 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-03-28 23:49
I remember when many great players played on crystal mouthpieces: Gino Cioffi, Guy Dangain,... The makers of these were O'Brien, Pomarico (which still exists), GG. For some reason, most top players stopped playing them. Why?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Jarmo Hyvakko
Date: 2026-03-29 02:25
I have played with them. At best you get a soft, beautiful, round sound out of them.
The problem with them is that they seem to be very difficult to make to exact measurements.
The facing is not a problem. A skilled mouthpiece maker can easily adjust it. But everything inside, tone chamber, baffle, the bore after that are often quite all over the place, because, i suppose, after they blow the body of the mouthpiece to a mold, when it cools down, the measurements change.
This causes all sorts of problem starting from intonation. Plus, glass as mouthpiece material is not very resonant. Ok, sound is soft, but the MP is quite exhausting to play. And the MP is heavy and changes the balance of the instrument in your hands.
Also the body of the MP is often bigger compared to normal one, which may cause strain to your embouchure.
Jarmo Hyvakko, Principal Clarinet, Tampere Philharmonic, Finland
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2026-03-29 03:05
That's an interesting question, ruben!
My first exposure to a glass mouthpiece was when I was in junior high. An adult in the community band played one and was a very good player.
After that, I forgot all about glass mouthpieces. Over the years, I determined that (for me) the material of mouthpiece and instrument made no meaningful difference. However, I eventually wanted to try a Pete Fountain crystal mouthpiece (not because the material), liked it, bought extras, and have loved them ever since. I've been playing on crystal for 20 years now and haven't found any of the detractor warnings/concerns to appear for me. Maybe it was LeBlanc's quality control at the time? I don't know.
I've never had one break or be broken either.
I love my crystals...but not because they're crystal; I just love that particular mouthpiece design. Thinking about it - I do like how crystal looks too - but that wouldn't sway me to use them.
Warmest Regards,
Fuzzy
[Edit: After reading Chris' post below, I think I should clarify that when I said "LeBlanc's quality control" - it is actually Pomarico's quality control, as Pomarico was the maker of the Pete Fountain mouthpiece that was later marketed as "Leblanc."]
Post Edited (2026-03-29 03:30)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2026-03-29 03:06
I still use crystals on Eb, C, Bb, A and bass. I've got Pomarico crystals for Eb and bass and Vandoren A1 crystals (which are Pomarico) for C/Bb/A and also an A2 for bass.
I bought a Pomarico crystal alto mouthpiece, but it plays around a quarter tone sharp on basset horn, even with the longest crook pulled out far enough so it's almost falling out.
I've got a green glass (as opposed to crystal) O'Brien/Selmer HS**, but not too keen on it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2026-03-29 09:56
The most known clarinetist who uses crystal (and arguably the most known clarinetist regardless) is Giora Feidman, who still uses them. Or at least he always has, I'm not sure if he still plays.
Locally there are a bunch of players who play crystal mouthpieces because of him.
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Author: donald
Date: 2026-03-29 15:08
Jon Manasse used one for a while in the 90's, Corrado played one last time I looked (a Backun 'piece of course). Look up the Weber recordings of Serge Dangain (not to be confused with Guy) for some amazing playing in the 80's using a crystal mouthpiece (his version of 2nd Concerto 3rd mvt is really stunning, overall that Weber CD has some poor intonation but quite musical playing).
As far as I know Guy Dangain and Guy Deplus (both a bit more famous than Serge) both played hard rubber mouthpieces, I could be wrong about GD but pretty sure about GD...)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-03-29 17:27
stupid(?) question: Is there a difference between glass and crystal?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2026-03-29 18:21
Difference is marketing.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2026-03-30 02:42
was a diehard user till my obrien 4* that i played for 20 years got broken by a tech right before the most important gig of my career . this was well before the internet and i scrambled to find a replacement before opening Nite. i gave up crystal after this .
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2026-03-30 05:24
Hi Dan,
I've thought a lot about that over the years. I've seen several "hard rubber" mouthpieces get broken, but I've never seen a crystal get broken. Of course, that's a numbers thing - I have only seen one other crystal mouthpiece being used by a local musician, whereas there have been hundreds of rubber mouthpieces...so it makes sense that I'd see more rubber mouthpieces broken.
However, it has made me wonder...how many accidents that break a crystal mouthpiece would have also broken a mouthpiece made of different material?
It would be interesting to know that piece of information.
Fuzzy
;^)>>>
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-03-30 05:33
I suspect it depends entirely on what surface the mouthpiece hits when it falls. I've broken both a hard rubber (it hit a cement floor backstage) and an O'Brien crystal (fell on the tile-on-concrete floor of one of my my high school classrooms). It isn't thin drinking glass material even at the beak.
Karl
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Author: donald
Date: 2026-03-30 11:08
First Crystal (O'brien) cracked on the table when cleaned in hot water. 2nd Crystal (Pomarico 3) suffered a chip on the tip/baffle caused by the metal weight on the end of a pull through string (and no, it wasn't particularly heavy.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2026-03-30 11:09
>> Difference is marketing. <<
Yes, but that doesn't mean the glass mouthpieces are made from isn't crystal glass... which doesn't necessarily mean anything specific... except that they have some materials added to change the properties.
>> However, it has made me wonder...how many accidents that break a crystal mouthpiece would have also broken a mouthpiece made of different material? <<
My old teacher (30 years ago) used to reminisce how her favourite crystal mouthpiece, a Pomarico, broke while she was washing it. It fell from just a few inches into the sink and shattered.
In contrast, I used to play a crystal mouthpiece, also a Pomarico, and I wanted to compare it with a few other mouthpieces. After I tried it I put it on the bed I was sitting on (not the best idea). Since it's transparent, and with the sheet being pretty close in colour to the cork (and being colourblind on top of that), I completely missed that it was there, and when I got up I somehow hit it so hard that it flew across the room, hit the concrete wall on the other side a few meters away, then back to the very hard tile floor. Nothing happened to it.
Post Edited (2026-03-30 18:20)
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Author: Michael E. Shultz
Date: 2026-03-30 14:44
Traditional crystal glass contains a minimum of 24% lead oxide by weight according to the EU standard. This would not be a good material to use as a mouthpiece, due to the risk of lead toxicity. There are modern lead-free crystal glass materials now. You can get a lead testing kit to verify whether the glass in question has lead in it. And then there is rock crystal, which is quartz. Quartz is harder and has a much higher melting point than glass, which would make it difficult to work with. But if you really want to impress the other clarinet players, have your mouthpiece made out of synthetic corundum, known as ruby if red, sapphire for all other colors. Wit a Mohs hardness of 9, it would be really hard to work with.
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2026-03-30 15:24
You could also have a mouthpiece made of corium - that would be really hot.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-03-30 18:08
Michael Shuktz: Thank you for rigorous analysis!
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2026-03-31 02:32
My personal crystal mouthpiece journey (starting 23ish years ago)…
Pomarico emerald. Lasted about a year, dropped on floor, shattered.
Pomarice refaced by ‘Dave Raskin’?… broken after a few months (too tight in clarinet case somehow..
Second refaced pomarico by Dave raskin, sold after a few months.
Fast forward 20ishish years…
Pomarico CG, primary mouthpieces for about 4 years, sold.
For me, the anxiety I held after 3 previous broken mouthpieces wasn’t worth keeping a fourth.
Ultimately, I like them. Prefer them. But I’m clumsy. And with a lack of available replacements, I feel much less stress having a hard rubber or plastic mouthpiece than a hard to replace crystal.
- lex
Retired, playing more sax than clarinet, but still playing clarinet and still loving it!
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Author: Selmer Buff
Date: 2026-03-31 03:39
I have a crystal mouthpiece that was my father's. Probably 100 years old. It's ok and I like the sound, so I sought out a new one. Bought a Pomarico. I like playing it but it wasn't quite what I wanted, so 3 years later, I bought another new Pamarico from a London shop. It was terrible. The opening was wrong. The sides weren't even by a long shot.
I called the London shop. They said, send it back and we'll send you a different one. First I asked them to measure their Pomarico mouthpieces to see if they had one that had actually been 'hand crafted' or even played. Were the sides even or did it want to play two different notes at once? They checked. All they had were bad.
I'll never buy a Pomarico mouthpiece again. Recently bought a Backun McGill Signature Bb Clarinet Mouthpiece. It's very nice. I like. But if I could find a good crystal mouthpiece, I'd buy one.
-ejw-
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