 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: sonicbang
Date: 2022-10-06 11:03
There are (mostly vintage) mouthpieces I find to be very underrated. True, very often these don't play up to their potential without a refacing, but some of these turn out to be not just decent, but excellent mouthpieces.
You can buy most of these around or under 50$ and they can outperform some higher-priced mpcs.
Here is my list of the (IMO) most underrated ones:
*Noblet 2V & Egytpian scroll pattern
*Vito (hard rubber with 'vito' written multiple times as a ligature line)
*Selmer HS* (regular, not oval logo, that one is widely considered to be a great blank)
*G.Leblanc 4 & 2 (is ther a 3 at all?)
*Buffet C (hard rubber, not C crown, logo in the middle, moderately wide throat)
*Mitchell Lurie ML3
Please add your most underrated mouthpiece findings, regardless if you had to have it refaced of they played fine in their original form!
Hope this will be an interesting thread
Mark
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: super20dan
Date: 2022-10-06 16:56
i agree on the noblet 2v/scrool. one came with my noblet alto clarinet and it outplays everything else i own except the clark fobes. riffault blanks can be fantastic also. also have a marlane clarinet market student but plays like the best pro models
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2022-10-06 23:35
You mention the Selmers, which are very good. The oval ones that you mention sometimes have large bores which can be a problem.
I know many people like the old Sumners and the Portnoy. There are a few vintages of Portnoy which can vary
Post Edited (2022-10-07 01:23)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sonicbang
Date: 2022-10-07 00:34
Ed,
I love Sumner mouthpieces! I don't consider them to be underrated though, as they cost around 100$ now and I think that's a decent sum for a blank that doesn't play well until it's refaced.
Regarding the vintage Selmers, I find it strange that they widely considered to be good mouthpieces yet very few people play them.
Mark
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2022-10-07 01:38
Yeah, I guess the Sumners are not undiscovered. The Selmers can be excellent, but for some reason (maybe because they have been around for so long) they are often overlooked.
I have know of some who like the old blanks by Woodwind, Ideal, Penzel Mueller.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: seabreeze
Date: 2022-10-07 01:46
The famous refacing tech Matson liked the Selmers of the 50s and 60s because they had smallish interiors that allowed for fine adjustments. During those two decades, something like the HS* facing would be found on most classical players' pieces, and the HS** was the popular favorite of doublers and "dance band" players. Selmers easily outsold Kaspars, Brillharts, Otto Links, Vandorens, and other rival brands. The best Selmers tend to have a very strong center to the tone and can play well with a wide range of reed cuts and strengths. They do, however, have more edge and buzz to the altissimo than is currently fashionable
.
One blank not yet mentioned that can be made into something quite good is the Vandoren CL series (CL4, 5 and 6). These never caught on very well and were passed over in favor of the darker and more cushiony Vandoren BD5. But the CL series had good projection and focus without the buzzier altissimo of many Selmers and would therefore be an interesting alternative to the 50s and 60s Selmers.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ursa
Date: 2022-10-07 23:56
I agree on the vintage Noblet 'pieces with the ornate ligature line. I touched up the facing on an X4 that came with a c. 1951 Normandy clarinet and it turned out to be a fine player indeed.
Also worked on an Evette & Schaeffer C, which uses the same blank as the Buffet C. It turned out to be excellent, and a nice backup to my main mouthpiece--a Grabner K14e.
There was once a pre-Leblanc Woodwind Company Steel Ebonite G7 in my studio that was a great player, and about the only mouthpiece that would tune well with the Bundy 1400 I once owned.
I have a couple Selmer HS-Star 'pieces and while I love the focused tone and easy response, they yield faulty intonation on all of my performance instruments.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald
Date: 2022-10-08 04:27
There was a mouthpiece branded "Perier" that came with Cousnon clarinets. I have found 3 of these over the years, the first 2 were EXCELLENT, the 3rd one hasn't been rendered playable just yet, and appears to have some dimension issues (uneven rails etc) that will require a bit more work than the other two.
If you find one of these, hang on to it!!!!!!!
It's a pity that news about the Sumner acousticut has spread, for a while they were available for next to nothing. They are great because they have some of the qualities of the vintage chedevilles (concentrated sound, a ringing brightness that isn't harsh) while having enough depth and darkness to sit next to modern sounds (so, "a bit of both worlds"). I LOVE the vintage sounds, but the rest of the world isn't always as keen on them as we are, so I find the Sumner to be a useful blank.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sonicbang
Date: 2022-10-10 17:34
Donald, I totally agree on the Perier mouthpieces being great ones. I had one which was refaced by a well-known mouthpiece artist. After 1-2 months, I ended up selling it which I regret to this day. That time my sound ideal was a bit different and couldn't fully appreciate the special sound of that mouthpiece.
I read somewhere that Henry Akoka played a Perier mouthpiece when Messiaen's 'Abyss of the Birds' was debuted.
Mark
Post Edited (2022-10-10 17:35)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: seabreeze
Date: 2022-10-10 18:01
Rebecca Rischin talks about Messiaen and the Perier mouthpiece in her book, For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet (Cornell University Press, 2003, rev. 2006). When Guy DePlus was recording the piece with Messiaen, the composer indicated that he wanted the sonority to be similar to what Akoka got on the Perier in the premiere performance.
Perier himself was a technical wizard who could get a snarky, "in your face" tone which, despite its impertinent brilliance would be perfect for the music of, say, Eric Satie and could be dramatically expressive in the Rabaud Solo de Concours. The Cousenon Perier mouthpieces have great clarity and focus and offer a tonal coloration that is a useful alternative to Vandoren and Alelandais.
Some old Martin Freres pieces are on beautifully designed blanks that have excellent baffles, tone chambers, and responsive, narrow rails.
Post Edited (2022-10-10 18:13)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: graham
Date: 2022-10-10 23:02
I recently bought a Kell Geometric bass mouthpiece which I like very much.
graham
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
