 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: isiaah
Date: 2015-03-04 06:56
I've seen these pomarico glass mouthpieces lately with such good reviews and was wondering if they're worth it or not?
Post Edited (2015-03-04 06:57)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-03-04 07:13
Most commonly known as "crystal" mouthpieces, these have the allure of having a facing that (barring chips, scratches and outright breakage due to carelessness) will never wear down.
PROBLEM: Working this material is very difficult meaning that the results are rather "hit and miss," with the performance being quite different from one to another of what would be ostensibly the same dimensions from the same manufacturer.
I have not tried the latest offerings from Pomarico (though I have been curious about the "Black Crystal" product) but I can not imagine their results will have gotten any better of late.
And even if you do find one that plays wonderfully, chances are you will be searching a very long time to find another if that one should suffer some ill treatment.
I wouldn't venture down that path if I were you.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-03-04 09:23
I've had 2 excellent crystal mouthpieces and 2 bad ones. The best was a Leblanc which I dropped, my current favourite is a Vandoren #1. A Vandoren #3 and a Pomarico have been disappointing.
Tony F.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-03-04 14:18
If that's a question, what I hear most often is, "I would not want to run the risk of ruining it."
But this begs the question, why get something that doesn't already do what you need it to do?
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-03-04 17:52
Are there such benefits to crystal over other good mouthpiece materials, in your humble opinion, that you are willing to deal with the difficulty of finding one that's just right, and then if/when you do, finding yet a couple more when, invariably, you drop and break the first?
Their lies decent metaphor in Cinderella's glass slipper. Glass is inflexible, getting just the right fit is near impossible, it's not pliable like hard rubber, it breaks easily, and no two are alike.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2015-03-04 18:31
I have an Opperman crystal mouthpiece. Kal adjusted it several times, saying that it took more work but could be made to play like hard rubber. It plays wonderfully.
In general, I've found that crystal mouthpiece tip openings feel larger than the same measurements on hard rubber, and that they blow with a little less resistance.
As Paul Aviles says, the chambers are quite variable, because crystal shrinks unpredictably as it cools from molten to solid.
Many fine players have played crystal, including Gino Cioffi and Alexander Williams. Williams told me he switched to hard rubber after he left the NBC Symphony because it took too much effort to play the crystal.
You have to try many crystal mouthpieces until you find one that's just right, and many makers are reluctant to work on them because it takes so much effort.
Ken Shaw
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2015-03-04 18:45
I have been playing crystal (glass) mouthpieces for a couple of decades, on Eb and Bb soprano and alto and bass clarinets, and alto and tenor sax (for 'legit' work only). Nearly all are/have been Pomarico products or their 'stencils' such as GG or Mitchell Lurie Premium.
I'm also a mouthpiece refacer and have worked on nearly all of my own glass mouthpieces along with many others for customers, of brands including O'Brien, Selmer Clarion, Vandoren etc.
I have developed procedures for refacing that makes it not much more work than doing hard rubber mouthpieces. The hardest mouthpieces to work are stainless steel and wood.
I've gotten a few Pomarico crystals that worked well for me right "out of the box", but the majority have needed refacing to suit my needs. As for the other brands mentioned, I have yet to encounter one that played the way I like without any refacing.
With reasonable care glass mouthpieces will last a very long time, and because they don't change dimensionally over time, or wear, they are totally consistent once set up. Breakage is of course a concern but the careful player can prevent that from happening.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-03-04 19:24
I have Pomarico crystals for Eb, alto/basset horn and bass and Vandoren A1 crystals on Bb/A/C clarinets.
I've only ever broken one of them - I caught the tip of my Pomarico 3 bass on a brass door latch immediately before a concert (fortunately someone else brought a bass along so I used their mouthpiece that evening) and the following day I had to play Mahler 1 using the stock plastic Buffet mouthpiece that came with my bass as I'd lent out my Vandoren B44 to someone. I later found another crystal bass mouthpiece on eBay for a good price, so all's well.
I've also got a Selmer Clarion (O'Brien) HS** glass mouthpiece (not crystal - it's got a green tinge like cheap glass) which is a bit on the wide side for me, but I'll see if it works with Big Band playing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-03-04 21:23
Would someone kindly share with me what tools (sandpaper, files, etc.) the crystal/glass mouthpiece refacer often keeps in his or her toolbox?
Thanks.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-03-04 23:17
The O'Brien Crystals were popular in HS back in the 1960s ... I think because they looked cool! I am sure they varied from "heck to breakfast". More thoughtful and pragmatic players often used a Selmer HS* or Vandoren.
The O'Briens with the "offset bore" might have been a mistake, (according to Elmer Aiello of the Woodwind Company), and they just made this an accidental selling feature of the MP.
In addition, part of the reason for the big sound that these MPs possessed was due to the large chamber and bore ... these MPs were substantially shorter than others to bring the pitch back up to spec.
I suspect that the density of glass probably has the tendency to make the sound brighter, (much like Blackwood is brighter than Cocobolo or hard rubber), but the expansive internal dimensions mellow and enlarge the sound, counteracting the material sound somewhat.
Tom
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Author: GBK
Date: 2015-03-05 00:05
I've been using the old Vandoren crystal mouthpieces for my entire career. In the 1970's I selected 3 or 4 (can't remember) out of about 30 samples.
Over the years I have picked up a few additional ones on eBay as they came along just to have for backups. Some were surprisingly good if you look for the ones with the thinner rails. I only dropped one in more than 40 years, and it was entirely my fault.
Crystal mouthpieces will not change facing ever, so if you find a great one (or two, or three) they will literally outlive you.
One small thing to remember - If you use a metal ligature, like a Bonade, it may slip off the mouthpiece, especially when changing horns. To solve this problem, simply glue a few tiny pieces paper thin cork on the inside bands to prevent slippage.
BTW - The only hard rubber mouthpiece that I've ever found which feels to me almost identical to my crystal mouthpieces is an old Borbeck. Luckily, I have two really nice ones which I'll occasionally use just as an alternative.
...GBK
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2015-03-05 01:21
To answer WhitePlainsDave's last question:
-A flat piece of plate glass (vital for refacing any sort of mouthpiece)
-A selection of grits of wet-or-dry sandpaper, both aluminum oxide and silicon carbide types, grits ranging from 100 to 2000.
That's all you really need. However, the choice of sandpaper is critical, as every brand works differently, even in the same nominal grit size. To make matters worse, manufacturers change their formulations without warning. For example, the 3M WetOrDry sandpaper available lately is much different than, and nowhere near as good as, the allegedly same sandpaper I used to buy a decade ago.
Files cannot be used on crystal unless you have a very fine Swiss-pattern file of high quality and are lucky -- otherwise files will chip the glass.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-03-05 04:39
I have found that very fine diamond grit files are quite good for cleaning up the corners and small moulding marks that often are found on crystal mouthpieces.
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