We often think of refacing as being necessary to fix the flaws found 
in mass produced mouthpieces. This has certainly been the case for me 
too, but I've found just as often lately that I'm working on pieces 
by independent makers...and correcting some of the same flaws. Uneven 
rails, bad curves, tip openings that are way off spec. Makes me think 
maybe I should start my own mouthpiece line.

Nah...not yet.

LOL

BTW, I'm working on repairing a Berg bari shank this week. I'll post 
some stuff about the method - once I ascertain that it's actually 
worked the way I hoped.

Merlin

I think any good refacer has particular things they like to see made 
right.  Others think they get good enough results without achieving 
the same goals.  Some have good/bad days.  I think they can run out 
of patience after a certain number of hours on a piece.  I 
occassionally do.

I have seen very few pieces that I would not touch anything on them.  
It makes me wonder about a couple of things.  One, are my gauges 
accurate?  Were the other refacer's?  We both may be trying to get to 
the same targets, but measure it slightly different.  The other thing 
I wonder is if other refacers are finding things to change in my 
pieces.  Not just due to gauging differences, but differences in 
targets/goals/strategies.  What are their results?

I've seen a few that are returned to me for fixing.  But these 
typically come with a letter saying they were drunk when they were 
doing the work...

Reading about refcing work this morning prompted me to write from the other end..as someone who has had work done. I recently purchased a mouthpiece sight unseen, so of course you take your chances. However, since it wasfrom a reputable maker I thought that I would be reasonable safe. When the mouthpiece arrived it was a disaster...uneven rails no suction...and that is just what I could see as a player not a refacer...of course it did not play worth a damn. Fortunately, I had recently met a person (Merlin Williams)doing refacing and in fact he had restored a vintage slant signature for me, l will admit at this point that I really was not too sure about this whole thing and had never seen any of his work but with the Link being a write-off (someone  long ago botched a refacing job on it) I had nothing to lose. Wow!, what a pleasant surprise the Link now plays great (very much like my New York Meyer). Anyway, after that experience I had non problem trusting Merlin with the soprano
 mouthpiece that I recently purchased. Needless to say, he did an outstanding job, it is now a killer piece (in fact, the other night I was told that the soprano was overpowering the sax section in a soli passage with a big band) I am not accustomed to haveing such a great blowing soprano piece so I could easily back off a bit. 
I contacted the maker and told him this story. He apologized and acknowledged the fact that we all have bad days and this one must have slipped by him which I am sure is true as he has a very good reputation.
Anyway, I just wanted to say to all mouthpiece refacers keep up the good work adn a very special thank you to Merlin Williams.
 

Keith Bradbury <kwbradbury@...> wrote:

I think any good refacer has particular things they like to see made 
right.  Others think they get good enough results without achieving 
the same goals.  Some have good/bad days.  I think they can run out 
of patience after a certain number of hours on a piece.  I 
occassionally do.

I have seen very few pieces that I would not touch anything on them.  
It makes me wonder about a couple of things.  One, are my gauges 
accurate?  Were the other refacer's?  We both may be trying to get to 
the same targets, but measure it slightly different.  The other thing 
I wonder is if other refacers are finding things to change in my 
pieces.  Not just due to gauging differences, but differences in 
targets/goals/strategies.  What are their results?

I've seen a few that are returned to me for fixing.  But these 
typically come with a letter saying they were drunk when they were 
doing the work...





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