The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: golfnclarinet
Date: 2009-08-05 05:19
I have 4 Selmer HS* in my drawer and didn’t pay my attention on them because I know I don't like HS*.
Last week, I found B* among them and tried it and BINGO!
This mpc gives me very similar tone that I can get out of Grabner’s AW.
I can’t say AW is better than this B*.
But, other HS* MPCs are not even close to B* and I really don’t like them.
What a difference!!
Is it just luck for me to find a decent Selmer piece?
This B* looks exactly same as HS* which is very popular-logo is in between two lines, HS* is under the bottom line.
The only difference is that B* letter is bit closer to the line compare to HS*.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2009-08-05 15:18
Luck of the draw, probably (but the odds were against it). On the other hand, maybe someone used the Selmer piece as a blank and put a really nice, symmetrical facing on it.
Bob Phillips
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Author: William
Date: 2009-08-05 15:46
"Is it just luck for me to find a decent Selmer piece?"
Anyone is always "lucky" when they find a mouthpiece that plays just like they want it too. It may be of interest that my old friend, Dennis Nygren, used to get his big wonderful sound using a Selmer B* when he was still in high school. At the same time, for me, it was a HS**. Don't know what he is playing these days, but I still use the Chicago Kaspar #14 that I bought from my college clarinet prof. back in 1960 for $12.50. I've tried a lot of others--Bay, Pyne, Smith, and others--but I keep coming back to what seems to play best for me. Congradulation on your "find".......enjoy.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-08-05 15:53
Bob -
As far as I know, all Selmer mouthpieces are symmetrical. However, their equipment has been out of adjustment for years, so their mouthpieces, although made of good rubber, are highly inconsistent and often warped. This is a particularly problem with the low instrument mouthpieces, which sell so slowly that Selmer could never recover the expense of equipment repair.
golfnclarinet -
The B* has a relatively close, short facing. See http://www.donmack.com/SelmerClarinets/SelmerClarinetMouthpieceInfo.asp.
Bernard Portnoy switched many of his Interlochen students (me, for example) to a B*. I gave it a long try (over a year), but always hated it. It was very stuffy (for me), and I could never play louder than a mezzo forte, even with a very hard reed.
However, a longer, more open facing with softer reeds has always worked best for me, so the B* was not right for the way I play. You seem to have found a good one, so play it and enjoy.
Ken Shaw
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