Author: seabreeze
Date: 2014-03-16 21:59
I agree with Wes that the facings on many standard French mouthpieces (notably Vandoren and Selmer) were never very consistent or anything special. The rubber quality and tone chamber dimensions gave these mouthpieces whatever value they may have had. American mouthpiece techs like Glen Johnston, Everette Matson, and Robert Miller could always make the French blanks play better for Americans by revoicing, tuning, and refacing them. Old Selmers often had very good rubber and the Vandy 2RVs with the deep engraving often did too. Johnston, Matson, and Miller definitely "added value" to the mouthpiece by working on it. Lesser talents may have has less success and ruined the mouthpiece. Who can keep accurate track of such things?
The past is past and nothing can be done about it. For now, perhaps clarinetists might take a clue from coin collectors and buy the best blanks to be saved for resale later. But is there anything like a "mint" clarinet mouthpiece that would be worth saving like a mint coin? Are the proprietary rubber blanks produced today by Omar Henderson, Chris Hill (Chadash/Glotin) and Brad Behn good enough to stash away as "mint" items to be worked on and played by later generations? Are the Zinner blanks that good? Should someone have saved thousands of Cheveville blanks from the 1930s as un-faced, un-circulated mint items? I honestly don't know.
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