in the 1970's was 103. I preferred just a slightly longer facing. A went to 35 instead of 34.
With thicker reeds, I've gone to 36 and a 104 to 107 tip opening when I recently switched from Buffets to Yamaha's. Still playing double lip. The sound really opened up on these horns. Single lip players could play on anything from 105 to 120, without over blowing the Yamaha CSVR's. Playing on a closer mouthpiece such as a Vandoren M13 or an M15 I feel is choking off the sound.
Matson's facing was pretty standard, because it worked really well of Buffet R13's and it still does.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2017-01-16 20:18)
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-01-16 20:22
ClarinetRobt wrote:
> Was there a facing(s) Matson seemed to employ more frequently?
> As anyone found a current brand (and facing/type) to reflect
> the sound he was always seeking?
Understand that Matson wasn't a professional clarinetist. He was, as I remember, an engineer by profession. I'm not sure how much playing he did away from his work table. I don't think he was truly seeking a particular sound. He was focused on making a mouthpiece more easily produce the sound the client was seeking. He knew what to do to bring out or subdue different qualities in the sound or the response, but he applied the knowledge according to what the client wanted.
Karl
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Author: duxburyclarinetguy
Date: 2017-01-16 21:59
Everett Matson was indeed a very talented clarinetist. It was my understanding that he studied with Daniel Bonade at Julliard. While he may not have made a living playing the clarinet he was certainly well aware of the demands. I believe he worked for Bendix Corporation.
I sat at his kitchen table when he refaced a few mouthpieces (including a Chedeville) for me back in 1982. He was a very nice man and said he was always behind in his mouthpiece work for which he never advertised.
Rick
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2017-01-16 23:06
Bob Bernardo wrote:
"6 - 12 - 22 - 34"
"102 to 105 were the tip openings in general"
Bob. This is not Matson's facing curve. Not even close. Yes, I've seen these exact numbers posted all over internet. I don't take them seriously.
Vytas Krass
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Professional clarinet technician
Former professional clarinet player
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2017-01-16 23:45
I measured a client's B40 in 2002 who said it had been faced by Matson. It was
6-12-22/22.5-34 with a 1.16mm tip inside the tip rail. The tip rail was .040" thick.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-01-17 00:50
Vytas Krass - Sorry that you disagree with me, but this IS what he went for, when facing. Sure there may have been SLIGHT variations, with players, but this was surely what he shot for. I spent enough time with him to know. Unless he lied to me! We wouldn't do that. He was a perfect, kind, gentleman.
The key to this is the tip opening. If the tip opening was 1.20mm's he of course would change the standard 6 - 12 - 22 - 34. But not much! He never went lower than 36.
We can't argue with the facts. Well we can, but that's why there is a bboard like this, but this worked really well for him and for the players and this is why he was so famous. Added, he knew how to put on a TRUE curve. With people that reface mouthpieces the curves always have flat spots and at other settings on the glass gauge the rails are often uneven. Not with Matson's facings. He had a special feel to his hand, to get that perfect curve. There were no flat spots on his facings.
Vytas Krass - Maybe you had some issues with flat spots and you think Matson's facings varied? Not sure...
You can be dead on with the facings, but the mouthpieces still have to play great. It's possible Matson made some minor adjustments to get a mouthpiece to play great, but as I've already stated, these were his magic numbers.
Anyone learning this craft will surely have excellent results using these numbers.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Ed
Date: 2017-01-18 18:31
I went to Matson many times over the years. I had him do work on various pieces for me and for students. I also went down to visit while he worked on mouthpieces for colleagues. The 6-12-22-34 numbers were what he told me he used. I even wrote them down at the time and believe I still have the paper. While he preferred the 102 tip, there was some variance as has been mentioned. It was all about what worked.
As was said, he would not hold to these religiously. There were many reasons for this. Sometimes the blank seemed to warrant something slightly different or the player might have a different preference. I recall one mouthpiece that I played on for years where the left rail was as he called it "34+". It was not intentional, but came out that way as he was working on it and we both liked it so much we decided to leave it as it was.
While he was not a player by profession, he had a great sense and feel. I always feel that I learned a lot from him about how to play as well as about mouthpieces. He had a great feel for the equipment and could really detect very subtle nuances. Whenever we were working on a mouthpiece I would always ask him to play it as well along the process. Because of his vast experience with countless mouthpieces, he would often be able to detect and articulate slight issues that I was only vaguely aware of.
I once asked him why he settled on those numbers. He said that he was working on Harold Wright's mouthpiece and Bob Genovese was also there. When he used that facing they all agreed that it was "the one".
Some people who would have more first hand information would be Chris Hill, who studied mouthpiece making with him and Tom Hill who was a student. I know both were good friends of Matson's and spent quite a bit of time with him.
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2017-01-19 01:58
Dear Bob, I did not have any issues with Matson's facings. I "KNOW" and admire his work. I measured MANY of his mouthpieces. None of them had these "magic" 6-12-22-34 numbers.
There were some variations but the facings basically measured: 4.3 - 11 - 22 - 34 with a 1.02 mm tip inside the tip rail. The tip rail was approximately 0.6 mm thick. These mouthpieces resembled the Vandoren 2RV facing somewhat but had completely flat tables.
Everett Matson magic was in his wisdom and not in these numbers.
IMHO the "6-12-22-34" is really BAD facing curve for the 1.02 mm tip opening.
Vytas Krass
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Professional clarinet technician
Former professional clarinet player
We thank all the mouthpiece makers and re-facers of the past who have been on this Planet. It is because of their contribution and their life that we walk this path. We owe so much to them... that can hardly be expressed in words.
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Author: donald
Date: 2017-01-19 05:04
I just measured my only example of a Matson facing.... and it came to-
34 22- 10+ 4 with a 1.03 tip opening (and a tip rail about .8 of a mm)
It plays darn nice- very compact sound, without too much resistance built into the 'piece- so there's still a feeling of being able to easily play with a flexible sound, yet still a sense of security (or "hold")
dn
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